stock vehicle built for astronomyPosted By Mike Swaim |
This is a little off-the-wall, but it might be of interest.
I've been looking into getting a new Honda Element AWD. The Honda Element is the boxy, Hummer-wannabe looking little SUV rather oddly mis-aimed at the Gen Y crowd. Well, not only is the inside made to be mud and spill friendly, but the back seats can be either swung up to the sides or removed altogether for almost small pickup carrying capacity. Not only does this mean that bulky scopes and mounts would fit far easier than in most competing small SUVs and minivans, but the Element has an element that is of particular interest to astronomers.
The 4WD models come with a moonroof, (misnamed 'sunroof' ;-), that is in the rear, over the cargo compartment. It's generously sized and directly over an area that looks like it would easily fit a small camp stool and tripod. I haven't taken any measurements, but it looks like it should be quite feasible to drive the vehicle to a dark sky site, and then sit inside the vehicle, well out of the cold, with a moderate sized, rear eyepiece scope poking up right out of the moonroof.
How cool is that? Well, if it's not quite enough, the seats can be laid back, with headrests removed, to form a bed. From a camping, birding, fishing, astronomy, mtn. biking point of view, this looks to me to be THE vehicle. It also gets gas mileage comparable to most smaller trucks and is priced more reasonably than most SUVs.
Just thought I'd pass that along. I've never really been psyched up about a vehicle before, but this one is pretty interesting.
Mike Swaim
I've been looking into getting a new Honda Element AWD. The Honda Element is the boxy, Hummer-wannabe looking little SUV rather oddly mis-aimed at the Gen Y crowd. Well, not only is the inside made to be mud and spill friendly, but the back seats can be either swung up to the sides or removed altogether for almost small pickup carrying capacity. Not only does this mean that bulky scopes and mounts would fit far easier than in most competing small SUVs and minivans, but the Element has an element that is of particular interest to astronomers.
The 4WD models come with a moonroof, (misnamed 'sunroof' ;-), that is in the rear, over the cargo compartment. It's generously sized and directly over an area that looks like it would easily fit a small camp stool and tripod. I haven't taken any measurements, but it looks like it should be quite feasible to drive the vehicle to a dark sky site, and then sit inside the vehicle, well out of the cold, with a moderate sized, rear eyepiece scope poking up right out of the moonroof.
How cool is that? Well, if it's not quite enough, the seats can be laid back, with headrests removed, to form a bed. From a camping, birding, fishing, astronomy, mtn. biking point of view, this looks to me to be THE vehicle. It also gets gas mileage comparable to most smaller trucks and is priced more reasonably than most SUVs.
Just thought I'd pass that along. I've never really been psyched up about a vehicle before, but this one is pretty interesting.
Mike Swaim