Mr Allen (70) has a vineyard at Blenheim, which is also home to his private observatory, and a couple of sizeable telescopes.
One is his own telescope, and the other is the Bootes-3 Observatory, involving a Spanish-supplied, 60cm robotic telescope, which is operated by remote control and swiftly monitors exotic gamma ray bursts.
Now a wine-making star-gazer, Mr Allen lived in Dunedin in the 1970s, and was president of the Dunedin Astronomical Society when it last hosted the national conference of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, 35 years ago.
The Dunedin society is celebrating its centenary this year, and is again hosting the national event.
Mr Allen was back in the city to give a talk on "Fifty Years as an Amateur Astronomer" at the conference's opening session last night.
About 100 people are attending the three-day conference, including a keynote speaker, leading professional astronomer Stuart Ryder, of Sydney, also a former Dunedin resident.
Dunedin society president Peter Jaquiery says Mr Allen is an "inspiring" figure in New Zealand astronomy.
Mr Allen is just as keen on astronomy as he was 50 years ago, when he first became seriously interested while studying for a bachelor of engineering degree, in electrical engineering, at Canterbury University.
He is now part of an international network of astronomers using photometry - the measurement of light's brightness - to study variable stars, and is also involved in the search for previously-undiscovered planets.
About four years ago, an asteroid was named after him.
He now finds the cold nights less enjoyable, but his own computer-controlled telescope enables him to catch up with his sleep, while it obligingly makes and records observations in his absence.
"`I still get a lot of enjoyment out of it."
