My observatory, WINOBS, is situated in the middle of the Winterberg mountain range in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is nestled amongst rolling hills on a big dry mound adjoining a small wetland on my smallholding – a peaceful, quiet and remote retreat ideal for stargazing. The night sky is devoid of any light pollution making WINOBS a very desirable spot for astrophotography.
Its precise location is: S32o17.777’ E026o 232’
Elevation: 1446m
The observatory measures 5m x 6m. The permanent pier in the middle of the observatory is cast in a 1m x 1m x 1m concrete foundation. Currently I use an iOptron SmartStar iEQ45 mount. The roof slides off to the North with a manual winch. There are two beds in the observatory – these are useful when guests arrive or for those long waits when photographing celestial objects using multiple or long exposures!
