WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE SKYWATCHING EXPERIENCE IN COONABARABRAN, NSW
Book now to see Eta Carina Nebula and take a photo of the Trifid red and blue nebula.
The Milky Way is stunning.
We are enjoying the Eta Carinae Nebula the Trifid nebula plenty of galaxies and globular clusters to view and photograph.
Coonabarabran is famous for having some of the most spectacular views of the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere.
Our observatory is located less than a kilometre from Australia’s first Dark Sky Park and high on a hill top with outstanding 180 degree sky views.
We utilize state of the art technology delivering a visual experience as well as taking stunning photographs of each object observed that we present to our guests as a take away memory.
To get the most from your stay with us, check our Sky Calendar to see what amazing astronomical events you can experience.
SKY CALENDAR
MARCH 2026
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 6th MAR – 23rd MAR
FULL MOON: 3rd MAR
NEW MOON: 19th MAR
JUPITER & GALILEAN MOONS
URANUS
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
ORION NEBULA
HORSE HEAD NEBULA
MILKY WAY, ETA CARINAE NEBULA, OMEGA CLUSTER
APRIL 2026
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 5th APR- 21ST APR
FULL MOON: 2nd APR
NEW MOON: 17th APR
JUPITER & THE GALILEAN MOONS
MILKY WAY,
ETA CARINAE NEBULA
OMEGA CLUSTER
Lots of Galaxies Centaurus A, Southern Pinwheel, Sombrero, the Triplets and Markarians Chain to photograph.
MAY 2026
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 5th – 20th MAY
FULL MOON: 1st MAY/31st MAY
NEW MOON: 17th MAY
MILKY WAY,
ETA CARINAE NEBULA,
OMEGA CLUSTER
Lots of Galaxies Centaurus A, Southern Pinwheel, Sombrero, the Triplets and Markarians Chain to photograph.
JUNE 2025
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 14th – 28th JUN
FULL MOON: 11th JUN
NEW MOON: 25th JUN
MARS
MILKY WAY
ETA CARINAE NEBULA,
OMEGA CLUSTER
Lots of Galaxies Centaurus A, Southern Pinwheel, Sombrero, the Triplets and Markarians Chain to photograph.
JULY 2025
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 14th – 28th JUL
FULL MOON: 11th JUL
NEW MOON: 25th JUL
MARS
MILKY WAY
ETA CARINAE NEBULA
OMEGA CLUSTER
Lots of Galaxies Centaurus A, Southern Pinwheel, Sombrero, the Triplets and Markarians Chain to photograph.
AUGUST 2025
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 12th AUG- 26th AUG
FULL MOON: 9th AUG
NEW MOON: 23rd AUG
SATURN
NEPTUNE
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
MILKY WAY
ETA CARINAE NEBULA
OMEGA CLUSTER
CENTAURUS A GALAXY
SEPTEMBER 2025
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 11th SEPT – 25th SEPT
FULL BLOOD RED MOON: 8th SEPT
NEW MOON: 22nd SEPT
SATURN
NEPTUNE
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
MILKY WAY
ETA CARINAE NEBULA
OMEGA CLUSTER
CENTAURUS A GALAXY
OCTOBER 2025
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 10th OCT – 24th OCT
FULL MOON: 7th OCT
NEW MOON: 21st OCT
SATURN
NEPTUNE
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
MILKY WAY
LAGOON NEBULA
TRIFFID NEBULA
SCULPTOR GALAXY
NOVEMBER 2025
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 9th – 23rd NOV
FULL MOON: 6th NOV
NEW MOON: 20th NOV
SATURN
NEPTUNE URANUS
ORION NEBULA
HORSE HEAD NEBULA
ANDROMEDA
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
DECEMBER 2025
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 8th – 23rd DEC
FULL MOON: 5th DEC
NEW MOON: 20th DEC
SATURN
NEPTUNE URANUS
ORION NEBULA
HORSE HEAD NEBULA
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
JANUARY 2026
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 6th – 22nd JAN
FULL MOON: 3rd JAN
NEW MOON: 19th JAN
SATURN
JUPITER
NEPTUNE URANUS
ORION NEBULA
HORSE HEAD NEBULA
MAGELLANIC CLOUD
FEBRUARY 2026
DARK SKY & MILKY WAY: 5th – 20th FEB
FULL MOON: 2nd FEB
NEW MOON: 17th FEB
SATURN
JUPITER
NEPTUNE URANUS
ORION NEBULA
HORSE HEAD NEBULA
MAGELLANIC CLOUD
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY
We keep it simple out here and you will see most of our photos are taken with Samsung Ultra 20 smartphones mounted on a tripod and using the Pro feature and Expert Raw app to set 20 or 30 second exposure and selecting an ISO of 1600 to 3200 with the Expert Raw stacking images over a 4-, 7- or 10- minute exposure.
Its quite easy and we love showing guests how to do it on their own devices.
Bring your own tripod or borrow one of ours and have a go.
THE BORTLE DARK SKY SCALE AT DARK SKY HILL OBSERVATORY
The Bortle dark-sky scale (usually referred to as simply the Bortle scale) is a nine-level numeric scale that measures the night sky’s brightness of a particular location. We have shown on the chart what our night sky looks like based on the effect of the Moon. We are adjacent to the Dark Sky Park so our night skies are as good as it gets for the Siding Spring Observatory that we look directly at from our elevation and vantage.
NB: The target items listed in the sky calendar above are based on viewing up to 3 hours after sunset.
THE MOON
As the Moon works its way through the phases, more detail on the surface can be observed.
The silhouette against the black vastness of space highlights the crater ridges and, if you are lucky, a bat or a satellite will cross the surface in front of your eyes.
We photograph the moon for guests as well as many deep sky objects despite the moonshine wash.
THE MILKY WAY
The Milky Way on a Bortle 1 night as photographed from our Samsung Galaxy Note 20 with a 30 second exposure and 1600 ISO using Expert Raw 10-minute stacking.
Viewing the milky way with the naked eye is a real treat. With our telescopes we can explore heaps of features scattered within the galaxy from the Lagoon Nebula to the Jewel Box and a globular cluster or two.
We also check out a few red giant stars and some cooler white and blue looking stars along with the occasional double star.
