Altair Astro was founded by amateur astronomers Nick Vermeulen and Ian Knight 9 years ago, inspired by a conversation at the Kelling Heath starparty in Norfolk.
Starting with astronomy accessories only, Altair has grown rapidly, offering a wide range of telescopes and accessories for imaging and visual observing; becoming European distributors for SkyShed POD observatories, iOptron GOTO mount systems and Kendrick Astro Instruments.
Altair operates a high street showroom in Aylsham, Norfolk, and can fully service their products.
Although starting off in retail and distribution, Altair are developing their own innovative products, such as their UK made “Telescope Mounting System”, a modular design offering many ways to mount a telescope with minimal components.
Altair are gaining a reputation for their Wave SeriesTM APO refractors and are working on some new optical designs for 2012.
Their Altair Miniguider 60TM is another innovative product - an autoguider and finder scope in one unit.
Altair pride themselves on being able to provide everything required to install an observatory from the ground up, including the locally made and easy to install SkyShed steel pier system, and the SkyShed POD Personal Observatory Dome, a revolutionary portable observatory design manufactured by their business partner SkyShed in Canada.
Altair distribute and service the full range of iOptron Equatorial mounts throughout Europe, however their founders Nick and Ian can still be found at the shop as usual, where they can help those wanting their first telescope, or provide a full observatory system for amateurs, schools and universities.