Night Sky & Telescope Viewing Tour

The Night Sky & Telescope Tour is held every evening weather permitting.
Clear cloudless nights are the best.

We recommend you book on the on or close to the day once you know you can definitely attend and the weather is good. There is no refund if you cancel or change dates unless we can resell your ticket online.

The session lasts for minimum 1 hour.

In January & February, the start time is usually 9pm.
Times can vary so start time is confirmed when booking.

The Night Sky & Telescope show includes

1: An Astronomy Presentation

2: Point out the Stars, Planets, and Constellations with a laser pointer.

3: Look through up to 9 telescopes (depending on numbers attending) at the stars, planets, nebulae, and galaxies. Objects we view are chosen from the list at the bottom of this page including when the Moon is visible.

Highlights for the January 9pm show is the planet Jupiter. We may get a view of Comet Leonard on the first few days of January. On Moonless nights the Orion Nebula and the Globular cluster 47 Tucanae is also a highlight.
For 10:15pm The sky is much darker. Orion Nebula, Tarantula Nebula, 47 Tucanae are highlights.

4: Answer your astronomy questions.

5: Take one photo of a colourful nebula with your compatible DSLR camera or bring your SD card that fits our Canon RA mirrorless camera.

Group size is maximum 55 people.
This maybe lower depending on which covid-19 restrictions apply at the time.

If you prefer a smaller group size, consider the Premium session which has a maximum limit of 6 people.

The session is suitable for people 5 years and up. We don't recommend you bring children under 5 years of age as they don't have the ability to view through a telescope but they must have a ticket to be allowed entry if you want to bring them.

The show is outdoors so you need to dress appropriate to the weather conditions. It can be very cold in the winter months, so you need to rug up and we recommend you wear a beanie and scarf as well.

The show is weather permitting. We recommend you book on the day of the show.
Weather forecasts are on the home page.

We recommend you purchase your tickets once you know you can definitely come.

There is no refund if you cancel for any reason unless we can resell your ticket.

School holiday sessions can sell out a couple of days in advance.

Every person regardless of age must have a ticket to attend. 55 tickets are allocated per session. If you prefer a session with less people, consider the Premium Session.

Tickets are purchased online from the iwannaticket booking agency. There is a link on the bookings page.

Or you can purchase any unsold tickets at the door from 8:30pm at $2 extra.

Online Prices

Night Sky & Telescope Viewing Session:

$30 per adult, $20 per child U/16 yrs.

Public Holidays: $5 Surcharge applies

Xmas Night: $50 per person.

Late Show is $40 per person.

A non-refundable ticketing fee also applies.

At the Door Prices

$2 extra on top of the online price.

Dine & Discover Vouchers

We do accept NSW Discover vouchers for tickets sold at the door only. They are not available for online bookings.

Customer Cancels

For tickets purchased with a gift card or credit note, we issue another credit note to use at another session if we can resell your ticket.

For other tickets, A refund is only given if we can resell your ticket.

Show Cancellation due to bad weather

The show is cancelled in the event of rain or it is completely overcast and it appears that it will not clear sufficiently during the show.

We make a decision at start time whether to proceed or not.

If we decide to cancel the show a refund is given except for tickets purchased with a credit note or gift card. Another credit note is issued in these cases.

Dine and discover vouchers cant be refunded sorry.

The ticket agency processes this on the next business day. It can then take another few business days for banks to transfer the funds back to your card. The time varies depending on which bank you are with. Alternatively we can issue you a credit note so you can use this at another session of equal value.

Once a credit note is issued we cannot refund it, you have to purchase a new ticket with the credit note.

If you are planning to drive from a distance like Mudgee or Orange and then drive back that night we recommend you do not purchase a ticket unless you are coming anyway for other reasons as its a long way to come if its cancelled at start time.

Covid -19

Restrictions can change at short notice. If we are forced to close, a refund is issued excluding the booking fee. Alternatively a credit note can be issued if you prefer to purchase a ticket for a future show at the same value. Note that the credit note cant be refunded if you change your mind or the show is cancelled. If the show is cancelled another credit note is issued.

We plan to show you approx 12 objects from the following list.

What we show will depend on the location of the Moon which can hinder the visibility of galaxies and nebulae. The objects will be different for the Late Show.

The following is for session 2 only at 10:15pm

Darkest Nights

1st to the 7th, 20th - 31st

Planets: Uranus (Jupiter low in the west in the first few days of January)

Comets: Comet Leonard maybe visible in the first few days of January

Moon:

New Moon ....3rd

First Qtr .........10th

Full Moon......18th

Visible for night show 8th - 19th

Comets: nil

Nebulae: Orion Nebula, Tarantula Nebula, Eta Carina Nebula (except on the nights around full moon)

Globular Clusters: 47 Tucanae

Open Clusters: Pleiades, Southern Beehive, NGC 2362, Jewel Box, Pincushion cluster

Binary Stars: 145 CMa

Galaxies: (Moonless nights) Magellanic Clouds, Silvercoin Galaxy

Planetary Nebulae: nil

Constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini. Canis Major, Canis Minor, Crux

Asterisms: Saucepan, Seven Sisters, Southern Cross, False Cross, Diamond Cross.

Astrophotograph with your compatible DSLR camera: Orion Nebula. On bright Moon nights we image the Moon.

We plan to show you approx 12 objects from the following list.

What we show will depend on the location of the Moon which can hinder the visibility of galaxies and nebulae. The objects will be different for the Late Show.

The following is for session 2 only at 10:15pm

Darkest Nights

1st to the 7th, 21st - 31st

Planets: Uranus

Comets: nil

Moon:

New Moon ....3rd

First Qtr .........10th

Full Moon......18th

Visible for night show 8th - 20th

Comets: nil

Nebulae: Orion Nebula, Tarantula Nebula, Eta Carina Nebula (except on the nights around full moon)

Globular Clusters: 47 Tucanae

Open Clusters: Pleiades, Southern Beehive, NGC 2362, Jewel Box, Pincushion cluster

Binary Stars: 145 CMa

Galaxies: (Moonless nights) Magellanic Clouds, Silvercoin Galaxy

Planetary Nebulae: nil

Constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer. Canis Major, Canis Minor, Crux

Asterisms: Saucepan, Circlet, Seven Sisters, False Cross, Diamond Cross

Astrophotograph with your compatible DSLR camera: Orion Nebula. On bright Moon nights we image the Moon.

Restrictions can change and at short notice depending on NSW Govt Health Orders.

Restrictions have been lifted on December 15th 2021. People can book regardless of vaccination status. There a re no density limits imposed at present. We have imposed our own of 55 people which is 1 person per 2 square metres.

The corona virus is highly infectious and is transmitted by inhaling or ingesting water droplets from that the infected person has exhaled (exhaling, talking, coughing, sneezing). This could be direct by getting to close to an infected person and breathing the air close to them or by touching a surface they have coughed or sneezed on.

Masks are optional but when the session is busy where it is hard to social distance, we recommend you wear a mask.

Please socially distance a minimum of 1.5 metres from other families.

Please keep your family together. If you have children, keep them with you and not run around.

In the observatory, only one family/group can be in there at one time.

We recommend you wash or sanitise your hands on arrival. Please use as often as needed through the evening.

If you do need to sneeze or cough, please do so into your elbow

Extremely important not to touch the eyepieces or telescopes though of course you can look through them

With large groups we will be moving around the telescopes in a certain order to prevent mingling and accidental contact with other people. So please follow the directions of the Tour Guide in the directions to follow.

There is wheelchair access to the main building, a disabled toilet, the theatrette, and to the outside viewing platform where the outside telescopes are.
There is no wheelchair access to the observatory where the main 17"telescope is.
There is wheelchair access to the presentation and pointing out the stars and planets in the night sky with the laser pointer at the outside viewing platform.
There is an issue with looking through telescopes for customers confined to a wheel chair unless they can stand up briefly. The reason is
The height above ground level of the eyepiece of the telescope varies depending on how high above the horizon the star to view is located, If the star is overhead the eyepiece is at its lowest point and is more accessible. If the star is lower in the sky the eyepiece is much higher.. So it depends on how high the disabled customers eye is up from the ground and would be too low to view most objects through a telescope.
An alternative would be to hire a pair of our binoculars for that part of the tour.

Peter@dubboobservatory.com

more

Scroll below for the following information

Night Sky & Telescope Tour

Times and Dates

Tickets

Changes, cancellations, refunds for online tickets

Objects visible
january shows at 9pm

Objects visible
january shows at 10:15pm

Corona virus restrictions information

Wheelchair access

Carers Card

Dubbo Observatory

17L Camp Rd, Dubbo, NSW, 2830

Enquiries: 0488 425 940
Email: peter@dubboobservatory.com