S.C.R.A.P. - Stocksund Centre of Rooftop AstroPhysics

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Under construction -
Latest update 2007-12-30

S.C.R.A.P. is a private observatory in northern Stockholm, Sweden, at  18d03'44.9"E, 59d22'49.5"N. It's located in the attic of our house in the suburb of Stocksund. The area is somewhat light-polluted and the seeing is mediocre, typically 3-5 arc seconds.
The observatory is designed mainly for observational astrophysics - the pure pleasures of stellar spectroscopy and CCD photometry.

The Main Building

There are many do-it-yourself astrophysics projects for small telescopes that are both entertaining and educational. By trying to reproduce some of the measurements of the professionals, it is easier to understand many of the basic mechanisms of this universe.
As a few examples, one can  measure the relative speed of stars by looking and the spectral shift or determine a stars rotational speed using the spectral line broadening. The distance to a star can be determined by measuring its apparent motion over the sky and the distance to a more distant star cluster can be measured by observing variable stars in the cluster.

In time, I hope to be able to grow this web site into a collection of "easy-to-do astrophysical entertainments and diversions".

Clear Skies!
David