There guys are advertising telescope hosting prices even lower than those at Starfront, for example 150 AUD/month for small refractors (about $110 USD). I guess it would cost about $350 to ship your refractor and a small strainwave mount over there, but you’d get the additional benefit of some new targets if you’re located in the northern hemisphere.
Anyone know anything about these folks?
A quick look at the website and I can’t find any mention of the average seeing, bortle rating or average number of clear night. I assume their site isn’t the one listed on the contact page as it is in the city.
Médéric Hébert · Mar 10, 2026, 02:51 PM
A quick look at the website and I can’t find any mention of the average seeing, bortle rating or average number of clear night. I assume their site isn’t the one listed on the contact page as it is in the city.
The guy who runs it is apparently a well-known AP guy, so I’m inclined to think he picked a decent spot. But I’m less clear on whether he has a viable business model to rent piers at such a low price. If he goes bankrupt I’ll have to pay for intercontinental shipping 2x, and depending on the details of Australian bankruptcy law, my gear might become assets to be sold off to satisfy creditors.
Looks like this is run by Astroworx - they are a highly reputable Melbourne-based company that makes their own scopes and custom observatories:
Hi everyone,
Happy to explain how we keep it affordable. The land is secured under a 10-year agreement with automatic renewal up to 30 years, so our site cost is locked in for the long term. We also manufacture our own observatories — modular 3 × 5 m structures that open independently every clear night — which keeps both our build and running costs low.
That low overhead lets us bet on volume. Right now we're receiving about 5 rigs every 2 weeks and hosting equipment from 7 countries, with more arriving as I write this. The available land will fit 60 observatories in total. We also store all the shipping containers clients send with their gear.
It's a lot of work, but we're glad to invest the time to make this a convenient destination for anyone interested in southern-skies imaging. Remote hosting doesn't need to be expensive — there are examples in other countries proving it, and we intend to be one more.
Happy to answer any questions.
I have 2 friends with scopes there - Skies are pristine. Its in North Western Victoria, as as Dunk said - it is run by AstroWorx.
I guess - if its owned land, and they aren’t paying a mortgage on the property, when you think about it, what does it ACTUALLY cost to host a 1×1m square of observatory space and a pier… The scope’s going to use what? $30~40 a year in electricity? Maybe Astroworkx are doing it for the love of astronomy, not the potential financial gain…
While they are ‘cheap’ compared to most observatory rentals, is it because they are dangerously cheap? or because everyone else is hellishly expensive for what you are actually getting.
If you have a good, remote-ready rig with a small APO refractor, once you’re set up and polar aligned, they can largely forget your rig exists… It may be a little more complex an operation with a fast newtonian or something like that that might need somewhat frequent adjustment… But at the end of the day… If they own the land and there is no payments being made for the property, they already have an observatory there that has space to spare, and the power usage of a rental pier is honestly next to nothing - then what is it actually costing them vs what they charge?
Not to mention, Astroworx makes piers… Do you not think that there is potential tax benefits to running a side buisiness?
Alex Nicholas · Jul 12, 2026, 11:21 PM
ACTUALLY cost to host a 1×1m square of observatory space and a pier…
The first building could easily be $50K. Most are staffed most nights when the roof is open. One very bad event and the company’s reputation is ruined.
One issue with all sites is that they can’t use starlink financially. There would probably be more observatories is power and internet was often available in bortle 1/2 and staffing was easy. The reason the many of the older hobbyist observatories haven’t grown may often be staffing.
Hey there guys, AstroPuNk here.
I’m one of the people in charge of Nebula Nest (Formerly Ren An Observatory). If allowed by AstroBin, I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have about the site, howevr the website for it to check out would be nebulanest.com.au or www.nebulnest.online which has all of the weather conditions and a live all sky camera. Seeing conditions on the site vary between .8 to 1.3 arc seconds on average. We also generally experience around 230 clear nights a year
donld · Jul 13, 2026, 01:41 AM
The first building could easily be $50K. Most are staffed most nights when the roof is open. One very bad event and the company’s reputation is ruined.
IF - the building isn’t a tax write off for their parent company who builds and sells telescopes, piers and observatories, then yes, the cost of the building would probably need to be recouped via rental fees…
Also worth noting, that, lets say the building costs you 50K.
You rent 10 piers at $500 a month, the cost of the building itself is recovered in 10 months… Yes, less cost of operation, however, you make that 20 piers rented at $500/m, and the site has broken a profit in 12 months without a doubt…
I don’t think remote observatory operations need to be anywhere near the cost that they are per month. I think, however, that this hobby is one where people will pay ridiculous money for results… Look at the number of users of the Tak FSQ106, or the Tak TOA130/150 as a single scope investment… Now, just because MOST remote observatory operators capitalise on this fact, and charge 3x what it actually costs to host a scope (once the inital building setup is paid for) does not mean that every operator is of the same mindset, or that they are paying the same cost for land/observatory buildings etc… Remember, This company is run by a company that builds and sells observatories…. Do you think they paid market rates? Do you think they didn’t claim the cost of building the observatory structure/s as a tax debduction? I hardly think so…
I do not believe this particular site is manned every night… I could be wrong on this, but the information I have is that there is someone there once a week most weeks.
And again, if the people there are doing it for the love of astronomy, and they have a day job when they aren’t out at the site - then they may even be doing it as a volunteer or as a trade for having a scope or two on site..
Seems like a remote observatory buyers guide would be a good AI project: Number of expected integration hours per year and the projected quality of those hours. One non-desert observatory I looked at was in an area that gets most of its rain during fall and winter. So rain pairs with the longest nights of the year. That site likely has significantly fewer integration hours than average.
There’s a rumor that Starfront is pursuing an Australian site. Makes sense considering the cost of Chile.
Astroworks is interesting. Most countries are going to charge VAT of other tax on import. Having shipped a telescope I expect sending a modest rig to Oz would be well over $1K all in.