Starfire Observatory

My new roll-off roof observatory was finished in 2007 and is located about 20 miles south of Bloomington, Indiana. The structure is 14 x 26' and contains a 14 by 20' imaging area as well as a 6 by 14' dry room. Inside are two Astro-Physics robotic mounts which are used to drive both 130 f/6 and 155 f/7 Astro-Physics refractor telescopes. A Takahashi FSQ 106 refractor is also used for widefield imaging. For high resolution imaging I use a 12.5" Ritchey Chretien.

For 35mm film work I use Olympus OM-1 cameras, and for medium format imaging a Pentax 67. I have used many of the cameras made by the Santa Barbara Instrument Group as well.

I have networked computers between my warm room and the observatory which will allow for comfortable and remote imaging on very cold winter nights. For film work, I will still have to brave the elements, but those occasions are few and far between these days.

In the old days, the film images were printed in my darkroom. Now they are scanned with a SprintScan 120, processed, and printed digitally. For darkroom printing I used a 4 by 5 Omega enlarger, and a 16" Kreonite Roller Transport. I have also used several state of the art digital printers as well, and all have provided excellent results. In most cases, producing prints superior to traditional darkroom prints.