Backyard Observatories

A CJE Construction Company
Providing the Highest Quality Telescope Observatories
Byo Logo1 Transparent White

BYO Customer Websites

Dark Sky Observatory

The Dark Sky Observatory is located approximately six miles from McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.  The mission of the DSO is to establish, and make available, facilities for the purpose of scientific, educational, research and data collection activities for educational institutions, citizen astronomers, and other scientific oriented endeavors.

PCW Memorial Observatory

Well Backyard Observatories did it again. Number 87!  www.backyardobservatories.comOur good friends, Scott and Diane Horstman, as well as the rest of the crew ,Kenny, Don, Jason and Nikki, designed and built our new observatory this past week. It’s number 87, but we’ve named it PCW Memorial Observatory after my late grandparents, Pauline and Charles Withers (Paul’s idea, and one that I absolutely loved!).

Deerlick Observatory

My new observatory is located in Deerlick Astronomy village, near Crawfordville, Georgia.  I selected this site for numerous reasons including that it’s within a close enough proximity to where I live in Florida (600 miles), and it’s only 50 miles from our vacation home on Lake Oconee.  Moreover, the skies are about as dark the Eastern USA has to offer, and the people of this astronomy community are great!!

The Pine Forest Observatory

After reviewing all the various types of observatories in Bill Arnett’s Amateur Observatories website, I decided to go with Scott Horstman’s CJE1 observatory plan.  The major reason being that he is located within 45 miles from my home and location of the observatory. The location is at the rear of our yard.  The Pine Forest Observatory was built!

Desert Astronomy Association

DAA is a small association of astronomers who have established an astronomy campus in the East San Diego County high desert area. DAA location is in a small privately held community property in the middle of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The park is the largest in California at 585,930 acres and listed in the top ten state parks in the United States (InterExchange.org). 

Pumpkin Creek Observatory

I came across the Backyard Observatories site while searching for a design that met my needs.  Its owner, Scott Horstman, is a contractor who sells observatory plans and equipment, and markets observatory kits.  He will even deliver and assemble an observatory for customers.  

KC9QQ Observatory

The next step in the construction of our Roll-off-Roof was the construction of the building.  We chose a design from Back Yard Observatories, BYO.  Scott Horstman contacted me a few days prior to the planned start date, to let me know that a local building supply house would be making a delivery the following day.  Here is a photo of the large pile of material that was delivered.

Dr. JimBob's House of Stars

Dr. JimBob’s House of Stars is a private observatory in eastern Georgia. It is located in one of the darkest sites in Georgia, and it is provides access not only to wonderful skies, but also to other outdoor recreational activities like hunting, fishing and hiking.The observatory is a 16 x 20 foot roll-off roof observatory… The observatory was built by Backyard Observatories of Lodi, Ohio. 

John R. Crilly Astro Home Page
Masil Astro-Imaging

Masil-Astro-Imaging is the home for astro-photos taken by Sheldon Faworski & Sean Walker.
Sean works in Massachusetts and I live in Illinois, hence the name “MASIL”. We collaborate
on many of the images that are posted on this site.