Fall
The 18' Ash dome has been manufactured and is soon to be on a semi truck headed for Arizona. The contractor is getting ready to start on the newly named Raemor Vista Observatory in September with completion around October. The bubble dome is nearing completion and should start observations later this fall.
Winter
The move to Sierra Vista took almost a year but is finally finished. The shop is up to speed and work is progressing quickly. The secondary and corrective optics are FINISHED and in hand! We now have the complete optical train and will set them up in a rack mount and take test images soon.
We have decided to bring the Meade 16" online first to start working on exoplanet transit timing. Work has started on the 'Bubble Dome' which is a new concept in building inexpensive domes. See more info here.
A generous benefactor has given us a firm commitment for FULL FUNDING to build an observatory with an 18' Ash dome. All obstacles to completing the 1.1 meter have now been overcome. Work on the large observatory will start this September.
We have also setup a Sentinel All Sky Camera and are recording meteors every night entering the atmosphere within 300 miles. We are coordinating with Thomas Ashcraft and Robert Crawford who also have cameras in Santa Fee and Tucson respectively. Bruce Gary is developing a pipeline to calculate the incoming trajectories of the meteors when we catch them on two or more cameras.
