Come join us for a 90-minute tour of the wonders of the southern night sky.
From 2007 visitors will get to use our 30" (76cm) telescope - the LARGEST TELESCOPE in REGULAR PUBLIC use in the
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE!
Objects viewed with the large telescopes in our public astronomy facility may
include (depending on the time of year, phase of the Moon etc):
- the Moon,
- Jupiter,
- Saturn,
- Mars,
- Venus,
- star clusters,
- nebulae and galaxies.
Other experiences can involve spotting satellites and meteors, recognising
constellations as well as general, or specific, astronomy computer presentations.
Generally, the four largest telescopes
of our public viewing facility are used on star viewing nights.
Additional
details for TEACHERS.
Further rules and conditions.
We conduct two types of star viewing sessions:
- Night Sky Explorer Nights, and
- and Deep Sky Nights.
Night Sky Explorer sessions have the Moon on view
whereas there is no Moon for Deep Sky Nights and there more of an emphasis
on viewing fainter objects.
For visitors wanting a longer visit we also conduct
extended viewing nights.
Note: In cloudy weather conditions we may need to more emphasize the
astronomy computer presentation component.
BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL - phone 9293 8255. (Contact and location details
here.)
Testimonials
Comments from our visitors.
Disabled Access
Generous assistance from the Perth Observatory Volunteer Group and LotteryWest
facilitated the acquisition of a telescope that can be easily maneuvered
to provide a view of the stars while providing easy access to suit
viewers of different ability. Provision of this facility won a disabled
access award for the Observatory in 2004.
PLEASE TELL THE STAFF ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR NEEDS AT THE TIME OF BOOKING SO THAT
THE APPROPRIATE FACILITIES CAN BE MADE READY FOR YOUR VISIT.
View our September 2008 - August 2009 activities calendar (pdf 152kB).
View the full September 2008 - August 2009 activities brochure (pdf 321kB).
Start times
In general, the start times are quoted in WAST - Western Australian Standard Time. However, beginning with the September 2007 - August
2008 brochure daylight saving times are quoted, as appropriate. This is a result of the imposition of
a daylight saving trial by the State Government.
Here is a link to the Bill detailing this trial (pdf 31KB).
DAYLIGHT SAVING effectively occurs from:
2007 October 28 - 2008 March 29, inclusive, and
2008 October 26 - 2009 March 28 inclusive.
