Gemsbock Observatory

In April 2024, a long-held dream came true for me: building my own remote observatory in Namibia under one of the darkest skies on Earth. The heart of the setup is the Planewave CDK 14, a telescope that had been at the very top of my wish list for many years.

The idea was born in 2022 during a road trip through Namibia, when I once again visited the Rooisand Desert Ranch. There, Axel Dainat shared his vision of developing facilities for remote observatories that could be rented and operated by amateur astronomers. After careful consideration, it became clear: this was the opportunity to make my dream a reality.

In the months that followed, I focused on detailed planning, and by early 2024, the complete set of equipment was ready for shipment by sea. The installation on-site took place in April of the same year.

Why Remote?

For more than ten years, I had operated the Chamäleon Observatory at Onjala together with Wolfgang Paech This was an incredibly valuable experience that, alongside our friendship, profoundly shaped my path in astrophotography. The only limitation was the manual operation of the observatory, which meant that imaging sessions were only possible during my short visits to Namibia.

With the remotely operated Gemsbock Observatory, completely new possibilities have opened up, things that were simply not feasible before:

• Significantly longer total exposure times for individual targets, since many more nights per year can now be used.
• Independence from weather conditions, as imaging sessions can be scheduled much more flexibly and postponed by a few days if necessary.
• Maximum flexibility in target selection, since objects can now be imaged precisely when they are optimally positioned in the sky. Targets are no longer limited to what is visible during a vacation stay.

Telescope Time for You

Would you like to process your own images taken under the pristine skies of Namibia?
With my remote telescope, you have the chance to do exactly that: book exposure time at the Gemsbock Observatory and benefit from the exceptionally clear conditions, precision high-end technology, and my many years of experience.
I regularly use the observatory for my own projects but it produces far more high-quality raw data than I can process at once. Now, you can make use of it too.