Coonabarabran
The 2018 NSAS Field Trip took a 31-member strong group to Coonabarabran for a weekend of visits and astronomical observation and imaging.
Friday night saw us heading to the Milroy Observatory where, with the help of Donna, we were able to use their dobsonian telescopes, including a 20inch one.
I took advantage of the free Saturday morning to explore a couple of walking trails in the Warrumbungle National Park.
The afternoon was devoted to the visit of the Siding Spring Observatory where, thanks to our guide Amanda, we discovered the Faulkes Telescope South of the Las Cumbras Observatory, the I.telescope installations and, the pièce de résistance, the enormous Anglo-Australian Telescope with its 3.9m mirror.
For those of us who had brought their own telescopes, Saturday night brought a great deal of excitement and, sometimes, of disappointment and frustration when all did not work according to plan.
For those, who like me hadn’t taken their scopes with them, the awesome sight of the Milky Way in this unpolluted sky will stay in our memories long enough to make this trip well worthwhile.
L'excursion de la Northern Sydney Astronomical Society pour 2018 a amené un groupe de 31 de ses membres à Coonabarabran pour un week-end de visites et d'observation et d'imagerie astronomiques.
Vendredi soir, nous a vu à l’observatoire de Milroy où, avec l’aide de Donna, nous avons pu utiliser leurs télescopes dont un de 50cm.
Personnellement, j'ai profité du samedi matin libre pour explorer quelques sentiers de randonnée dans le parc national de Warrumbungle.
L'après-midi a été consacrée à la visite de l'Observatoire de Siding Spring où, avec l'aide de notre guide Amanda, nous avons découvert le télescope Faulkes Sud de l'observatoire de Las Cumbras, les installations de I.telescope et, la pièce de résistance, l’énorme Télescope anglo-australien avec son miroir de 3,9m.
Pour ceux d’entre nous qui avaient amené leurs télescopes, le samedi soir a suscité beaucoup d’enthousiasme et, parfois, de déception lorsque tout ne fonctionnait pas comme prévu.
Pour ceux qui comme moi n’avaient pas pris leurs télescopes avec eux, rien que de pouvoir admirer la Voie Lacté dans toute sa splendeur valait le déplacement.
Stargazing at Siding Spring Observatory
This time-lapse video compiles new sequences showing the espectacular dark sky over Siding Spring Observatory (Coonabarabran, NSW), where our 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope is located.
See the breathtaking Milky Way setting and rising, the telescopes moving chasing different targets, the majestic Magellanic Clouds revolving near the South Celestial Pole, the stars travelling across the sky as the Earth rotates, the Moon illuminating the observatory, and a colourful sunset.
All the sequences were taken between September 2015 and May 2018.
We recommend you watch this video in high-resolution (4K if possible).
Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University)
Music: Epic Cinematric Trailer, by Alex Che (2016).
Coonabarabran Festival of the Stars
Over one and a half years after a devastating bushfire tore through Coonabarabran, the town is slowly recovering through astronomy.
This was part of an assignment in 2nd year journalism at UTS.
Siding Spring Observatory | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:01:00 1 History
00:11:19 1.1 2013 Bushfire
00:12:16 2 Visitors
00:13:06 3 Telescopes
00:15:38 4 Observing programs
00:16:25 5 Discoveries
00:17:08 6 See also
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Speaking Rate: 0.8736840747663915
Voice name: en-GB-Wavenet-A
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SUMMARY
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Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU), incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, and other institutions. The observatory is situated 1,165 metres (3,822 ft) above sea level in the Warrumbungle National Park on Mount Woorat, also known as Siding Spring Mountain. Siding Spring Observatory is owned by the Australian National University (ANU) and is part of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories research school.
More than A$100 million worth of research equipment is located at the observatory. There are over 60 telescopes on site, though not all are operational.