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Geminids over mountains banner — What’s In December’s Night Skies
The Night Sky

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Leonids above Torre de la Guaita banner — What’s In November’s Night Skies
The Night Sky

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Saturn banner — What’s In October’s Night Skies
The Night Sky

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Sculptor galaxy banner — What’s In September’s Night Skies
The Night Sky

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Omega nebula banner — What’s In August’s Night Skies
The Night Sky

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The Milky Way at Rocky Pool banner — What’s In July’s Night Skies
The Night Sky

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Lagoon Nebula banner — What’s In June’s Night Skies
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M83 banner — What’s In May’s Night Skies
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Capturing solar eclipse banner — Shooting The Eclipse
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We're holding a Lunar Photography Workshop on Wedn

One of our volunteers, Neil Francis, drove down to Lake Clifton last night, so he got to see with his own eyes the ethereal curtains that are the Aurora Australis and took this beautiful photo of the Aurora.

If you missed it, there still might be chances tonight and in the coming days. Even this morning, we were hit by another solar storm, as seen in the second image. This sudden rise in auroral activity is due to a large region on the Sun that contains many large sunspots. As the sun rotates, this region moves away from the side of the sun that we see. Still, we have three large sunspots following this region. In the next week, they should move into a position where we'll get more aurora if solar flares and CMEs are sent out.

Persistence is the key; if you make an attempt tonight and don't see it, don't get down. We have all the best objects in the night sky in the southern hemisphere. Keep an eye on websites like:

Glendale App: https://aurora-alerts.uk/
Earth Null School: https://bit.ly/3FLQH0X
And the Aurora Australis Western Australia Facebook group page

It's best to bring a digital camera and tripod or have a pro/night mode on your phone camera with you. The aurora might be there, but our eye's poor colour vision at night makes it hard to pick it out. This is where the camera will help you.

Also, don't be afraid to ask questions. We've all started as complete noobs at some point in our life. Because of the generosity of others to answer our questions and provide info in posts or articles, it has allowed us to become more knowledgeable in this area. It's best to read through these posts on the Aurora Facebook group pages, as your questions may have been answered already, and there are great tips for getting good photos.

Good hunting

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #westernaustralia #auroraaustralis #aurora #southernlights #solarstorm #astrophotography #photography #nightphotography #astrotourismwa #astrotourism #perthlife #seeperth #ThisisWA #wanderoutyonder #justanotherdayinwa #WAtheDreamState #esperance #WhistlingRock #CapeLeGrandNationalPark #experiencewa #westernaustraliatourism #tourismwa #perthobservatory #perthobs @WesternAustralia @australia

Well, that was one hell of an Aurora, wasn’t it? For astronomers, we have to be careful with how much we hype certain astronomical events as we don't want to disappoint people. We get lucky occasionally, and an astronomical event exceeds what we predict. As usual, to show us, it’ll decide when it's good. The solar storm hit about five hours late; when it hit, it was so good.

Here at the Observatory, we had a night sky tour, and our host tonight, Steve, grabbed everyone out of the domes as you could actually see the pinks and reds of the Aurora.

Thankfully, after seeing another astronomical event at RAC arena, Bryce Cotton scoring 41 points on the Sydney Kings, I returned to the Observatory to record a timelapse of the aurora from the end of the peak period.

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #westernaustralia #auroraaustralis #aurora #southernlights #solarstorm #astrophotography #photography #nightphotography #astrotourismwa #astrotourism #perthlife #seeperth #ThisisWA #wanderoutyonder #justanotherdayinwa #WAtheDreamState #esperance #WhistlingRock #CapeLeGrandNationalPark #experiencewa #westernaustraliatourism #tourismwa #perthobservatory #perthobs @WesternAustralia @australia

A strong Coronal Mass Ejection (CEM) is expected to hit us sometime around 2:00 PM (AWST). While there is a chance we will see the Aurora Australis up as far as Perth, you will need to travel out of Perth to see this due to the light pollution that Perth gives off. The best places to see it would be Lake Leschenaultia in Chidlow and Mount Dale Lookout, the Southen Central Wheatbelt, and Herron Point and Lake Clifton past Mandurah. If you're keen enough, driving to places like Esperance, Albany, Denmark, and Margret River is best. You will need to look South, and it's best to go out after 8 PM as you'll start to be dark enough to see them.

With the naked eye, they will look like an ethereal white curtain low on the horizon of Perth if we do get to see them. This is due to our eyes being unable to absorb enough light to see that colour. This is why bringing a digital camera and tripod or having a pro/night mode on your phone is best.

If you're going to take photos of the aurora, adjust your focus by using a star in the night sky as a marker. Try a shutter speed of 5-10 seconds for the aurora. Make sure you experiment with ISO. The higher the ISO, the more light you capture, but the photos also get grainier with a higher ISO. Also, set your aperture (f-stop) to at least f4 to let in enough light to capture the aurora. Go no lower than f2.8 to avoid ‘noisy’ images. Finally, select your white balance as “daylight” so that the light in your photos isn’t too yellow or blue.

Taking a head torch, bug spray, and good walking shoes is best. When viewing Aurora, persistence is the key. Auroras are just like meteor showers and comets. They are exactly like cats, only they will know what they want to do, and unfortunately, we can't make them the best.

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #westernaustralia #auroraaustralis #aurora #southernlights #solarstorm #astrophotography #photography #nightphotography #astrotourismwa #astrotourism #perthlife #seeperth #ThisisWA #wanderoutyonder #justanotherdayinwa #WAtheDreamState #westernaustraliatourism #tourismwa #perthobservatory #perthobs @WesternAustralia @australia

Find out what's in December's night sky here with

🌟 Help support the Perth Observatory and do your part for the environment with Containers for Change WA 🌟

By collecting your eligible containers and recycling them through Containers for Change, you can make a difference and contribute to a great cause. Simply scan the code below at any refund point to redeem your donation. Every little bit helps! ♻️❤️

#perth #wa #containerdepositscheme #changewa #nonprofit #dogood #charity #experienceperthhills #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #westernaustralia #perthlife #perthhappenings #perthisokay #PerthisOK #WhatsoninPerth #RecycleAndDonate #PerthLocal #AmazingWA #SoPerth #SustainablePerth #ContainersForChange #PerthSustainability #EcoPerth #perthobservatory #perthobs @4changewa

🌌✨ @wamuseum's Meteor Lab Is On Now ✨🌌

🎟️ Cost: Included with General Admission

Calling all cosmic enthusiasts! 🌠 Gear up for the Geminids meteor shower, a celestial spectacle like no other! 🌌✨ Join us and the Desert Fireball Network for a day (10 am - 4 pm) of FREE activities as we dive into the fascinating world of meteors. From understanding their origins to capturing these cosmic moments with telescopes and cameras, it's an astronomical adventure for the whole family! 🚀🔭

Don't miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in the wonders of the universe!

🌌✨ Tag your fellow stargazers and make it a cosmic day to remember! 🌠👨‍🚀

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #westernaustralia #perthlife #perthhappenings #perthgram #MeteorLab #Geminids #Geminids2023 #GeminidsMeteorShower #StargazingAdventure #WAEvents #space #spacenews #meteor #meteors #bolides #fireballs #meteorshower #WAMuseum #BoolaBardip #DesertFireballNetwork #DFN #gmn #globalmeteornetwork #perthobservatory #perthobs

West Australian Opera is proud to announce that the work commissioned from Tim Finn OBE, Ihitai 'Avei'a (Star Navigator), will be broadcast on ABC Classic’s Sunday Opera this Sunday, 26 November.

Perth Observatory worked with West Australian Opera just before COVID to do a public talk by Arthur Harvey, one of our volunteers, about Captain Cook and Tahitian high priest and navigator Tupaia.

✨ Discover more: via link in bio
📸 Harper Finn

#WAO #WAONewWork

Our Matt Woods had a busy day with the media after Wednesday night's meteor.

After making such a dramatic entrance, the meteor was made up of weak, loose material (rock, iron and maybe ice), so the damn thing evaporated about 65 kilometres up in the sky. If it were just iron, it would have probably survived. We had a lot of calls from the whole of the southwest of WA from people who saw it, and many of them saw the leftover dust tail.

It was great to work with Curtin @curtinuniversity's #DesertFireballNetwork (DFN) team and Denis and David from the #GlobalMeteorNetwork (GMW); we were able to figure out using one of Perth Observatory’s GMN cameras and a DFN camera, the meteor started near Pemberton and then flew over the Southern Ocean. It looks like Aphelion (Farthest point to the Sun) was out in the asteroid belt, and its perihelion (Closest Point to the Sun) was within the inner solar system with the rocky planets. Its trajectory indicates that it might be a part of the Taurid complex (tau-Taurids).

This meteor has been orbiting around the solar system for billions of years until, unfortunately, time ran out. This is why you always look left and right. Earth might not be the size of Jupiter, but that meteor should have been concentrating on where it was going. And now, because it's evaporated, we can't swap insurance details for its damage to the Earth’s atmosphere.

#Perth #WA #perthnews #wanews #communitynews #westernaustralia #perthlife #perthhappenings #perthgram #stargazing #photography #nightphotography #astrophotography #space #spacenews #astronomy #astronomynews #meteor #meteors #bolides #fireballs #meteorshower #CurtinUniversity #CurtinUni #DFN #gmn #perthobservatory #perthobs

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