Virtual Tour of the Patterson Observatory

Take a virtual tour of the Patterson Observatory with this interactive website that lets you roam the building at your leisure. Many interesting displays are highlighted and detailed in this amazing high resolution photogrammetric capture of the facility. If you can’t make it in person, this is the next best thing!

RISS Observatory (RISS)

The RISS Observatory is located just south of Sierra Vista, AZ. at an elevation of about 5000 ft. on the eastern slope of the Huachuca Mountains. The domed observatory sits on a rear deck extending from the second story of our home affording the dome with a fine low eastern horizon. The dome is an 8 foot diameter (kit built) Explora-Dome, manufactured of very strong, UV stabilized, polyethylene plastic. A fork mounted, Byers clock driven Celestron 14 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope presently resides as the main scope, with an Orion 80ED refractor serving as a wide-field viewing and guiding scope. The C-14 can be configured as a high-power visual or photographic telescope, or as a wide-field photographic imager. The concrete pier holding the scopes drops down through the deck and deep into the ground below. The pier is isolated from the rest of the deck structure to reduce scope vibration. And the loft just inside the house serves as a convenient warm-room.

Discovery Observatory West (DOW)

Eagle Nest Digital Observatory (ENDOR)

ENDOR observatory shown with the roof open.
The Celestron 14 inch scope, companion Borg 76 mm guide scope, and a SBIG STL water-cooled imaging camera.
Monitoring and control systems in the ENDOR observatory.
Hardware setup used by the ENDOR observatory.
Control systems used by the ENDOR observatory.
M51 image taken from ENDOR observatory.
Comet ISON image taken from ENDOR observatory.
M1 image taken from ENDOR observatory.

The Eagle Nest Digital Observatory (ENDOR) was designed and built by the Whitmer family in the fall of 2001. Located South of Sierra Vista, in the foot hills of the Huachuca Mountains at 5,000 foot elevation, our hill-side property presented a challenge in finding a suitable building site where the sky was not partially obstructed by the surrounding terrain and man-made objects. The roof-top installation, with the telescope on a 21 foot pier in an 8 x 8 foot enclosure, provides an unobstructed view of the night sky. ENDOR contains a Celestron 14 inch scope, a companion Borg 76 mm guide scope, and a SBIG STL water-cooled imaging camera. The Paramount ME mount and cameras are remotely operated with TheSkyX Planetarium program from a control room located below the observatory on the 2nd floor of the building. The observatory is protected by a roll-off building when not being used for deep-sky imaging.

Patterson Observatory (PO)

The Patterson Observatory is owned by the University South Foundation, Inc. and operated by volunteers from the Huachuca Astronomy Club. It is named for David Patterson who was a founding member of HAC and a major Foundation donor. The observatory opened in September 2004 and consists of a fork-mounted f/8.1, 20-inch Ritchey Chretien reflector under a 16-foot dome. Patterson is a NASA Space Place community partner and the focal point for astronomy outreach and education in our area. The observatory is open to the public one night each month and is the site of many community based observing events throughout the year. The observatory and the attached classroom are available for classes and community events. It can be reserved by calling the foundation office at 520 458-8278 extension 2129 on weekdays 9-11AM. Observing events will be coordinated through the Huachuca Astronomy Club. The University South Foundation is a 501c3 charity and donations to the Foundation are deductible on the donor’s federal tax return.

Desert Coyote Observatory (DCO)

The Desert Coyote Observatory was built and named by former HAC member and Stellar Cat proprietor Gary Meyers. Ted purchased the property in 2012. The main instruments at DCO are a computer controlled f/4.45 30-inch Starsplitter Dobsonian and an f/4.5 18-inch Obsession Dobsonian. Both scopes employ the Servo Cat dual axis drive system. Located in the High Knoll area east of Sierra Vista, the sky at DCO is Bortle Class 4 with a typical SQM reading of 21.4. Ted is a visual observer with a wide range of observing interests. He writes feature articles about deep sky observing for Sky & Telescope magazine.

Desert Starlight Observatory (DSO)