BillD's corner of the Universe
Home Page - Site is always under construction.. Many broken bits and dud links
Serenity is my backyard observatory. When I first got into astronomy, I knew I wanted to get into Astrophotography. However, setting up and packing up the gear each night, quickly became an excuse not to do it, so I decided to look into getting a permanent observatory in my backyard…and the Serenity Project was born.
While investigating my options, I discovered that while the ideal observatory is the classic dome shape, they are expensive to buy and very difficult to build. Back then the dome kits were rare and expensive and they were quite small and cramped. I decided to build a shed with a roof I could roll open. This was more like the standard square shape and was something I could build myself.
Further down this page you will find details on how I built the Serenity Observatory back in 2008.
The gallery below shows some of the images I have taken from the Serenity Observatory in my suburban backyard.
2025-04-10 Solar
Solar image taken with Daystar Quark and Lunt Solar Scope.
Gabriela Mistral Nebula – IC 2599, NGC 3324, NGC 3293
Gabriela reprocessed in HOO colours from 0riginal Data captured in 2021
Eta Carina Nebula 2021
Eta Carina reprocessed in HOO colours from 0riginal Data captured in 2021
IC 2944 Nebula
IC 2944 reprocessed in HOO colours from 0riginal Data captured in 2021
Short exposure of the Orion and Running Man nebula
Testing out the camera with a 40 minute exposure of Orion
Finally Imaged Tarantula Nebula-NGC2070
After many years away from the hobby I decided to upgrade the obs, and my gear and here is the first image with the new gear.
Solar Imaging
Solar Imaging Below you will find various images of our sun taken through a specifically designed solar telescope. Never look
Venus Transit
During the once in a lifetime Venus Transit event, I was all setup with two solar telescopes HD recorders and
Horse Head Nebula
I have tried in the past to get a reasonable image of the horse head nebula, but have never had
My First Narrow-band Colour Image
Here is my First ever colour image in Narrow Band using the Hubble Palette (kind of).I am still learning how
Hydrogen-Alpha Filter vs Red Filter for Astro Imaging
Hydrogen Alpha Filters To add to my equipment list (as you do), I decided to get a more sensitive Monochrome
Building the Serenity Observatory
Constructing a Backyard Observatory
There are many types of backyard observatory designs. You can buy kits, prefab domes, or even convert existing sheds. I decided to build my own observatory from scratch. It is basically a 'Shed' design with a rolling roof.
