Bathurst Observatory Research Facility
Bathurst NSW Australia
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https://www.facebook.com/BathurstObservatory/
Bathurst Observatory Research Facility is an observatory site primarily for education, research and study, though we do offer general public viewing nights.
Open Nights Star Tours Available Now (conditions and limits apply)
Bookings will be essential for all tours.
(All tours subject to weather)
Tours are underway at the new site. The site is not complete yet, however, are able to offer tours to help complete other facilities.
Tours will be generally be available most Friday and Saturday nights.
No tours in the week of Full Moon
Please note that the main telescope is pretty big and requires use of a small stepladder for viewing. Please advise if you would have difficulties with steps and we can set up a different telescope.
* There may be some mid week research nights where tours are not available.
Reduced Tours Prices for groups
Costs :
As the site is not yet complete with all facilities, we are asking for donation towards completion (an amount you think is fair for the tour and my time).
(Note: we have NO credit card facilities)
Tour bookings and Enquiries, phone (0427292214 Please leave a message as we screen out spam calls), or email us. (Email is by far the best way to get us, if you don’t get a reply it means you have us blocked!!! Please change your settings!).
Tours require bookings and are weather dependent. (We can’t see stars through clouds!) Tour duration is about 1 hour, depending on time of year.
Our FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/BathurstObservatory/ is regularly updated, so have a look for the latest news and images from the observatory.
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Comet Atlas G3 on the evening of the 17th of February. I changed to portrait orientation tonight. The sky was a bit clearer as well. Galaxy NGC 55 is still visible upper middle as well. The headless comet is about magnitude 7.0. The tail has broadened and there is still a secondary (twin) tail to the right of the main one. Image with 50mm lens in deep twilight. iso 4000. ... See MoreSee Less
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Wow, I was out after the Sunset yesterday and thought about the comet but i thought it would be too faint by now for a camera.
Well, Comet Atlas G3 is still visible, at least to the camera! This image was taken on the 15th February. The comet was visible as a faint smudge in binoculars with about 5 degrees of tail as well (well it is only tail!). The brighter star the tail passes through is B Scl mag 4.5. Image 50mm lens and stack of twenty 4s images at iso 4000. ... See MoreSee Less
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Watch THIS Space February 25
Firstly, before I start with what is in the sky this month, I know people are hanging out for tour dates. As my schedule gets busier and busier, I am finding it harder to find dates when I can do tours. This should get better after February once a few things free up for me. At present there is only ONE date, yes sadly one! That would be a tour on Saturday the 22nd. That tour would be at 9:00pm, bookings essential. I am so sorry about that, but it is the only evening I can squeeze one in! (Maybe I need a tour guide assistant to do the tours when I have research or other things!)
Now that the planet alignment hoax that the planets would line up on January 25th has passed, we can get onto looking at the planets when they ARE actually at the best. That being the month of February! Most of the planets will be sighted spread across the evening skies during February, from the west to the NE. Though some like Saturn and Mercury, will be much harder to sight. Bright Venus, in the west, Jupiter in the north, and Mars in the North East will be much easier to find.
Comet G3 Atlas, which dazzled us very low in the SW during January, broke up not long after passing the sun putting a lot of its material into the tail. Hence why the tail was so stunning. But alas the comet is fading fast and likely only a telescopic object (if at all visible in twilight) in February. It was interesting to witness the breakup and demise of this comet!
The summer Milky Way stretches almost north to south and contains many great star clusters and nebula to see. Eta Carina Nebula above the Southern Cross would definitely be one highlight. Late one evening, I also imaged the Monkey Head nebula which would be great for astrophotographers around now. Not really a visual nebula, even in the telescope, but a good target for an image. The image I obtained is this months, Watch THIS Space posted image! ... See MoreSee Less
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Colin Pickstone maybe what we saw last night
Nice photo 👍 A great run-down of what has been and to come 👏 I'm with you on the bull$hit all over the place about the planetary alignment 😑 I hope to get a few photos with my fisheye lens and I'm thinking maybe a time-lapse like I have seen on an astronomy site. A 12 hour time-lapse will be interesting to do 😐
Comet G3 Atlas on the evening of the 24th January. There are both a close up and a wide field views of the comet. Imaged from Bathurst Observatory before I had to rush away on other commitments!
PS. I'll post February tours dates very soon! ... See MoreSee Less
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Nothing but cloud here in Wollongong every night. Very disappointing 😞
I went out side last night didn’t even see it lol and was looking for it
A close up image using a small 6 inch F5 telescope on the evening of the 21st January. As the comet's nucleus has broken up, a lot of material has been put into the tail. Note the bright streak in the coma (head) of the comet. This is the debris from the breakup spreading out. Lots of great rays to be seen in the tail as well. ... See MoreSee Less
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WOW. Absolutely amazing capture of the comet.
Great photo
Spectacular!!!!
¡Increíble!
Wow. Beautiful!
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Comet G3 Atlas on the evening of the 21st January. The brighter wide field image I did process to highlight the tail. There is also an unprocessed one, but the tail is still impressive! Visually I could see about 12 degrees of tail with my eye. The close up view was imaged using a small 6 inch F5 telescope. ... See MoreSee Less
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Need to find my adapter for my slr, to use on my 8inch telescope. Sadly I think we might. E clouded on from now on in.
Great shots, is it fainter by naked eye than previous days? I could hardly see it last night, smoke haze was a problem 4 miles west of Cudal
Crazy. Cloud cover to the north west of Orange completely hid it tonight
Single image of the Comet Atlas G3 on the 20th January from the small 6 inch telescope. Love the rays in the tail. It is still thought the comet is breaking up and likely why the tail shows more detail and has brightened. Little wispy cloud just below the comet. ... See MoreSee Less
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Were are you located at in Bathurst as I would like to bring my family to come visit there and how much is as we live in Oberon
With the comet visible in a darker sky and the probable break up of the nucleus, the tail on the evening of the 20th looked stunning. The comet seems to be brighter as well. ... See MoreSee Less
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Are you open for visits this week to see the planets? Bght my son a telescope cant see anything all black 😫
What time exactly are you photographing? Coz we were up at mt panorama and we couldn’t see anything. There was some cloud in the way also
Nice photo, It is fading fast 😕 I got photos last night and I saw it in liveview on the camera screen before by eye. With the twilight and smoke haze I could hardly see it by eye.
Kel Berg hopefully you can see it via this page if you don’t see it from home x
Brad Tucker these guys took some great comet pictures
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Atlas G3 was not as bright on the night of the 19th January, and perhaps around mag 0.5. The nucleus is not as obvious and appears non distinct and much faded. This is reported elsewhere and indications are that the comet may have disintegrated. If that is the case, it may now fade very quickly, though the tail may show development. David Finlay and I were also battling the thin high cloud a bit as well, but I think that added to the images. Images at Bathurst Observatory site
Ps update soaceweather.com is also reporting a breakup of the comet. ... See MoreSee Less
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Where did you hear about it disintegrating? I can't find anything online saying that.
That was my observation too, much fainter, especially the coma which no longer had a distinct bright area
Nice shots, I got it on the 18th and it certainly looks different - core.
I got a few but this one my favourite