First video diary entry for the new mini-WASP imaging array

Thought I would begin a video diary on the mini-WASP array project at this time even before the hole has been dug in the ground for the obligatory concrete block.  As we are all aware – any new observatory project begins with a hole in the ground that we subsequently fill with a cubic yard of concrete.  The short video (shot on the mega Sony NEX-VG10E handycam) shows the position the new observatory will occupy, to the left of the original 7-foot fibreglass dome, creating a Keck II landscape in the garden.  Next steps in the project will be digging the hole (5 foot deep, 1 foot above ground level and 2-foot by 2-foot cross-section) – filling the hole with concrete and setting in the all-Aluminium pier, and finally building the octagonal wooden decking around the central concrete block which will then support the new dome.  I expect this first phase of the project to start around March-April 2011.  And yes – the Paramount has now been sitting unused in my dining-room for almosr a year – unforgiveable 🙂