Sirius Observatories Australia Pty Ltd recently celebrated 28 years since they commenced operation in 1986. From very humble beginnings, and with no other large observatory manufacturer in Australia to glean knowledge from, the two directors/owners – (John Hay and Joe Deregt) – proudly entered their 28th year of producing world-class observatories.
We pride ourselves on utilising as many local products and suppliers as we can in sourcing the materials we need to manufacture our product, which helps keep our local economy flowing, which in turn helps us continue to manufacture our products at the best possible price for all of our customers world-wide.
Sirius Observatories Australia has learned that success and innovation comes from overcoming difficulties as a team and with Joe at the helm, we believe that nothing can stand in our way of eventually becoming the number one manufacturer of fiberglass observatories in the world.
Why not look over some of our products in the following pages.
“It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other. Plato
About Us
So, just how did Sirius Observatories Australia start? Well, if you were a pair of very experienced fiberglass boat builders with a business exporting trailer sailer boats, and you noticed there was a looming downturn in this export market, what would you do? Given this scenario, John Hay and Joe Deregt decided to turn their fiberglassing skills of more that 20 years into the development and manufacture of fiberglass observatories for astronomers.
With the help of some friends, one of whom had purchased a boat from them and who also happened to be an avid astronomer (John Shobbrook), the boys sat around one Friday afternoon after work, set up a drawing board (which just happened to be a XXXX beer carton) and started designing. The end result was the establishment of Sirius Observatories Australia. The first observatory was shipped in 1986 and to date, more than 850 observatories have been sold in more than 25 countries around the world – from Tibet to Taiwan, Russia to Romania, Canada to the Canary Islands, USA to the UAE (Dubai) and from Australia to Estonia.
Now we’re aiming for a Sirius Observatory to be in every corner of the world. Our observatories are set up in suburban backyards as well as in the middle of the Utah desert (which is used to track missions to Mars), to the Aeronautical & Space Museum in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. There are probably about half a million amateur astronomers in the world, and of that number, about 100,000 are doing casual research, so the opportunity for a Sirius observatory to be in every corner of the world is a real possibility. What happened to those quiet old days when we worked on our boats? Wouldn’t change it for anything and to all of our customers, wish you all “clear skies”.
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