For the Night Sky & Telescope Viewing session, you can either book in advance or purchase any unsold tickets at the door 15 minutes before start time. Tickets at the door are more expensive.

We recommend you book on or close to the day when you know what the weather is doing.

Sessions usually book out on long weekends so best to book a day or two in advance in those cases.

Night Sky & Telescope Session: Tickets are available online in the first instance up to an hour before start time. These are the cheapest tickets.

Unsold tickets are sold at the door 15 minutes before start time. These cost $5 extra per ticket.

All other session types: Online sales only.

Online tickets are available about a month in advance.

Tickets are sold online.

Go to the bookings page in the menu, select the session type you want a ticket for. This will tell you what the session is about.

Scroll down and click on the button “BOOK NOW”. This will take you to a the ticketing agency that sells tickets on our behalf.

Select the session type and month. Then select the date and time.

Unsold tickets are sold at the door 15 mins before start time for the Night Sky & Telescope Session only. Other session types are sold online only.

Yes we do. Call the observatory to organise on 0488 435 940 or email [email protected]

The Night Sky & Telescope Viewing is the general session and is the first session of the evening. Lasting for a minimum of one hour, it can have a maximum of 50 people attend. The show includes an astronomy presentation followed by telescope viewing. Bring a compatible camera (see camera FAQ below) for a free astrophoto through the telescope!

The Premium session lasts for a minimum of 1 hour 45 minutes with a maximum of 6 people. View more objects through the telescopes, as well as with a pair of astronomy binoculars! We’ll take four astrophotos through the main telescope with your compatible DSLR camera (see camera FAQ below), and you’ll get a free photo card of a previously captured object. This session is held after the Night Sky & Telescope Viewing session.

You get to look through the telescopes in all session types except for the astrophotography session.

Unless it is overcast or raining, where we do our alternate program which is an astronomy presentation.

We plan to show you objects such as planets, stars, binary stars, open star clusters, globular clusters, nebulae, & galaxies.

What objects we see varies depending on time of the night and time of the year. e.g. The Milky Way is visible in the winter months, planets vary every year.

We put a list of objects for the current month on the webpage for each show type. It also says when the Moon is visible & which are the darkest nights. At the bottom of the Night Sky & Telescope Viewing page are the best months to view the different planets.

It also depends on what phase the Moon is. We see the most objects when the Moon is not visible during the time your session is on. Around full moon, we don’t see nebulae and galaxies as the sky is too bright for them. We can still see planets and star clusters.

It also depends on how much cloud cover there is. The clearer the sky, the more we see, the more cloud, the less we see.

The observatory is located 8.5 km from the town centre.

Our address is 17L Camp Road.

From the Newell Hwy, turn left on Obley Rd & drive for 3.3km (do not drive into the Zoo 2nd entry which is called Camp Rd also), then right onto Camp Rd & drive for 1.3km . We are on the left.

Alternatively, from the Newell Hwy, drive past the Obley Rd turn off & drive for 3.4km , turn left on Camp Rd drive 2.6km, we are on the right.

You can cancel your ticket by emailing the observatory directly at [email protected]. Please do not contact the ticketing agency.

If more than 7 days notice is given, you can request a credit note to use to purchase tickets on a future date or a refund is issued (unless purchased with a credit or gift certificate). The refund goes back to the card you used. This can take a few business days for the bank to complete the transfer. The ticketing fee is non-refundable. If the ticket was purchased with a credit note or gift certificate, a new credit note is issued for you to purchase a new ticket.

If less than 7 days notice is given, a refund or credit is only issued if we can resell your ticket.

Night Sky & Telescope Viewing Session: On arrival you’ll get the choice of a credit for a future available session of the same value in the next 3 years, or to continue with the show. In some cases, we may contact you by text giving you the choice. Where you choose to continue with the session, the show starts as normal with the 30 minute astronomy presentation. If it is raining, this is held indoors. If it remains overcast we extend the presentation. If we can’t show you any objects through the telescope we issue a 50% refund excluding the booking fee. This is done via the ticketing agency by refunding half of the tickets. e.g. If 2 adults were booked, 1 adult would be refunded. In the case where the split is uneven, we refund any remaining amount to your nominated bank account e.g. if 3 adults were booked, we refund 1 adult ticket through the ticketing agency, and refund the value of half a ticket by bank transfer.

Premium / Private/ Astrophotography Sessions: The show is cancelled. You can decide to either to receive a refund or credit to use for a future session of the same value.

If 7 days notice is given, we can cancel your booking and issue you a credit note. You use this credit note number to purchase tickets to a future session.

If less than 7 days notice is given, we only do this if we can resell your ticket.

Children 5 years of age and older are welcome. They must have a ticket to the session and be accompanied by an adult with a ticket.

Children under 5 years of age are not permitted.

The shows (particularly the presentation) are more targeted to teenagers and adults, but is suitable for children with an interest in space, the night sky, and astronomy.

Young children usually don’t have the ability to view objects through a telescope.

The eyes of young children cannot focus well on objects through an eyepiece.

The telescopes are delicate instruments and not toys. Young children often touch and handle parts of the telescope, which put the telescopes out of alignment. This means that the telescope cannot be used by anyone else for the rest of the session.

We have had instances where significant damage has been done to telescopes, including a case which cost $5000 to repair and the telescope being out of action for months waiting for spare parts.

Very young children usually get bored very quickly, get cold, or tired and can disrupt the session for others. Parents usually leave the session early.

DSLR cameras: Canon, Nikon and Pentax. We use the camera body and attach our adapter. Adapters are brand specific.

Mirrorless cameras: Sony, Canon and Nikon can be used if you have the adapter that fits a DSLR lens.

We can show you the planets through the telescope if they are visible on the night and time you are here.

Planets orbit the Sun at different distances and speeds. The inner planets move faster, the more distant ones are slower. This means that the planets are in different positions each night and are sometimes above the horizon (visible) and sometimes below the horizon (not visible). Any particular planet is usually visible for 4 months of the year. The time of the year varies each year as well. Planets like Mars and Venus may only be visible once every couple of years. Sometimes there are many planets visible and we can go through periods where non are visible. We have a list of dates when each planet is visible on the Night Sky & Telescope Viewing page.

They are best viewed when they are overhead, they are sharper in this position.

How large they appear depends on how big the planet is and how far away it is. For example Venus can appear quite large and sometimes very small depending on which side of the Sun it is on. Mars is a small planet so is appears small in the telescope.

You can see the rings and moons of Saturn.

You can see the cloud bands on Jupiter and its moons.

Uranus and Neptune are large planets but they are so distant they only appear as star like points through a telescope. You can see a physical size to the other planets.

How clear they look, varies every night and depends on how high they are in the sky and how stable our atmosphere is.

The companion pays the child price.

There is wheelchair access to the main building and the outdoor telescope platform. There is no access to the observatory. To view through a telescope, you will need to stand briefly. Occasionally you may need to use a stepladder.

We have sessions that start at specific times at night and these times vary throughout the year. We also run a daytime solar viewing session except in summer. Timings are for tonight’s show are on the home page. For other days, go to the ticketing site.

We recommend you purchase tickets on the day so you know what the weather is doing. The clearer the sky, the more we see.

However, shows normally sell out on long weekends, April, July, September/October school holidays, between Christmas and New Year, and the first week of January. In these periods it is best to book a day or two in advance. You can get an idea of how full a session is if you check the ticketing site, it will tell you how many tickets are left.

Dogs and other pets are not permitted at the observatory except in your car.

However assistance dogs for medical/ disability reasons are an exception.

Night Sky & Telescope Viewing: Minimum 1 hour, usually hour and 15 minutes.

Premium Session: 1 hour 45 minutes

Astrophotography session: 2 hours

You can bring a standard size SD card that fits our canon camera.

You can buy an SD card here to use. If you do, you can have 2 photos taken.

We sell photos we have taken through the telescope.

We are outdoors so you need to dress to the weather conditions

Winter: It can be very cold, wear as much as you can, and wearing a beanie, scarf and gloves really makes a difference.

Summer: We can get some mosquitos at dusk, so please wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt and apply an insect repellent on any exposed areas.

Enclosed shoes are required.

No, we do not provide transport.

There is no public transport other than a taxi.

If you arrive late, you will notice the door is closed and a sign saying a session is in progress. You will not be allowed in. You will not be allowed entry and there is no refund.

Once the session starts, we cannot be contacted by phone or text as we will be busy entertaining the group.

Please ensure you plan your transport and dinner beforehand and arrive early.

Yes we sell astronomy related books, DVDs, toys, pictures, and more!

Yes, if you have the coordinates of the star in J2000 epoch or an alternative astronomical name, and if the star is bright enough, and if the star is in the sky for the time of year you are coming. Notify us a few days before you come so we can decipher the location information you have.

We also can photograph the star and send you a jpeg image for a cost.

Only if you can if you book a private session.

The road from Dubbo to the observatory is sealed

Be careful of wildlife when driving, especially kangaroos.

This depends on the time of night and time of year.

Best views are when the Moon is not visible during the session June to September for the early evening sessions.

For the later astrophotography session, it is April to July.

Yes. The brighter the Moon is , the brighter the sky is and the less stars you will see.

From first quarter moon to 3 days after 3 days after Full Moon, you wont be able to see galaxies and nebulae.

You can see the stars, multiple stars, star clusters, and planets when the Moon is around.

We dont run the Premium sessions on and around full moon.

Astrophotography sessions are not available when the Moon is visible.

In the night sky and telescope viewing session, we cannot take a photo of a nebula with your camera through the telescope. We may take one of the moon.