Observatories / Equipment
I’ve had a passion for Astronomy since I was eight-years old & I have owned many telescopes over the years & spent countless hours under the stars.
I currently spend most of my time taking photographs to capture the beauty & wonder of the night sky & of astronomical events. I utilize several setups at various locations, each having it’s own specific purpose.
Cave Creek Canyon Observatory
Arizona Sky Village
In 2003 my wife & I purchased land at Arizona Sky Village, an Astronomy community in Portal, Cochise County. In 2007 I completed construction of Cave Creek Canyon Observatory & soon began imaging the Arizona night sky remotely from my home in Southern California. (Or from just about anwhere in the World where I have an Internet connection).
The ability to remotely control all aspects of the observatory means that I am able to enjoy pretty much every clear night available. The site enjoys some of the darkest skies in North America, excellent local zoning to protect from light-pollution, & a wonderful, friendly community.
The observatory consists of two domes, which can be used independently. The observatory has a complete weather station which is used by many to help assess the current local conditions. I use a Davis-Pro Vantage II weather monitor, along with a Boltwood Clarity II Cloud Sensor & SBIG Seeing Monitor. A custom All-Sky camera captures a 180 degree view of the full night sky, & all the weather information is made available on this website in real-time.
ASV East Dome
The observatory currently utilizes the following equipment:
- Astro Physics 3600GTO “El Capitan” German Equatorial Mount
- Planewave Delta-Rho 350 f3.0
- ZWO ASI461MM Pro camera
- ZWO 7-Position Filter Wheel
- Custom ZWO OAG 68-L/ ZWO ASI174MM Mini Auto-Guider
- Astrodon II 50mm Sq LRGB Filters
- Astrodon 5nm H-Alpha, OIII & SII Filters
- Planewave Series-5 Focuser & Rotator
- Optec Flip/Flap Custom OTA Cover
- Mini Borg 50/SBIG STi Guider
ASV West Dome
The observatory currently utilizes the following equipment:
- Astro Physics Mach-1 German Equatorial Mount
- Askar FRA 300 pro Quintuplet Astrograph f5
- ZWO ASI6200MC pro camera
- ZWO 2″ 5-position Filter Wheel
- Optolong UV/IR Cut Filter (Luminance)
- Optolong L-eNhance Filter
- Optec FocusLynx Focus system
- ZWO ASI120MM Mini Off-Axis Guider
Observatorio El Sauce
Chile
For several years I had been investigating a second remote observatory site based in the Southern Hemisphere. A conversation with Fred Espenak, friend and ASV neighbor, discovered a common interest, which during 2020 we turned into reality. Fred’s Planewave CDK17 and my Astro Physics 155EDF Refractor & 1600GTO mount together with cameras and computer were shipped to Santiago, Chile and from there transported to the Obstech facility in the Rio Hurtado Valley, in the south of the Atacama desert at Observatorio El Sauce (“The Wllow Tree” in spanish).
Our telescopes are shown above at the left side of the 180 degree view in a roll-off roof observatory housing several systems belonging to fellow astronomers.
The wonderful folks at Obstech own and maintain the facility & provide help & assistance as necessary.
The observatory currently utilizes the following equipment:
- Astro Physics 1600GTO German Equatorial Mount
- Planewave CDK17 f4.5 (Focal Reducer)
- QHY16200A camera / Integrated Filter Wheel
- Astronomik 36mm LRGB & 6nm H-Alpha, OIII & SII Filters
- Agena Starguide II / ZWO ASI178MM
- Astro Physics 155EDF Refractor f5.4 (TCC)
- FLI PL29050 camera
- FLI 2-7 Filter Wheel
- Astrodon II 50mm LRGB & 5nm H-Alpha, OIII & SII Filters
- Robofocus Focus system
Irvine, California
My Driveway
The night skies at my home in Irvine, California are severely light polluted & very little deep-sky imaging is possible here. However, as I have my observatory in Arizona for imaging the Northern sky and the partnership in Chile for imaging the Southern sky, there really is no need.
My current imaging platform at my home lives indoors & can be rolled out into my driveway quickly to image the Sun, Moon & Planets. I try to image the Solar activity whenever there is activity, & image the planets whenever they are well placed.
The telescope system is mounted on a dolly with wheels & can be easily & quickly moved around. It also includes a custom housing surrounding the pier which contains the control systems & electronics along with several storage areas to keep everything self-contained & minimize cable clutter.
My home portable setup currently utilizes the following equipment:
- Astro Physics 1100GTO German Equatorial Mount
- Lunt 100 T-Ha Solarscope f7
- Lunt DSII Double Stack Module
- ZWO ASI174MM camera (Full disk)
- ZWO ASI178MM camera/ Astro Physics BARADV 2x (Close-up)
- Optec Focuslynx focusing system
- Baader FlipMirror II
- Astro Physics 105EDF Traveler Refractor f6
- Thousand Oaks Type-II Solar Filter
- ZWO ASI174MM camera (Full disk)
- ZWO ASI178MM camera/ Astro Physics BARADV 2x (Close-up)
- Robofocus/Optec Focuslynx Focus system
- Baader FlipMirror II
- Celestron C11 f10
- ZWO ASI178MM camera/ Astro Physics BARADV 2x
- ZWO 5-position Filter-Wheel
- Chroma 31mm LRGB filters
- Optec Focuslynx focusing system