Bathurst Observatory Research Facility

Unfortunately due to personal reasons and much discussion with my friends and family, I've had to make to decision to ease back on tours for perhaps the rest of the year. I will still be offering some special nights, but the regular weekends I will be having to allocate for catching up with a few observatory projects of my own. I will also be investing in some new equipment for the observatory to hopefully improve the images I take. For example.. Wait and see what the new equipment will do with the galaxy NGC 5128 I took recently with the old! But please stay following me as there will be more frequent images posted and stay tuned for special nights, particularly if you are an astronomy buff! Plus I'll keep you posted with what you can see in the sky!

The comet R3 Panstarrs, isn't as bright as a few nights ago, and you still need binoculars to see it, but it was nicely place next to the Orion Nebula (M42) on the evening of the 10th May.

My first larger telescope image of comet R3 Panstarrs on the evening of the 5th of May. I should be able to get better as it gets higher in the sky.

I had my first view of comet R3 Panstarrs in evening twilight on the 3rd of May. With all the cloud about, I hadn't expected to see it at all! But with a gap in cloud, I grabbed the camera and 50mm lens for a quick snap. Nice long tail! Can't wait to get the telescope on this one!. It will be slowly getting higher in the western evening skies over the coming weeks.

Thank you to all the people understanding that we were closed for private remembrance over the Anzac weekend in memory of a relative who died in war. I did take some time on my own in reflection in the observatory and took a quick image of the Moon.

I think a few people know that I have not be well for a while and hence I have not been in the observatory itself. However, on the evening of the 18th April, I bravely set up for imaging on the big scope again. A couple of easy targets to test out again. The nebula Eta Carina and the spiral galaxy M83

Some auroral activity occurred on the evening of the 22nd March. It was a bit of surprise I admit. It very briefly flared from a red glow to a few brighter rays.

After a battle with back issues last year and then this year a fair bit of cloud, I actually got a chance to try doing some imaging again. Not through the telescope, but camera on a tracking mount. This was more to refresh my skills. The target was the Large Magellanic Galaxy. This magnificent companion to our own Milky Way galaxy, is nicely placed high in the southern sky in evenings this time of the year.

We were clouded out for the eclipse but have seen some nice images taken by locals. Feel free to post your images in the comments!!! I’d love to see them.

There will be a lunar eclipse on the evening of the 3rd of March! All you need is your eyes and a comfy chair to enjoy it. (I guess clear skies help too). These times are NSW daylight savings times, so adjust for your region.

You will see the moon start to enter Earth's shadow at 8:50pm low in the ENE. By 10:04 pm the moon will fully enter Earth's shadow and take on the orange/red hue. Mid eclipse occurs at 10:33pm in the NE and by 11:02 pm the Moon will start to leave Earth's shadow, leaving it by 12:17 am.

Great to try your astrophotography skills and share with family. Please note that until further notice YAHOO and HOTMAIL accounts do not work and we can't reply to you!! sorry, trying to fix it this week.