Iván Venzor was eating dinner in Monterrey, Mexico, when he helped spot a new planet. Not with a high-tech space agency, but with a telescope sitting a few meters away in his backyard. A flicker of starlight, barely perceptible—and just like that, he might’ve found a gas giant orbiting a distant sun.
His telescope is no ordinary stargazer’s toy. It’s part of a growing, Wi-Fi-connected global network of over 15,000 telescopes, all manufactured by a French company called Unistellar. This decentralized fleet has helped uncover asteroids, comets, and exoplanets—all by tracking momentary eclipses caused by celestial objects blocking starlight.
Astronomers call this method “occultation,” which sounds vaguely supernatural but is just advanced shadow-watching. When a star blinks out for a fraction of a second, data from multiple locations can reconstruct the size, shape, and trajectory of whatever passed in front of it. In other words, amateur astronomers are now planetary cartographers, mapping the unknown from their driveways.
“This is the coolest citizen science project I’ve ever seen,” says Jon Vandegriff, a space physics data scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. That’s not hyperbole. This network has refined asteroid orbit predictions, aided exoplanet research, and even surveilled major NASA missions.
Like in 2022, when NASA sent a spacecraft to smash into an asteroid—an actual real-life planetary defense test. While Earth’s top space minds were busy throwing 1,200 pounds of metal at a rock, the Unistellar network tracked the debris, helping scientists measure the impact’s aftermath. Think of it as interplanetary crash investigation, but with more math and fewer insurance claims.
Of course, there’s a catch. These telescopes don’t come cheap—$4,000 a pop, which puts them well beyond impulse-buy territory. Fortunately, Unistellar and groups like Astronomers Without Borders have been distributing them to universities and astronomy clubs worldwide, ensuring that more people can join the cosmic surveillance effort.
For some, this access to high-tech stargazing is a game-changer. Marcelo Souza, an astrophysicist in Rio de Janeiro, secured a donated telescope for his astronomy club last year. “When we received it, everything changed,” he says. Now, it’s not just a research tool—it’s a magnet for students and the space-curious, pulling them into the mysteries of the universe.
Armenia’s Vachik Khachatryan and his brother, Mher, run an astronomy club with one such telescope. Since acquiring it, they’ve hosted events for over 2,000 children and even took it to Vachik’s wedding. Nothing says “eternal love” like letting your guests peer into the infinite void of space between courses.
With every new observation, these backyard astronomers are proving that major discoveries no longer belong solely to billion-dollar space agencies. They’re rewriting the rules of cosmic exploration—one flickering star at a time.
Five Fast Facts
- Unistellar’s smart telescopes can autonomously track objects in space, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.
- NASA’s asteroid-smashing mission, DART, altered the asteroid’s speed by about 32 minutes—far more than expected.
- The Khachatryan brothers’ astronomy club in Armenia also organizes space camps for kids, blending science with adventure.
- Occultation techniques helped confirm Pluto’s thin atmosphere before it was directly imaged by the New Horizons mission.
- Rio de Janeiro’s astronomy club now collaborates with international researchers, using their donated telescope for professional studies.