Observatory
The top left photo shows the GRO building basking on a fine sunny day at its home in a field of green. It is a very solid building being made up of concrete block that are professionally laid on a large 12 inch thick concrete slab. Internally it has a 16 inch diameter pier with a 3 foot by 3 foot base buried 6 feet below ground level. It is free of the slab to avoid vibrations for those instances when people are actually in the building. Details of the construction of this building are shown at several of the personal web sites linked to this page. The roof rolls on a rather complex set of rails moved by a chain drive and several motors and electrical controls.
The whole building is extremely tight to keep out weather of all kinds. In Wisconsin this means summer temperatures above 100 degrees, blinding rain and high winds. In the winter it means temperatures of well below zero F, blowing snow and mounds of snow. The interior must be kept dry and the roof must maintain its ability to roll on command.
At the far left, an SBIG seeing camera rests on a separate post. This camera is part of the sky condition monitoring system that helps make decisions about the quality of viewing and imaging to be expected.
In the top right photo the observatory is shown with its roof rolled back. The roof rolls to the North, opening the entire top of the building so that the telescopes on a GEM mount can swing freely to view the entire sky. The mechanism to control the roof is quite elaborate because it must be remote controlled reliably. There are many photos and a detailed explanation of this mechanism on several of the personal web sites of our GRO team. The entire building, its roof and the controls are well integrated with each other. Absolute reliability is essential for remote operation. So far this building has been a great success.
At the bottom the interior is shown in part through the open door. This photo gives only a hint of the large amount of equipment that is in this building. Additional discussions of the equipment are given at the link provided on this page and also at the personal web sites of individual members. In particular those of Dennis Roscoe and Doc Greiner.