Damien McNamara used a Steampunk philosophy when he started building his own telescope - what did he have lying around and what could he access to make it?
The amateur Oamaru astronomer has almost completed a 22-inch telescope - the Brrudakat - which is dedicated to his family.
He has built it using mostly cheap and salvaged materials, such as plywood, fluted street sign poles, an old cast iron machine from the Regina Confectionery factory, and equipment passed down to him from his father.
''It's very basic stuff, really,'' he said.
''Underneath the mirror is a 27-point cell, a system of triangles stabilised on three points. That was the only major thing that was made for the telescope.''
He hopes to be using it by summer, after realigning and resurfacing the mirror.
Mr McNamara's DNA practically demands an interest in astronomy.
His father, Danny McNamara, was the second person in New Zealand to photograph the impact sites after comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's collision with Jupiter in July 1994.
''He was six minutes behind Mt John Observatory in Tekapo. It was quite a feat at the time,'' he said.
''He'd always had an interest in the stars, in the sky. He'd been model-building for years - rockets, shuttles. It was just a fascination, really.''
His father died in 2012, and in July this year Mr McNamara was given all his old equipment - three 6-inch telescopes, an 8-inch Celestron and a 22-inch Beverly-Begg telescope, originally from the Beverly-Begg observatory in Dunedin.
''Once I had everything in the garage and I realised it was starting to look like a mad scientist's lair, I thought I might as well start putting it to use,'' he said.
''Everything sort of eventuated from what Dad had. He had the stepping stones. I just had to put everything together.''
It was the first time he had attempted to build a telescope.
''To get this far has been a bit mind-boggling ... considering I was never any good at maths at school ...
''But once you've got that passion and purpose, I think it's a lot easier to soak the knowledge in.''
Mr McNamara, who also went by the name of Professor Damotimus Tipotus, used to run the ''Libratory'' in Oamaru, believed to be New Zealand's first dedicated Steampunk art gallery.
He has documented the telescope-building process on his Facebook page ''RBT Astronomy''.
Mr McNamara is in talks with the Waitaki District Council about an area on which he would like to put four astronomical buildings to house his telescopes and set up with computers and cameras.
He hopes one of of the buildings can be an area for children to learn about astronomy and would like to start a space-themed version of scouts.
On October 9, Mr McNamara photographed a multiple occultation of the moon while watching the lunar eclipse.
He has entered his photographs of the event into the annual Auckland Astronomical Society Astrophotography Competition.
