Around 2021 I received a message from a friend about a Facebook marketplace ad, about a fibreglass Sirius Observatories Dome, and Vintage Meade Telescope. The ad was pretty scarce in details, but tons of pictures. He was about 1.5 hours drive away, and being ultra interested in having my own observatory oneday, I rushed out to meet the owner.
Turns out the kit had a bit of a history! The guys grandfather had purchased the telescope back in 1985, in preparation for the 1986 Halleys Comet appearance. Then a few years later he purchased the Sirius dome for a more permanent installation, even having a custom pier welded up. Then sometime around the 2000s he had passed way, and all of his stuff was relegated to storage and forgotten about.
Apparently the seller had some fond memories of spending time with his grandfather looking at the skies. Long story short , he wanted someone to give new life to his grandfathers equipment rather than be placed in some high end AirBnB (there were offers for double what I offered). Shook hands on the deal, on the promise that it’ll be put to good use.
And so we begin the journey of running my own observatory! Next post I’ll show the build in my backyard!
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