Building a backyard observatory 25 years ago usually meant one of two things: Buy a dome or do it yourself from scratch. A simple “roll-off roof ” observatory was also an alternative.

Next decision: type and size. I built a big roll-off roof observatory in the mid-’80s. No one helped me, and I made major mistakes. I put the roof on swiveling casters. Don’t do that.

With the roll-off roof structure open and revealing the sky, Sierra Remote Observatory technician Sam Miller stands next to a telescope Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 near Auberry. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ...

The observatory features a 17” PlaneWave telescope on an L-500 mount. The telescope is housed in a structure with a roll-off roof offering a 360° view of the night sky and surrounding skyline.

In the building closest to the planetarium, two telescopes were set up Friday under the building’s open 20-foot roll-off roof. When not in use for a workshop, Vinski said the observatory would ...

Amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy first discovered 2014 Q2 just before dawn on Aug. 17, 2014, from his roll-off roof observatory in Birkdale, Queensland, Australia. The newly discovered comet is ...

Join Miguel here as he takes us through his photograph "Cumeada Observatory and the Winter Sky." After astronomical twilight has ended, a motorized, retractable, "roll-off-roof" observatory opens ...

Six or eight nights a month, weather permitting, the Chandlers open the roll-off roof of their observatory and focus 25- and 30-inch reflecting telescopes on whatever objects are on their current ...