This Observatory, situated at Mount Pleasant in Ballarat, was established on the initiative and with the financial support of James Oddie, and was formally opened to the public in 1886. When Oddie presented the Observatory to the people of Ballarat, it became the first municipal observatory in Australia.
Registrations for NACAA XXIV are now open. Full details at http://nacaa.org.au/2010.
On February 12th at 8pm Tony Dyson will speak on "The Realities of Global Warming". Tony is a member of BAS and a retired Chemical Engineer. Tony is also a member of BREAZE and speaks on behalf of BREAZE to various Ballarat groups.
At the General Meeting on April 9th Barry Adcock will speak about "The International Mars Conference" held in Europe in late 2009. The talk starts at 8.00pm. Entry to these talks is free.
Heritage Weekend - Open 8th & 9th May 2010 4pm - 9pm
Theme "Out of this World - Travel On Earth and in Space".
Lecture 4.00pm Sat & Sun titled "Alien Tourists - how fast would they travel, what do they need to get to Earth - could your neighbour be an Alien?"
Displays, 3D Movies, Viewing at the telescopes if fine.
More Information will be available on the website as it becomes available...
There are items for sale at the Observatory including books, calenders, mugs, planispheres. The 2010 yearbook is now available.
The Observatory is located on the corner of Magpie and Cobden Street, Mount Pleasant, Ballarat East and is open every Friday and Saturday evening.
For the local weather information courtesy of "Weatherzone" click here.
The banner at the top of this page is from a sketch by John Brittain when he was Superintendent of the Observatory, and shows its appearance in about 1922.