Leon Bewersdorff

Leon Bewersdorff

Computational observational astronomy, sensor network automation & development


My personal research in astronomy focuses on exoplanet photometry, precision astrometry, and stellar multiplicity. Recent personal projects include automating and maintaining research telescopes for robotic interferometry and exoplanet observation, as well as developing observational astronomy software.

Past projects
Automation of research telescopes
Work for telescopes to perform automated observations.
Automation of research telescopes
Observatory
My private observatory
Observatory

What I’m up to

Observable Space closes $90M Series A to scale manufacturing, announces $94M U.S. Space Force contract
Press Release - 🎉
Leon Bewersdorff
May 28, 2026
Observable Space closes $90M Series A to scale manufacturing, announces $94M U.S. Space Force contract
Speckle Interferometry of 25 Gaia Two-Parameter Potential Binaries
Gaia two-parameter (G2P) stars have cumulative errors in parallax and proper motion so great that only their mean positions were …
Paul McCudden, Russell Genet, John Major, Zachary Hartman, A. U. Kovic, Rick Wasson, Michael-James Ellis, Lou Jackson, Bradley Brungardt, Zaida Weems, Astrid Wehlitz, Evan Wille, Leon Bewersdorff, Nick Hardy, Rachel Freed, David Rowe, Thomas C. Smith, Reed Estrada, Thomas Meneghini, Reggie Jones, Tom Mason, Dwight Collins, Mark Copper
Project DOI
ExoClock Project IV: A homogeneous catalogue of 620 updated exoplanet ephemerides
The ExoClock project is an open platform aiming to monitor exoplanets by integrating observations from space and ground based …
A. Kokori, A. Tsiaras, G. Pantelidou, A. Jones, A. Siakas, B. Edwards, G. Tinetti, A. WĂĽnsche, Y. Jongen, F. Libotte, M. Correa, L. V. Mugnai, A. Bocchieri, A. R. Capildeo, E. Poultourtzidis, C. Sidiropoulos, Leon Bewersdorff, G. Lekkas, and 200+ observers
Project
ExoClock Project IV: A homogeneous catalogue of 620 updated exoplanet ephemerides
Mt. Wilson 2025 - May and October 2.5-meter telescope observations
Semi-automated speckle interferometry observations taken at Mt. Wilson in May and October 2025.
Leon Bewersdorff
Oct 18, 2025
Project
Mt. Wilson 2025 - May and October 2.5-meter telescope observations
Speckle Interferometry Camera Checkout on the 100-Inch Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory
A new speckle interferometry camera system was checked out during a four-night run on the 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson observatory …
Dale Ghent, Geoff Stone, Dave Rowe, Tom Smith, Tom Meneghini, Nick Hardy, Leon Bewersdorff, Reed Estrada, Mark Copper, Lou Jackson, Russell Genet, Paul McCudden, Douglas Walker, Evan Wille, Michael Ellis
Project
Two space startups have merged to create the next generation of telescopes
TechCrunch - merger of OurSky and PlaneWave Instruments to form Observable Space
Leon Bewersdorff
Feb 4, 2025
Two space startups have merged to create the next generation of telescopes
Students as Citizen Scientists: Observations and Measurements of 43 Exoplanet Targets
Automated exoplanet observations taken with OurSky telescopes for use by students in Stanford Online High School classes
Jett Peters, Sabine Mazzeo, Alex Hamrick, Leon Bewersdorff, Nick Hardy, Dave Rowe, Maiya Qiu, Emerson Tiller, Mia Ella Antonio, Pierce Arora, Reid Barry, Ella Barthel, Sophia Bhatti, Kavi Bidlack, Nathan Bowman, Corbin Breeden, Madeleine Cheung, Nicholas Dunn, Atria Freeman, Kyler Gandrup, Kiera Higgins, Amiya Iqbal, Duncan Keefe, Cole Kim, Eden (Songxiao) Li, Denis Levine, Elina Lobanov, Jules Miller, Morgan Mescher, Khensa Musaddequr Rahman, William O’Donnell, Kingsley Panigrahi, Lily Parry, Nicholas Peh, Michael Pylypovych, Tala Reyes, Hannah Hyeonseo Ryou, Sage Sawhney, Zoe Schurman, Karthikeya Vattem, Leonid Vishnevskiy, Weston Yoo, Fenton Zarlengo, David Oparko, Kalée Tock, Pat Boyce, Scott Dixon
Project
Mt. Wilson 2024 - June and October 2.5-meter telescope observations
Semi-automated speckle interferometry observations taken at Mt. Wilson in June and October 2024.
Leon Bewersdorff
Nov 2, 2024
Project
Mt. Wilson 2024 - June and October 2.5-meter telescope observations
OurSky lands $9.5M seed to build out developer platform for space data
TechCrunch - 🎉
Leon Bewersdorff
Dec 6, 2023
OurSky lands $9.5M seed to build out developer platform for space data
Testing the limits of Interferometry; Resolving Charon, Pluto's Moon
Attempts at direct imaging of Pluto’s moon Charon using a 1.0-meter telescope
Leon Bewersdorff
Nov 6, 2023
Project
Testing the limits of Interferometry; Resolving Charon, Pluto's Moon
Mt. Wilson 2023 - "Automating" the 2.5-meter telescope
Semi-automated interferometry observations taken at Mt. Wilson in June 2023.
Leon Bewersdorff
Jul 1, 2023
Project
Mt. Wilson 2023 - "Automating" the 2.5-meter telescope
Known Binaries Speckle Interferometry with a 1.0-m Telescope in Chile
Over the past several months, students and instructors from three schools—supported by experienced observers—have been making automated …
Russell Genet, Roger Wholly, Leon Bewersdorff, Nick Hardy, Mark Harris, James Armstrong, Rachel Freed, Paul McCudden, Maaike Calvin, Mario Terrazas, S. Stephen Rajkumar Inbanathan, Shane Christopher, David Rowe, Scott Dixon, Thomas Smith, Christopher Giavarini, Marie Davis, Ron Snyder, Robert Buchheim
Project
Automated Speckle Interferometry of Known Binaries
Astronomers have been measuring the separations and position angles between the two components of binary stars since William Herschel …
Nick Hardy, Leon Bewersdorff, David Rowe, Russell Genet, Rick Wasson, James Armstrong, Scott Dixon, Mark Harris, Tom Smith, Rachel Freed, Paul McCudden, S. Stephen Rajkumar Inbanathan, Marie Davis, Christopher Giavarini, Ronald Snyder, Roger Wholly, Maaike Calvin, Sumner Cotton, Julia Carter, Mario Terrazas, Shane Christopher, Arun Kumar, Sithara Naskath, Mariam Ronald Rabin
Project
Automated Speckle Interferometry of Known Binaries
Analysis of GSO Ritchey-Chrétien's Baffling Issues (resold under Orion, TS-Optics, ...)
Ritchey-ChrĂ©tien telescopes by GSO, Guan Sheng Optical, are a popular option in the medium price range. They are resold by various retailers, such as Teleskop-Express/Teleskop-Service, Orion, iOptron, Astro-Tech, Apertura, TPO, … . They unfortunately suffer from an optical design problem which limits their use. With the primary mirror baffling issue corrected, they are good telescopes with excellent value (I use an RC myself in my own observatory), but the baffling design flaw introduces significant problems “as-purchased”, especially during bright moonlight.
Leon Bewersdorff
Sep 29, 2022
Project
Analysis of GSO Ritchey-Chrétien's Baffling Issues (resold under Orion, TS-Optics, ...)
ExoClock Project III: 450 new exoplanet ephemerides from ground and space observations
The ExoClock project has been created with the aim of increasing the efficiency of the Ariel mission. It will achieve this by …
A. Kokori, A. Tsiaras, B. Edwards, A. Jones, G. Pantelidou, G. Tinetti, Leon Bewersdorff, A. Iliadou, Y. Jongen, G. Lekkas, A. Nastasi, E. Poultourtzidis, C. Sidiropoulos, F. Walter, A. WĂĽnsche, and 100+ observers
Project Project
ExoClock Project III: 450 new exoplanet ephemerides from ground and space observations
Exploring Short Period Red Dwarf Binaries in the Solar Neighborhood Speckle Interferometry and Gaia - IV
Speckle Interferometry observations were made of double stars within 30 parsecs of Earth with a late K or M dwarf component using the …
Sophia Risin, Josephine Stockton, Jack Duerk, Keshav Narang, Rohan Satapathy, Nathan Lehenbauer, Leon Bewersdorff, Scott Dixon, Liam Dugan, Dave Rowe, Hermione Hernandez, Alexander Vasquez, Russell Genet
Project
Exploring Short Period Red Dwarf Binaries in the Solar Neighborhood Speckle Interferometry and Gaia - IV
Mt. Wilson 2022 - Bispectrum speckle interferometry with Hale's 1.5-meter telescope
Speckle Interferometry observations using the 60" telescope at Mt. Wilson in March 2022.
Leon Bewersdorff
Apr 8, 2022
Mt. Wilson 2022 - Bispectrum speckle interferometry with Hale's 1.5-meter telescope
CMOS-testing and configuration for exoplanet photometry: Analysis for ExoClock
The ExoClock project has been created with the aim of increasing the efficiency of the Ariel mission. It will achieve this by …
Roland Casali, David Rees, Leon Bewersdorff
CMOS-testing and configuration for exoplanet photometry: Analysis for ExoClock
James Webb Space Telescope seen from Earth after Sunshield Deployment
The JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) was observed live using a telescope from the desert in Chile, a few hours after it extended its sunshield while on its way to orbit L2 to take first images.
Leon Bewersdorff
Jan 3, 2022
Project
James Webb Space Telescope seen from Earth after Sunshield Deployment
25 New Light Curves and Updated Ephemeris through Analysis of Exoplanet WASP-50b with EXOTIC
The EXOplanet Transit Interpretation Code (EXOTIC) was used to reduce 75 sets of time-series images of WASP-50 taken by the 6-inch …
Ramy Mizrachi, Dylan Ly, Leon Bewersdorff, Kalée Tock
25 New Light Curves and Updated Ephemeris through Analysis of Exoplanet WASP-50b with EXOTIC
ExoClock Project. II. A Large-scale Integrated Study with 180 Updated Exoplanet Ephemerides
The ExoClock project is an inclusive, integrated, and interactive platform that was developed to monitor the ephemerides of the Ariel …
A. Kokori, A. Tsiaras, B. Edwards, M. Rocchetto, G. Tinetti, Leon Bewersdorff, Y. Jongen, G. Lekkas, G. Pantelidou, E. Poultourtzidis, A. WĂĽnsche, and 50+ observers
Project Project
ExoClock Project. II. A Large-scale Integrated Study with 180 Updated Exoplanet Ephemerides
Analysis of Eight Double Star Systems
Our Stanford Online High School class measured eight double stars and assessed the probability of a gravitational relationship for each …
Ronan Boyarski, Liam Dugan, Avni Bansal, Paul Hamrick, Elias Koubaa, Ramy Mizrachi, Adhvaith Thurvas, Dylan Ly, Leon Bewersdorff, Kalée Tock
Analysis of Eight Double Star Systems
Incidental discovery of a relatively bright Delta Scuti Variable
Description of the incidental discovery during an exoplanet observation that magnitude 9.8 HD 252752 is a Delta Scuti variable star, submitted to the AAVSO.
Leon Bewersdorff
Mar 18, 2021
Project
Incidental discovery of a relatively bright Delta Scuti Variable