Marman Observatory

Marman Observatory

 

 

Marman Observatory is a private, roll-off roof observatory in the Colorado Rockies. A pictorial description is available here.

The structure consists of two rooms.  The sky room houses the telescope and related equipment. The office is a passive solar heated (or perhaps warmed) room where I run the control computer for the mount, camera, etc.  The office also has a cot and hot plate for a bit of comfort during automated imaging sequences.

The price to pay for the somewhat remote location is the poor access to the power grid and communications.  It is turned out to be far less expensive to provide power to the observatory with a PV system rather than paying to connect to the power company.  Internet access is provided by a Hughsnet satellite connection.

The major focus of observations is differential photometry.  I am a member of AAVSO and very interested in exoplanets.  Of course I do enjoy a bit of pretty picture imaging with my DSLR and CCD cameras.

Cliff Kotnik