Today I would like to introduce an Austrian project of which I, as a native of Upper Austria, am very proud. Just 37 km north of my hometown of Linz lies an epicenter of technical astronomical developments. I have already mentioned the outstanding international achievements of the Austrian company ASA, led by Egon Döberl (CEO of ASA Astrosysteme GmbH), several times in my reports to our community, and have also featured him here in connection with CEDIC (Central European Digital Imaging Conference). Most recently, I did so in my report on CEDIC 2024, where Egon also prominently promoted our Global Astronomy Month alongside other well-known figures from the international astronomy scene. I am now pleased to present further sensational new developments related to this company. ASA now produces everything under one roof. From high-precision hand-ground telescope mirrors up to 2.5 meters in diameter, through high-precision observatory mounts and control systems, to complete solutions for university projects, and now even finished large domes. Egon Döberl's approach has always been to provide everything from a single source. This has led to the successful worldwide shipment of complete observatories with 80cm telescopes in standard container sizes. New developments now demonstrate that even larger sizes are possible.
I recently had the privilege of attending the commissioning ceremony for the first 11-meter dome for the "Rolf Chini Cerro Murphy"-observatory in Chile. In collaboration with Innovametall, a metalworking company led by Klaus Pichelbauer (CEO of Innovametall GmbH), geodetic, highly transportable observatory domes, the so-called "Orbyx domes" are being manufactured in the immediate vicinity of ASA in Freistadt, Germany, for worldwide shipping.
Following some impressions from this event:
Klaus Pichelbauer shares Egon Döberl's vision and innovative approach to implementing new ideas and business models. The successful new concept is that future observatories will be able to assemble highly modular dome structures of any size on-site, more or less independently.
Smaller versions of these domes are already being used successfully in satellite communication systems, another innovative pillar of ASA's business.
This year's unveiling of the 11-meter dome at the company premises, shortly before its shipment to Chile for the "Rolf Chini Cerro Murphy" Observatory, was undoubtedly a milestone in the ongoing development of the successful collaboration between ASA GmbH and Innovametall GmbH. It was therefore more than justified to hold an event with the local press to present the achievements to a wider audience. Numerous distinguished guests and speakers were also present, including Professor Rolf Chini from Bochum, Dr. Martin Bohmann from the University of Innsbruck, and researchers from Quantum Technology Laboratories GmbH.
From left to right: Klaus Pichelbauer (CEO of Innovametall GmbH), Egon Döberl (CEO of ASA Astrosysteme GmbH), Professor Rolf Chini from the University of Bochum, Dr. Martin Bohmann from the University of Innsbruck.
In conclusion, I would like to say:It makes me proud to see what a former amateur astronomer, whom I have known personally for decades, has achieved and continues to achieve, and it makes me curious about what other innovative ideas will come from this Austrian corner of the world - stay tuned and feel free to share this report.
Last but not least a selfie with Günther Martello (-left-president of our astronomical association "Kepler Sternwarte Linz") & me at Orbyx Night
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Johannes Stübler
National Coordinator, Austria 🇦🇹
Kepler Sternwarte Linz
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