Nikon Teams Up with Unistellar to Work on Commercial Telescope

Nikon has teamed up with Unistellar, a self-described astronomy disruptor, to enhance telescope technology for commercial use and bring the common astronomy fan "closer to space."

Unistellar's eVscope and eQuinox telescopes, which use proprietary "Enhanced Vision" and "Automated Field Detection" technology to provide "unmatched power and accuracy in a tiny telescope," have made waves in the telescope community. Thanks to the company's sophisticated pollution reduction technology, both work in the wild and in the city.

Unistellar uses a series of patents to distinguish its telescope and make it easier for average telescope buyers to get remarkable results. Nikon has taken notice of this “smart telescope” startup, and the two have teamed up to “democratize high-end technology.”

Unistellar is a very new firm compared to Nikon, having only released telescopes in the last two years.

Nikon's Senior Vice President, Yasuhiro Ohmura, stated

“Like Nikon has done and continues to do in many fields related with optics and imaging, we see Unistellar’s products spark joy and excitement on an important and meaningful topic that was previously difficult to grasp for consumers. We are also particularly sensitive to Unistellar's unique approach to popularizing science and enlightenment, and we are eager to work with them to expand and deepen this mission.”

The joint press release is fairly ambiguous, and neither business was able to provide more detailed specifics on what Nikon would be offering to the Unistellar product or vice versa, although Unistellar stated that it would be able to do so "soon." Nikon will collaborate with Unistellar on the entire optical design of Unistellar telescopes, and consumers can "expect to see components of that collaboration in subsequent products," according to the business.

When asked if Unistellar's partnership with Nikon would make it easier to adapt Nikon cameras to Unistellar telescopes in a way that isn't currently possible, the company responded that its eVscope and eQuinox telescopes are "connected" smart devices that automatically send observations to the user's smartphone, eliminating the need for an external camera.

Below is the statement from Unistellar, without providing any other details.

“This is a broad collaboration so you can expect developments going way beyond that,”