About Us
We are a new, family-operated stargazing company based in Lake Tekapo, who love to share our understanding of the night sky and everything astronomy.
We offer fully guided, in-depth experiences from New Zealand’s premier stargazing location, using powerful telescopes and multicultural storytelling
Why Astro Tekapo
Our main location is an open grassland space lined by conifers on the eastern shores of Lake Tekapo. During daytime, people love to stretch their legs or play a game of disc golf in this section of Takapō Regional Park. As soon as night falls, though, visitors will be rewarded with spectacular vistas of the night skies. Sitting within the world-famous Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, the quality of the night sky is certified. Getting here from the town centre of Lake Tekapo takes only a few minutes by car, or half an hour walking.
With the unaided, naked eye we can see the mighty Milky Way, neighbouring galaxies and count thousands of stars above us in the heavens. How do you view star constellations? What is your perspective of the cosmos? We love to captivate our guests with multicultural stories from all around the world. How do master navigators use their knowledge of the night sky to explore huge expanses of the oceans – without using modern technology and hardly ever getting lost? As you will be part of a small group of maximum 10 participants, we endeavor to answer each of your many questions. But there is more, so much more, simply waiting to be discovered.
To make the invisible, visible, astronomers use handy tools called telescopes. Our primary telescope, a Celestron CPC Deluxe 925 HD, is within its class of portable telescopes, probably the best-performing one. It combines a 9.25” aperture and HD optics with a computerized mount and integrated GPS. On top of that, for optimal viewing experiences of the Moon, planets, star clusters and nebulae, we only use premium eyepieces and accessories. Our second instrument, a state-of-the-art Unistellar eVscope 2 smart telescope, will allow us to look even deeper into space, revealing space clouds and distant galaxies in magnificent colours and incredibly fine detail.
Your experience is our number one core value. That is why the 90-minute tour from within the Dark Sky Reserve is not only fully guided, but also includes the use of superb telescopes and comfortable moon chairs, while fleece blankets and hot chocolate will help keep you warm. A photo of your individual party with the night sky in the background will be sent to you.
Our story
My name is Sang. I was born in Korea and grew up in Belgium. Both places are notoriously bad in terms of light pollution. But a love for adventure, travel and the outdoors brought me to the Atacama Desert, in northern Chile. The world’s driest (non-polar) desert boasts some of the best pristine night skies and inspired a new interest – this time for stargazing and astronomy.
It is no coincidence that several of the world’s top observatories are in the Atacama. I was lucky enough to take astronomy courses there with renowned professors Massimo Tarenghi (European Southern Observatory) and Eric Escalera (Astronomica del Sur Ltda). My earlier career as a qualified geographer, environmental research scientist and surveyor also may have helped in the transformation of becoming a semi-decent and confident astronomy guide.
Fast forward to 2024. With nine years of professional guiding experience under the belt – with the world’s leading expedition company as well as for stargazing operators in Aotearoa New Zealand – the time has come to offer quality experiences from a new observatory at the very heart of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve: Astro Tekapo. Are you ready for an exciting journey through the cosmos?
Ready to explore the night sky with us?
Book your experience today and discover why Lake Tekapo is one of the world’s premier stargazing destinations.
