| An Observatory in the Land of Oz My name is Ron Abbott, and I live in Overland Park, Kansas, which is a suburb of Kansas City. I have been passionate about Astronomy since I was in high school. I still have my first scope, a 6-inch Newtonian reflector with a mirror that I ground and polished myself. With the purchase of one of the original orange-tube Celestron 8s in 1973, I began to get very active in deep sky observing and astrophotography, activities which I have pursued to the present day. As I got deeper into deep sky observing, it became apparent that I would have to observe from darker skies in order to find the increasingly fainter objects I was pursuing. Starting in 1988, I began observing from a dark sky site in rural Linn County, Kansas, about an hour south of my home. In 1991, I traded the C-8 for a larger Celestron-11 and continued chasing ever fainter "fuzzies". It was always my dream to have a permanent observatory. After 12 years of packing up all my stuff and sleeping in my SUV after an all-nighter, I finally was successful in purchasing a 20 acre site just a few miles from my old observing site. It is on a high bluff and is surrounded by a wildlife refuge. Now I had a place for my observatory! After checking out the many fine observatories shown on Bill Arnett's website (http://www.seds.org/billa/obs/obstlist.html) I decided to build a roll-off roof design. I would especially like to thank the following Amateur Observatory Builders for the great ideas I was able to glean from their websites: Frank Barnes Bill Dellinges Darin Fields Chris Vedeler Construction of LAND OF OZ OBSERVATORY began on May 2nd, 2002, when I began the excavation and concrete work for the permanent pier that would eventually serve as the "heart" of my observatory. |
Left: On May 2nd, 2002, ground
was broken for the
construction of Land of Oz
Observatory. Here, the first
spadeful of dirt is lifted out of
the hole being dug for the
concrete pier base.
Right: On May 3, 2002, the
concrete pier base was
finished. Sixteen 80 lb. bags of
concrete went into the hole,
which is 4 feet deep (would
have dug deeper, but hit solid
rock!). Imbedded in the
concrete is a steel cage holding
the 5/8"-11 all-thread.
was broken for the
construction of Land of Oz
Observatory. Here, the first
spadeful of dirt is lifted out of
the hole being dug for the
concrete pier base.
Right: On May 3, 2002, the
concrete pier base was
finished. Sixteen 80 lb. bags of
concrete went into the hole,
which is 4 feet deep (would
have dug deeper, but hit solid
rock!). Imbedded in the
concrete is a steel cage holding
the 5/8"-11 all-thread.
After a lot of planning and hard work, construction was finished on March 15th of 2003. Another few
months was required to paint and finish the interior and install the telescopic equipment. Finally, on
September 20th, 2003, LAND OF OZ OBSERVATORY was formally dedicated. Since that time, I have really
enjoyed spending every night I can observing and imaging the sky. Below is a picture of the observatory
which was taken in June of 2006. As can be seen, this location has great horizons, and the sky at night
is breathtaking!
months was required to paint and finish the interior and install the telescopic equipment. Finally, on
September 20th, 2003, LAND OF OZ OBSERVATORY was formally dedicated. Since that time, I have really
enjoyed spending every night I can observing and imaging the sky. Below is a picture of the observatory
which was taken in June of 2006. As can be seen, this location has great horizons, and the sky at night
is breathtaking!
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BIG BLOW IN LINN COUNTY! On Wednesday, February 28th, 2007, the temperature reached into the 60's,
but in the late afternoon and early evening a fast-moving cold front passed through the area. This dropped
temperatures suddenly and triggered a large line of violent thunderstorms. One of these squall lines which
passed through Linn County spawned a tornado! Luckily the tornado passed about three miles south of
the observatory. However, along with the tornado came high winds and very large hail. At the observatory we
had an intense hail storm which produced 2" diameter hail. That and the high winds really did a number on
the vinyl siding that forms the exterior shell of the building. Below are photos of the damage sustained on the
west side of the observatory. I have patched the holes with duct tape pending replacement of the siding. I'm
just glad the tornado missed the observatory. Whew!! UPDATE 3/20/07: Got the siding repaired, and the
cost was very reasonable...just $525, including labor. I am a lucky guy. Back in business again!!
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW FOR A FULL-SIZED VIEW
but in the late afternoon and early evening a fast-moving cold front passed through the area. This dropped
temperatures suddenly and triggered a large line of violent thunderstorms. One of these squall lines which
passed through Linn County spawned a tornado! Luckily the tornado passed about three miles south of
the observatory. However, along with the tornado came high winds and very large hail. At the observatory we
had an intense hail storm which produced 2" diameter hail. That and the high winds really did a number on
the vinyl siding that forms the exterior shell of the building. Below are photos of the damage sustained on the
west side of the observatory. I have patched the holes with duct tape pending replacement of the siding. I'm
just glad the tornado missed the observatory. Whew!! UPDATE 3/20/07: Got the siding repaired, and the
cost was very reasonable...just $525, including labor. I am a lucky guy. Back in business again!!
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW FOR A FULL-SIZED VIEW
