ADAMS COUNTY, Ohio — Talk about a room with a view: A Warren County business owner has invested millions of dollars in an Adams County observatory that can see objects billions of light-years away.
Dieter Moeller is opening his state-of-the-art stargazer to the public through a partnership with the Cincinnati Astronomical Society (CAS).
“One of the main missions of the observatory here is to increase scientific engagement, increase scientific literacy through outreach,” said Moeller, owner and chairman of RH Aero Systems in Mason. “I love showing kids galaxies here that are 100, 150 million light years away and say, ‘What you’re looking at is from the age of the dinosaurs. That’s enough to blow most peoples’ minds right there.”
Moeller has been working on this passion project since 2015, when he bought a dairy farm near Manchester to enjoy its sweeping river views and continue his love of astronomy.
“I’ve got some roots here in Adams County,” Moeller said. “My father owned some land here. So, as a teenager, I would come out with a good friend of mine, and we would just spend nights with our small amateur scopes and enjoy the dark skies.”
One telescope led to others. Before long, Moeller had a cluster of research-quality instruments that can reach back toward the origin of the universe.
“There is one object that is eight billion light years away, that you can actually see here,” Moeller said. “Before the sun was in the sky and the earth existed, that light left to travel so that it could hit my retina and allow me to go, ‘Wow. I’m looking back toward the beginning of the universe.’ That’s pretty powerful and heady stuff.”
WATCH: Learn more about how you can experience The Moeller Observatory
The Moeller Observatory will be a star attraction for the Cincinnati Astronomical Society, where members have received specialized training in how to operate and maintain Moeller’s equipment. They’ve also been using its most powerful scope to work on Citizen Science Projects for NASA.
“This really is a dream come true,” said CAS President Bryan Simpson. “Our team will come out here and point at a distant star that NASA says is a candidate star. And they can detect that through a sensitive instrument like this and be able to tell all sorts of characteristics about that planet like, ‘How big is it? How close is it?’”
The Planewave PW1000 1-meter reflecting telescope is a research-grade instrument with “precise tracking and advanced optics (that) make it ideal for high-level observing and imaging,” said a CAS press release announcing the exclusive partnership with Moeller Observatory. “This PW1000 is one of only two in the Eastern half of the US, and one of the largest and most advanced telescopes in the country accessible by amateur astronomers.”
Three other scopes are anchored into the hillside by concrete piers and capped by a retractable roof.
While the facilities are open to the public, access to them will be managed by CAS.
“The easiest way to experience the Moeller Observatory is to become a member of CAS,” Simpson said. “We try to hold at least one monthly event, so that our members can come out here. They can camp out. They can bring their own gear.”
Founded in 1911, the Cincinnati Astronomical Society is one of the nation’s oldest amateur astronomy clubs. Simpson said the group has doubled its membership to nearly 400 since 2017 and is the nation's eleventh-largest amateur astronomy organization.
In August, the Moeller Observatory will host an after-party for ALCON 2026, a national conference for amateur astronomers that will convene in Covington this year.
After that, Simpson expects to bring dozens of visitors to Adams County each year, including scout troops and corporate outings. He said he hopes to kindle the same excitement he felt on his first visit to Moeller’s hilltop oasis.
“To be able to see swirls in the clouds on Jupiter is not something you’re typically able to do with most high-end, backyard refractors. And to be able to see that here, it just blew my mind,” Simpson said.
For Moeller, the observatory is an extension of the scientific exploration he began in the hills of Adams County. It led to degrees in physics, computer engineering and business. It continued with a career that began at Dayton’s NCR Corp. and continued with his father’s jet-engine tooling company, Rhinestahl Corp.
“At heart, I am a physicist,” Moeller said. “I mean, it’s shaped the way I think, the way I approach the world.”
Rhinestahl grew for decades as an original equipment manufacturer for GE Aircraft engines. It doubled in size with the 2024 acquisition of Hydro Systems KG, a German company that played the same role for jet engines made by Rolls Royce. The combined companies now have about 1,000 employees and annual sales of roughly $500 million.
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“It’s an amazing company that does a great job of taking care of customers around the world,” Moeller said. “It’ll be interesting to see how it does and how it grows in the future. I’ve enjoyed being a part of it and look forward to guiding it to wherever it needs to go next.”
As for Adams County, Moeller plans to be “a longtime great citizen and local advocate” for the ecotourism industry that has been growing in recent years.
“A lot of nature preserves out here, and if you think about it, the study of astronomy is the study of the greatest part of nature, not just this environment on the earth but the environment of the whole universe that we inhabit,” Moeller said.
