During daylight hours, this quiet expanse of Central Texas appears unremarkable. Eleven uniform buildings, resembling large, unassuming sheds, dot the landscape, with a few RVs parked nearby.
Not so long ago, cattle roamed freely on this very ground.
However, as dusk settles on a clear evening, these structures spring to life. Their roofs dramatically retract with a series of groans and creaks, revealing their extraordinary contents.
Inside, a magnificent sight unfolds: hundreds of telescopes, a veritable robot army, awaken, subtly shifting and rotating. Yet, their human operators are nowhere in sight.
Welcome to Starfront Observatories, a place designed for those who dream of exploring the cosmos without leaving their homes. Thanks to modern digital cameras and high-speed internet, amateur astronomy has transformed into a sophisticated, remote-controlled pursuit.
Modern telescopes offer far more than just a magnified glimpse of the night sky. For many enthusiasts, the real thrill lies in astrophotography – capturing breathtaking, long-exposure images of celestial objects that are often too faint for the human eye to perceive directly.
“This is simply the most efficient way to practice astronomy,” explains Dustin Gibson, a co-founder of Starfront.
The classic image of an astronomer venturing to a remote mountaintop to gaze through a telescope has largely become a thing of the past. For decades, professional astronomers have been orchestrating observing sessions from their offices, sometimes across continents. They then return the next morning to analyze the fresh images and data on their computers.
This shift has also extended to amateur astronomers, with remote observatories emerging in various dark-sky locations like Utah, New Mexico, and Chile. However, these facilities typically serve a niche of highly dedicated hobbyists who invest in sizable, costly, and advanced equipment.
Driven by a desire to make astronomy accessible to a broader audience, Gibson and his co-founders – Bray Falls, Nathan Hanks, and Josh Kim – launched Starfront. In just over a year since its inception, the observatory has rapidly expanded, now accommodating over 550 telescopes, making it the largest facility of its kind globally.
The observatory hosts a diverse range of instruments, from compact telescopes resembling security cameras to Gibson’s own impressive two-foot-wide mirror behemoth.
“Our core mission is to democratize space exploration and make the wonders of the cosmos more accessible to all,” states Kim.
Looking ahead, the founders envision educational institutions – from schools to universities – utilizing or renting telescope time at Starfront, empowering students with direct access to explore the universe.
“Instead of just concepts in a textbook, the universe becomes a vivid, tangible place in their imaginations,” Gibson muses.
For centuries, the night sky has captivated amateur stargazers, who have frequently been at the forefront of discovering new comets, supernovae, and other fascinating cosmological phenomena.
However, amateur astronomy is neither inexpensive – with quality telescopes often costing hundreds or thousands of dollars – nor straightforward. The majority of people reside in urban or suburban environments where light pollution obscures the night sky. Furthermore, weather conditions like clouds or freezing winter temperatures in northern regions can make outdoor observation unfeasible.
“It becomes incredibly challenging when your ability to observe hinges on transporting equipment to a dark-sky location, then patiently waiting for clear weather, hoping for optimal conditions,” Gibson explains.
Consequently, many aspiring astronomers quickly abandon the hobby, their expensive equipment relegated to a closet.
The founders of Starfront propose a revolutionary solution: simply send your telescope, digital camera, and computer to their Texas facility. A dedicated technician at Starfront will then expertly install your equipment onto a robust steel mount within one of their specialized sheds.
Think of it as renting a premium parking space for your telescope, complete with a high-speed data connection. This service is surprisingly affordable, starting at just $99 per month for smaller telescopes.
These remote telescopes can meticulously track specific regions of the sky over multiple nights. During these extended exposures, digital camera sensors collect a multitude of photons, bringing to light celestial objects that would otherwise remain unseen. Intriguingly, amateur astronomers, often using wider-field telescopes, frequently capture phenomena that might be overlooked by massive professional observatories, which typically zero in on tiny sections of the cosmos.
“This nebula in Virgo is one of my own discoveries,” proudly stated Mr. Falls, gesturing towards a vibrant image of a supernova remnant in the constellation Virgo, which appeared as large as the moon in his captured photograph.
Mr. Falls, a renowned astrophotographer, revealed that this particular image required an astounding 180 hours of cumulative exposure time.
“Many of the objects I observe are actually larger than the moon in our sky, but they are so incredibly dim that most people don’t even attempt to photograph them,” he added.
The four founders of Starfront initially connected through previous business ventures and a mutual passion for astronomy. Gibson, Hanks, and Kim previously collaborated at OurSky, a startup specializing in software development for space data. Meanwhile, Falls and Gibson’s connection was forged years earlier within the close-knit astrophotography community.
Their quest for an ideal observatory site began a couple of years ago, with several non-negotiable criteria.
First and foremost, the location needed to boast a Class 1 dark sky, the absolute darkest rating on the Bortle scale (for context, Times Square in Manhattan scores a 9, indicating severe light pollution).
Consistent clear skies were another critical requirement for successful observations.
Initially, Texas seemed an unconventional choice, given that deserts and mountaintops in states like New Mexico or California often offer darker, clearer conditions. However, a 15-acre plot beside a dirt road near the tiny community of Rockwood presented unique advantages, particularly its access to high-speed fiber-optic internet.
Crucially, Rockwood isn’t entirely isolated; major cities like Austin and Fort Worth are conveniently located within a three-hour drive.
After acquiring the land last April, the team began constructing the first observatory sheds. Their initial efforts were met with a rare, torrential downpour, making their chosen Rockwood location feel like a catastrophic mistake.
“We arrived on what locals described as the worst rain in two decades,” Gibson remembers. “It was a complete nightmare, and the standing water brought an influx of insects.”
Eventually, the rains ceased, the floodwaters receded, and construction on the first two sheds was completed.
Mr. Falls shared videos on YouTube detailing the innovative Starfront concept, which quickly captured the interest of enthusiasts like Jonathan Semeyn from Kansas, near downtown Kansas City. Semeyn lamented, “My astrophotography conditions at home are far from ideal; I have a tiny backyard with a severely restricted view of the sky.”
Semeyn enthusiastically reported logging into his remote telescope nightly whenever Texas skies permitted. In the latter half of last year alone, he amassed over 800 hours of imaging time at Starfront, a stark contrast to the mere 100 hours he’d achieved with his home telescope this year. “There’s simply no comparison,” he declared.
Starfront actively collaborates with its clients to optimize various telescopes for remote operation. For instance, Carlos Garcia, a Miami resident, owned a Seestar S50, a compact telescope conveniently controlled via a smartphone app.
While he enjoyed using it, Garcia expressed frustration: “In Miami, I was lucky to use it two nights a week.”
His attempts to find a remote observatory were met with skepticism. “The common response was, ‘You’re joking, right? That’s only a $500 telescope; it won’t work here,’” Garcia recounted, adding that the cheapest service he found was $800 per month.
Upon discovering Starfront, he immediately subscribed to their most affordable plan, then $149 a month, and sent his telescope to Texas.
Garcia even created a video demonstrating how he controlled his Seestar from his Mac. These smaller telescopes have since become a significant segment of Starfront’s operations. Newer sheds now feature steel beams at the front, allowing for multiple Seestars to be mounted, offering an even more budget-friendly option at $99 per month.
Starfront recently expanded its footprint by acquiring an adjacent 20-acre parcel, creating ample space for numerous additional sheds and telescopes. The company is also actively investigating establishing a second remote site in the Southern Hemisphere.
However, as Starfront’s popularity surged and more people shipped their telescopes, the founders faced challenges keeping up with customer support demands.
“We were completely overwhelmed,” Kim admitted.
To address this, they established a vibrant community on Discord, the popular instant messaging platform, enabling customers to assist each other. Open to everyone, not just Starfront clients, this group has blossomed into a collaborative hub for technical support and pooling data to create superior images.
“Imagine having 2,000 passionate astronomy enthusiasts in one place, all discussing their shared love for the cosmos,” Gibson enthused.
“And they’re surprisingly hilarious,” Kim quipped.