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Bathurst Observatory Research Facility
Ph: 0427 292 214 | Email:
Ph: 0427 292 214 | Email:
Here you will find our Latest News, please add to your Bookmarks/Favorites and return soon …
I turned the telescope towards the Lagoon Nebula (M8) after finding I needed to tweak the telescope. This nebula is a fairly bright and a good target for those branching out in astrophotography.
Comet 3IAtlas will be excited to image later this year (still too faint for my scope, I tried!). It will likely remain too faint to be seen without a telescope. I will though post some information in the coming months.
August tour dates will be posted as soon as I know my schedule. I haven't had many free nights of late I admit! ... See MoreSee Less
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I haven't imaged the Moon close up for a while so managed a few quick snaps on the evening of the 4th of July. ... See MoreSee Less
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Amazing shots. 🤩🤩
Working on the July tour dates, particularly, those for the school holidays. One issue is full moon occurs smack in the middle of school holidays!!! Tours are of course, near impossible with the bright moon wiping out much of the sky. So it looks like tours dates are pretty limited. I have two dates available;
July 15 and July 16th at 7:15 pm (booking essential)
I did have a clear weeknight recently and imaged NGC 6188. It is also known as the fighting dragons nebula! ... See MoreSee Less
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Firstly, I am sorry for delays in posting. I've had a pretty busy time with booked out tours, and a fair share of bad weather, have meant it has been difficult posting available tour dates. It does seem my first available dates will be during July (avoiding the full Moon of course). However, it has been an eventful month will Aurora and solar activity. I did squeeze in an imaging night a months ago and imaged galaxy NGC 4945! ... See MoreSee Less
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nice galaxy
A few images from the auroral storm on the 1st of June from the observatory. (before some high cloud moved in). ... See MoreSee Less
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Wow. How much was visible to the naked eye?
Incredible
My goodness. Great shots.
Beautiful.
Hi again, Great photos of the Aurora 👏 I'm back again with a new fb account.
Awesome pictures Niall!
Phil Wilson what we missed 🤣
Amazing images
Catherine Anne
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June 1st. There is a high probability of an Aurora storm in the late hours of the 1st to near dawn of the 2nd. You need a dark sky away from town lights and a clear view to the south. There is some error in the arrival time of the solar particles which cause the Aurora so I guess it is patiently wait and see!!! It is likely to be seen southwards of a line roughly from Newcastle to Perth, but perhaps a bit northward of that. Edit it has hit early so Aurora from sunset. But note the cloud coming on the satellite images. ... See MoreSee Less
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Rob Hogarth
I managed to sneak in an image of the Moon on the 9th of May. The telescope that was used is now around 40 years old and one of many at the observatory. ... See MoreSee Less
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Absolutely brilliant
Watch THIS Space May 25
The Sun showing large sunspot group AR4079 on the morning of the 4th of May. I haven’t imaged the sun for a while! Yes, you DO need a special telescope to image the sun safely!
It is a very difficult month to fit in tours for me. A lot of family events on weekends including my birthday (I do wish I had an assistant sometimes). I am actually not sure if June will be the first tours I will manage. I am very sorry about that!
But that will not stop May being a good month for stargazers. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks around the morning of the 6th of May. It is active a few nights either side, so don’t worry if you miss the 6th. You need nothing to view them other than your eyes. However, you need to be out from 2am until dawn to see them. The meteors come from a point towards the eastern sky.
Comet F2 Swan, broke up, so will not be a highlight anymore in mid May. I do like looking for aurora this time of year, and the sun has been very active as seen in the image of the Sun on the 4th May. Also a great time of year to view those star clusters and nebula around the Southern Cross as well. ... See MoreSee Less
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Hi. Is the 23/5 available?
Watch THIS Space April 25
Another month has passed and with Daylight Savings ending, we can do tours and imaging at more reasonable times. This time of year is wonderful for seeing things in the Southern skies, particularly nebula and star clusters around the Southern Cross region. One of those is highlighted in the image this month is the Eta Carina Nebula. However there are other great things very nearby like the Jewel box cluster and Omega Centauri. We have Full Moon near on the 13th, which means no tours over that weekend (moon too bright) but at least the moon will have passed by Easter.
There will be some extra tours over the school holidays, but note, no tours Easter Sunday. Tour dates are as follows. April 18th to 24th (except Easter Sunday) at 7:45pm. Bookings Essential via message or email. Remember as well, we still offer special astrophotography beginner classes if you want to book one of those dates in! ... See MoreSee Less
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