Mount Burnett Observatory - Our History
420 Paternoster Road
Mount Burnett, Vic 3781
Emerald,
VIC 3782
Mount Burnett, Vic 3781
info@mtburnettobservatory.org
0409703929
Emerald,
VIC 3782
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Upcoming Events
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Outreach Team Training
September 19 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm AEST -
Pro-Am Science Workshop with Mike Fitzgerald
September 28 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm AEST -
Deep Sky and Astrophotography Night
September 28 @ 6:00 pm - 11:30 pm AEST
Our Supporters
Australians Have a Chance to Name a Star and Exoplanet
Events, News, Public EventsAs part of the 100thAnniversary celebrations of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) every country in the world is being given the chance to name their own star and an orbiting exoplanet. This is the IAU100 Name ExoWorlds project. The star chosen for Australia to name is currently known by its catalogue number HD 38283. It […]
Behind the scenes at MBO
Behind The Scenes, Blogs, NewsDear Mount Burnettigiri, School holidays are upon us, but things don’t stop at MBO. We have Young Observers coming up this Saturday and a Public Viewing session on Thursday. If the weather holds we hope to run our Astrotrail event around Emerald Lake on the final Saturday of the holiday… and of course there are […]
Einstein A Go Go – RRR Science Podcast
Audo Feed, Blogs, NewsAstronomy FM Live Stream
Audo Feed, Blogs, NewsNight Sky Podcast May 2019
Audo Feed, NewsLet there be light
NewsWow! Tonight’s Public Viewing guests were treated to an amazing light show projected on to the main dome! This was a great hit with the visitors with many a photo opportunity being undertaken, I hope to see lots of them on Facebook #mbo #mtburnettobservatory We have semi-clear skies and some reasonable viewing activities. Projection mapping […]
PV tonight
News, Public Viewing NightsWe are excited
Observatory Closed Due to High Fire Danger: 1st to 2nd March 2019
Events, Members Events, NewsDear members and friends, Mount Burnett Observatory closes when the Fire Weather is rated Severe or worse or when there is a Total Fire Ban called. Friday and Saturday are none of the above but the prolonged heat and dry spell mean that the committee is not confident it is safe to remain open. We […]
MBO CLOSED WEEKEND 27-28th JANUARY – FIRE DANGER
NewsDear members, An executive decision has been made, that in line with our safety policy, MBO events planned for this coming weekend are cancelled due to the fire risk. The observatory will be closed to all activities which had been planned for Friday night and all day Saturday. The Open Day which had been planned […]
MBO at PAVE Festival at Emerald for #StargazingABC
NewsMBO will be at Emerald Secondary College for the PAVE Festival in Emerald from 5pm-10pm, our small contribution to #StargazingABC! Come join us, it’s free! The festivities begin at "The Moon and Beyond" @MBObservatory @EmSecCollege #StargazingABC pic.twitter.com/UtWP3VzEYh — James Murray (@JamesTeach) April 4, 2017 Check out our planet lanterns in the background @MBObservatory @EmSecCollege #StargazingABC […]
Book review: “Cosmic Symmetry Shattered” by Michael D. Lemonick
NewsMBO has an extensive library which is available to members and one member, Martin Mebalds, has kindly taken the time to review another title that he has been reading. Cosmic symmetry shattered by Nicholas Mee – review by Martin Mebalds – shelved under Cosmology The Higgs particle is the last particle predicted by the Standard Model […]
MBO “Seeing Stars” Astrophotography Exhibition “Peoples Choice” award winners!
NewsThe Yarra Ranges Regional Museum has announced on Twitter the “Peoples Choice” award winners from the our recent “Seeing Stars” astrophotography exhibition. Congratulations to Neil Creek and Logan Nicholson for winning the poll of over 500 voters! Drum roll please! The winner of Open Category for @MBObservatory Seeing Stars People's Choice award: @neilcreek – Milky […]
Book review: “The Georgian Star” by Michael D. Lemonick
NewsMBO has an extensive library which is available to members and one member, Martin Mebalds, has kindly taken the time to review a title that he has been reading. The Georgian Star by Michael D. Lemonick – review by Martin Mebalds – shelved under Astronomy History This book is not about the discovery of Uranus […]
MBO “Seeing Stars” Astrophotography Exhibition at Yarra Ranges Regional Museum
NewsThe exhibition Seeing Stars: Astrophotography from the Dandenong Ranges is now being presented in the Chambers Gallery of the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum from 29 October 2016 – 29 January 2017. The exhibition coincides with another exhibition on display at the Museum at the same time called Science on the Move from Questacon in Canberra. […]
Volunteer for the “Deeper, Wider, Faster” astronomical survey!
NewsThe Deeper, Wider, Faster astronomical survey is currently running a campaign (based at the University of Melbourne but involving people from many institutes, including Swinburne) and they are looking for volunteers with an interest in astronomy to assist during working hours (they already have volunteers for other times) for days through to August 7th. This survey […]
Crowdfunding the new MBO Dome & Telescope
NewsThis crowdfunding campaign is now complete, thank you so much for your support! The new dome and telescope are operational with first light on the (then) manually steered telescope on 8th December 2017 and first guided usage a week later on Friday 15th December 2017!
MBO members astrophotography wanted for Astrophotography Exhibition at Yarra Ranges Regional Museum
NewsThe exhibition Seeing Stars: Astrophotography from the Dandenong Ranges will be presented in the Chambers Gallery of the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum from 29 October 2016 – 29 January 2017. The exhibition coincides with another exhibition that will be on display at the Museum at the same time called Science on the Move from Questacon […]
MBO at Scienceworks with CAASTRO for “Capturing the Cosmos” planetarium show launch
NewsOn Monday MBO was invited to bring our Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope tile to Scienceworks as part of the invitation only premiere of “Capturing the Cosmos“, the new planetarium show that the Melbourne Planetarium and CAASTRO have been working on for the last 2 years. We linked up with the Telescopes in Schools […]
MBO member Jacquie Milner co-author on Pluto occultation paper!
NewsBack in June 2015 our member Jacquie Milner spoke to MBO about “An Introduction to Observing Occultations” and in that presentation mentioned that she was participating in a ground based campaign to observe the occultation of a star by Pluto to characterise its atmosphere. 7 months on from that and there is now a paper […]
Presidents Message: MBO “Young Prime” Science Prize at Emerald Secondary College
NewsDear Mount Burnettavistas, I am very pleased to write about a plan that has come to fruition. About six months ago one of our newest members donated a sum of money to fund a science prize at one of the local schools. So this week my colleague Heike will be presenting the first “Young Prime” […]
Christmas Hamper Raffle 2015
NewsAt last nights AGM the 2015 Christmas Hamper Raffle was announced by Marilyn, this year in support of our new dome project. Tickets are just $2 each for a chance to win this great hamper, and you can get them directly from Marilyn at Members Nights every Friday. Christmas raffle to raise funds for our […]
Last call for votes for IAU NameExoWorlds competition
NewsThe International Astronomical Union voting for their NameExoWorlds competition that MBO is participating in will be closing this weekend (MBO solicited suggestions for entries from members of the public as part of National Science Week 2014). In June Mount Burnett Observatory selected the names “Ezu” and “Heroicos” from those suggestions as its submission to the […]
Presidents Message: A new project for a new dome!
NewsDear Mount Burnetterongs, This week we are embarking on what will be our most exciting and ambitious project since our launch four years ago. We are planning on building a new dome! For some time now it has been clear that the “chook shed”, home of our second permanently mounted telescope, is not fit for […]
Voting Opens for IAU NameExoWorlds Competition
NewsGood news, the International Astronomical Union has opened voting for their NameExoWorlds competition that MBO is participating in, having solicited suggestions from members of the public as part of National Science Week 2014. In June Mount Burnett Observatory selected the names “Ezu” and “Heroicos” from those suggestions as its submission to the competition for the […]
Presidents Message: An important message about the car park
NewsDear Mount Burnettichi Winter is not just coming, it has arrived in its full splendour. At Mount Burnett that means cold nights and lots of rain. Rain means boggy car parking. This makes it a good time to discuss access to MBO. If the gate is closed then MBO is closed. For the sake of safety ONLY COMMITTEE […]
Bendigo District Astronomy Society home base under threat – help them save it!
NewsOur fellow astronomy society in Bendigo is under threat of losing their home base. The Discovery Centre in Bendigo is an invaluable resource for families with regards to science and also the home of the Bendigo District Astronomical Society. They have launched a crowd funding campaign to save their Discovery Centre. Check it out….
Wednesday 1st & Thursday 2nd July – Venus and Jupiter Conjunction
NewsIn the early evenings of Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd July Melbourne will be treated (weather permitting) to a lovely conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in the north-western sky, less than a degree apart (closest on Wednesday night). Here is how the excellent free software program Stellarium shows it (click for full size images).
Presidents Message: World Record Stargazing, Telescopes and Lanterns
NewsDear Mount Burnettisi, What a busy week that was for Mount Burnett! We had the good news that our friends at CAASTRO will be donating 100 replicas of Galileo’s telescope (small refractors worth ~$5 each) for us to use in the World Record Stargazing attempt on August 21st. Young Observers if you want to take […]
MBO Submits Names For IAU ExoWorlds Naming Competition
NewsLast August as part of our National Science Week 2014 events we had flyers out to solicit names from the public to submit as part of the International Astronomical Union’s “Name ExoWorlds” competition for the chance to be able to name a star and its orbiting exoplanets – we even made The Age! #natsciwk […]
National Science Week Video – Dr Duane Hamacher – “Under Indigenous Skies”
NewsAt our National Science Week 2014 event of Friday 22nd August 2014 one of our two speakers for the night was Dr Duane Hamacher from the Nura Gili Indigenous Programs Unit at the University of New South Wales, talking about the Indigenous Astronomy of Australia and the Torres Straits. We present here the video of his talk […]
MBO hosts AIPP Astrophotography Workshop
NewsOn Sunday 17th May MBO played host to the Victorian branch of Australian Institute of Professional Photographers event “Starry Starry Night (Shooting Stars) with Andrew Campbell“. Here is the group photo that was posted to the AIPP VIC Facebook page: With 30 people attending the event sold out and it seems people enjoyed it! Big […]
Presidents Message: MBO and the community
NewsDear friends of Mount Burnett, This week I would like to take you back to the inaugural meeting of our association. On the 11th of July 2011 Perry, Barry, Ray, Ken and myself met at Elevations in Emerald to form Mount Burnett Observatory. That was the easy part. More difficult was to decide on a […]
A visit to Bright Astronomy Club
NewsRecently one of our outreach team, Sue McArthur, visited the Bright Astronomy Club in northeastern Victoria. Here is her report: Last week I visited Bright Astronomy Club. They are a small club of around 15 members, but are very active in the community. They hold a monthly observing night at Porepunkah Airport, and the public […]
Presidents Message: Large Dobsonian and “PV’s Must Sees”
NewsDear friends of Mount Burnett, I have two very exciting announcements. Firstly we are going ahead with the purchase of an 18 inch telescope. This will be available for use on Friday nights and during our outreach and public viewing sessions. It will be a portable Dobsonian telescope so easy to set up and put […]
Lunar Eclipse April 2015 round up
NewsLast night we had an open night for the last total lunar eclipse until 2018! Some people turned up early and were rather excited. :-) .@MBObservatory zOMG so much 4yo excitement! Space PJs, NASA coveralls, we are GO! pic.twitter.com/bY33Oy3hnN — DoYouBelieveInDog? (@DoUBelieveInDog) April 4, 2015 Having a wonderful time at @MBObservatory with very patient Braeden […]
Presidents Message: Light Pollution
NewsDear friends of Mount Burnett, I would like to talk a little this week about dark skies. 2015 is the International Year of Light and some of the themed activities later in the year will centre on the importance of keeping our night skies dark. Not only do we get better views of the stars but […]
Photo round up of MBO Open Day 2015
NewsOn Saturday 24th January 2015 it was a pleasure to welcome new members and old to Mount Burnett for our third birthday party and annual open day. There was a huge turnout of over 170 visitors with over 40 joined on the spot. Even the weather was kind and the viewing that night was fantastic. […]
CAASTRO Poster About National Science Week 2014 with MBO
NewsCAASTRO, the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics, has produced the below poster documenting their involvement with the Mount Burnett Observatory for the National Science Week 2014 “Stars in the Yarra Ranges” events. We had a wonderful time working with them and look forward to more engagement in the future!
Mount Burnett Observatory on ABC 7:30 Victoria and in The Age
NewsThe Mount Burnett Observatory was featured in a six minute segment on the ABC 7:30 Victoria programme on Friday 15th August called “Amateur astronomers resurrect disused observatory in the Dandenongs“. Then the next morning we were featured in The Age in an article about our National Science Week activities called “Scienceweek challenge: In search of […]
Merry Christmas from MBO
NewsMt Burnett Observatory would like to wish all its members and friends a very merry and safe Christmas time!
Telescope Opening Tonight
NewsThe Opening Night is now fully booked. Members and invited guests only. Stay tuned for future events.
Observatory rises again
NewsRead Perry’s article in The Age’s Green Guide about Mount Burnett Observatory’s new lease of life.