Egon Reich is an astronomer, electronic computer engineer and astrophotographer.
At the age of seven, Egon's father — who had a deep love for the stars — introduced to him to the night sky. This moment sparked his passion for astronomy. In 1962, he received his first telescope — a Newtonian reflector — as a birthday gift and has never forgotten the first time he was able to look at the Moon and Saturn's rings.
In 1978, Egon purchased 20 acres on Palomar Mountain in California near Palomar Observatory - home of the 200” Hale Telescope. He put a full rotating dome observatory on his property and became the first person to offer a complete computerized digital CCD Imaging system for armature photography (Sky & Telescope Magazine 1992). Egon also started a small astronomy group called “Egon’s Star Ranch” that lasted for 17 years.
Egon studied astronomy and computer electronic technology at multiple universities and worked as a computer consultant and technical advisor to Meade Instruments, He also owned four computer/telescope retail stores called Compu-$ave International, Inc., and has his work appear in a full color publication by Meade instruments evaluating their 14” Computerized Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope.
In 1986, Egon won an award at the Orange County Fair for a picture taken of Halley’s Comet in the General Photography Category. Around this time, he also worked on the guide system of the 200” telescope and took part in classified projects on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
Egon is a member of the Griffith Park Conservancy and is planning to get permission to help with the astronomy outreach program at the Griffith Observatory.