South West Life

The Astronomical Society Of The South West holds regular open evenings at the Bunbury observatory for budding star gazers.

The evenings are run by volunteers who provide assistance and background information on what you're looking at.

My wife and I attended an evening recently and were amazed at some of the things you can view in the sky. One of my favourites was Saturn, with it's rings clearly visible. I was told that over the next couple of years, the rings will disappear from view as Saturn's position (axis) relative to us changes, and then a couple of years later the rings will begin to come back into view.

We also saw things which to the naked eye looked like stars, but  when magnified by the telescopes you could see that they were actually gas clouds and other objects.

Visitors to the open evenings get to wander around their own leisure and look through the various telescopes that have been set up. There is also usually a short talk for those who are interested.

The open evenings are held at various times throughout the year, and there is a fee of around $7 per adult and $4 per child, or $18 per family. To find out when the next open day is, you can contact the observatory on (08) 9721 1586.

The Observatory is located on Keble Height, College Grove, in Bunbury.