Posted May 7, 2025

May 2025 UPDATE!

I have now moved and built my long sought for observatory!

As many of you know, I have documented my effort in the Observatory Section of this website. The entire history of the observatory can be seen there. From motivations, the search for land, the big move, the design of the observatory, excavation, construction and complete can be seen Here:

https://cosgrovescosmos.com/observatory-project

Some Facts About Whispering Skies Observatory

• Located south of Rochester, N.Y. YSA

• Whispering Skies Observatory is a 16’ x 20’ Roll-Off-Roof Observatory.

• It is based on a Pole Barn design using Engineered Perma-Columns

• It has four customer steel piers in their own foundations isolated from the building

• It has a poured slab flour

• The east and west wall headers as well as the roof outriggers use 4” x 4” x 1/4” Steel channel columns to ensure a Roof track system that will not warp or twist over time.

• The roof used V-Track and V-Wheels on the West side and Flat Track and Flat wheels on the East side.

• A SkyRoof Motor and Control system by Interactive Astronomy powers the roof.

• A SkyAlert Weather system, also by Interactive Astronomy will soon be installed.

• 100 Amp Service was brought 180’ from the house, as were several redundant Ethernet lines.

• The Ethernet Lines act as a hardwired back haul network for the Mesh Router mounted in the observatory.

• Power has been run to:

  • each steel pier

  • to outlets on each wall

  • to the roof drive system

  • to switched outlets that will power white lights and red lights for the building.

  • Several 4-gang outlets on the north wall to support computer and tool use

  • An outside outlet

• The two windows on the south wall is strictly for looks! The wall can seen from the main house and the desire was for the building to look like a country cottage rather than some industrial facility