San Francisco and Marseille, February 20. From California to Finland, from Manitoba to Paris, it’s now official: Unistellar eVscopes are being delivered all around the world and have begun providing users with unique, live outer space observing experiences.
Unistellar was created in 2015 to develop the very first light-amplified, user-friendly digital telescope. The eVscope allows anyone both to easily observe galaxies and nebulae in full color and full detail, even from downtown and to participate in astronomical discovery campaigns in partnership with the SETI Institute.
The company’s development skyrocketed in 2017 with the launch of a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, an effort that now ranks as the second-largest crowdfunding project for a tech-related device in Europe. In December 2019, with production ramping up, eVscopes started to be delivered by the hundreds in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The first users have already published their initial reviews of this truly unique observation experience:
- “This device is truly fantastic; I’ve seen more deep sky objects in two months than in forty years with my three previous telescopes” (Facebook).
- “To be able to bring a scope out and be seeing deep sky objects in less than five minutes is pretty neat” (Reddit).
- “You can have multiple people connect to the scope at the same time, slew to an object and suddenly see the object appear on their screens in full color” (CloudyNights).
All around the world, eVscope users are experiencing a new kind of astronomy. At the same time, they benefit from the power and portability of their eVscopes and share observations with friends and relatives.
The Cigar Galaxy and the Running Man Nebula observed from New York State.
This year Unistellar will deliver eVscopes on a massive scale and see continuous improvements in the devices. “One of the key benefits of developing a connected telescope is that it can be easily updated,” said Dr. Franck Marchis, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute and Chief Scientific Officer at Unistellar.
“On a very regular basis, users will benefit from stunning new observation features, more educational content, and new citizen-science capacities, such as the ability to automatically participate in the detection of exoplanet transits and planetary defense programs.”
Unistellar eVscope reactions and presentation
To host this growth and help its burgeoning user base, Unistellar recently opened its first office in the United States. Located in San Francisco, it’s close to the headquarters of the SETI Institute, Unistellar’s citizen science partner.
“Delivering the first hundred eVscopes and fulfilling our promises to those who backed us is a crucial milestone for Unistellar,” said Laurent Marfisi, Unistellar’s CEO. “2020 is already witnessing the moment where thousands of eVscopes will be turned on all around the globe, transforming what was a visionary project two years ago into a sustainable and groundbreaking citizen astronomy network.”
About Unistellar
Unistellar is the start-up behind the eVscope, a unique, compact, and user-friendly digital telescope. Its light-amplification technology allows users to observe galaxies, nebulae, and comets live and in unparalleled crisp and colorful detail. In partnership with the SETI Institute, the Unistellar eVscope also allows anyone to contribute to astronomical discoveries while observing the night sky.
The Unistellar eVscope received a CES Innovation Award in 2018 in the category Tech for a Better World and has been nominated for a SXSW 2019 Innovation Award. Thousands of digital telescopes have already been preordered, with the first ones delivered in late 2019.
