An Army of Robot Telescopes in Texas Makes the Stars Feel Closer Than Ever

[David Stein]

There is an article in the New York Times today about Starfront Observatories:

During the day, this patch of land in sparsely populated Central Texas is not remarkable. Eleven buildings, nearly identical, look like bland, oversize backyard sheds. Several large R.V.s are parked nearby.
Not long ago, cows grazed here.
But as the sun sets on a clear day, the buildings groan and creak as the roof of each shed rolls back, like the sliding lid on a wooden box.
Revealed within the sheds are hundreds of telescopes, which intermittently twitch and pirouette, a robot army awakening. Their owners are nowhere to be seen.
This is Starfront Observatories. If you want to explore the universe but do not want to go outside, this might be the place for you. In an age of digital cameras and state-of-the-art internet, amateur astronomy can now be a remote-controlled hobby, and a far more sophisticated one.
Today’s telescopes provide much more than a magnified view of the night sky. For many practitioners, the name of the game is astrophotography — taking exquisite, long-exposure photographs of objects too dim to be seen with the naked eye.
“It’s the most efficient way for astronomy to be done,” said Dustin Gibson, one of the company’s founders.

Here is an unlocked link to the article that doesn't require a subscription:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/science/starfront-observatories-remote-astronomy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uE8.AEUs.DvfXHMnMtZP-&smid=url-share

Clear skies,

David

[Bob Savoy]

Hi David,

I read your excellent email, but I have not the attached NY Times article. I must say, when I read the partial headline that came up on my iPhone, I was afraid that Elon Musk had covered the night sky with something like Starlinks or worse. 

Thank you for the link!

Bob

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