N
Light that left before we were born.
An independent observatory and astro studio on the edge of the Carpathians. We photograph, teach and protect the dark.
48°09′N 24°30′E · Est. 2014
( 01 ) — The studio
We are a small observatory above the clouds. We photograph the sky, teach people to read it, and fight for the dark — because a sky you cannot see is a sky you stop caring about.
( 02 ) — Disciplines · 01 / 05
Astrophotography
Night-sky tours
Telescope craft
Dark-sky care
Planetarium
Tracked long exposures of the galactic core, nebulae and comets — printed large, archived forever.
Small groups, red lights, one green laser. We name what you are looking at until you can name it yourself.
Mirrors ground and figured by hand in our workshop, then tested under the same sky they were made for.
We help villages swap glare for warm, shielded light — and get the stars back above their rooftops.
When the clouds win, the dome does not. Live-narrated shows under a projected sky.
- 01Astrophotography
- 02Night-sky tours
- 03Telescope craft
- 04Dark-sky care
- 05Planetarium
( 03 ) — Expeditions
Where we chase the dark.
Four nights from the archive. Each one took a year of planning and a forecast we almost didn’t trust.
Black Sand Aurora
Above the Cloud Sea
Quiver Tree Forest
( 04 ) — One night, five steps
01
Forecast
Cloud models, moon phase, seeing and transparency. We wait for the one night in thirty.
02
Ascend
Gear goes up the mountain on our backs. We arrive before blue hour, never after.
03
Calibrate
Polar alignment, focus on a bright star, dark and flat frames. Patience before pixels.
04
Capture
Six to nine hours of exposures while the whole sky turns slowly overhead.
05
Develop
Stacking, gradients, colour. Weeks of quiet work for a single frame.
01 — Forecast
( 05 ) — The night shift
Five people who sleep in the day.
Point at a name.
Marek Voss
Founder · Astrophysicist
Lina Arden
Lead astrophotographer
Taras Melnyk
Optics & mirror making
Ines Calder
Dark-sky programmes
Yuki Hara
Planetarium director