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DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
rDUINOScope Boiana: DIY Go To Unit
Frustrated with the high cost of a proprietary Go To, the author developed a free, open source, DIY option, rDUINOScope Boiana.
A Compact, Lightweight Solar Projection Viewer
Learn how to make a travel-friendly solar projection viewer for your telescope for the next total solar eclipse!
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
Image Stabilize Your Binoculars
You see much more of the universe in a steady view than in a jiggling view. Change your binocular observing forever with this easy-to-make stabilizer frame.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
Tune Up Your Telescope
Telescope tinkering can be fun and rewarding.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
How to Align Your Newtonian Reflector Telescope
Accurate optical alignment is neither difficult, mysterious, nor time-consuming. In fact, it's only three steps away.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
Dealing With Dew: Dew Heaters, Dew Shields and More
How to keep your optics dry and clear even on the dampest, dewiest nights.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
The Observatories of Sky & Telescope
The backyard observatories of our editorial staff run the gamut from the elegantly simple to the luxuriously complete.
Our Stairway to the Stars
Ever since we first became serious about astronomy more than 20 years ago, we dreamed of having our own backyard observatory.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
Think Big (and Small)
My current observatory is a multilevel structure. It began as a plan to mount my telescopes on the roof of a small barn on the property.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
A Simple Home Observatory in Your Backyard
Size can be deceptive; this small home observatory is remarkably practical.
How to Care for Your Telescope Optics the Right Way
The mirror in your telescope will probably work fine with a bit of dust on it, but if it's really dirty, you may want to clean it — carefully!
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
My Place in the Dark
Twenty weekends and countless trips to the building-supplies store later, I'd done it — I had an observatory to call my own.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
An Observatory with Sails
After working at Sky & Telescope for nearly a decade I got the chance to build the observatory I'd always wanted.
My "Flapping Roof" Observatory
By day my observatory looks like an ordinary (if rather grandiose) garden shed. At night the roof sections go down and back up. They "flap" like a bird's wings.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
Offsetting Your Secondary Mirror
The secondary-mirror offset is no doubt the most misunderstood aspect of collimation. Luckily you don't need to understand it to collimate your instrument.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
A Compact Backyard Observatory
A personal telescope shelter doesn't have to take up a lot of yard space.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
DIY Dew Heater
With just a little electrical know-how you can make an antidew heater that suits your scope.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
Accurate Polar Alignment with Your Telescope
Long-exposure astrophotography requires an accurately aligned equatorial mount.
DIY: Astronomy Projects & Guidance
8 Backyard Observatory Mistakes to Avoid
Here are a few potential problems that you might not see on your blueprints.
Collimation Tools
Three tools are commonly used to collimate Newtonian reflectors.