By JARROD POTTER
OPENING the dome for its third birthday party, Mt Burnett Observatory celebrated Saturday as hundreds of eager astronomers made the trek.
Located at the peak of Paternoster Road, Mt Burnett, the observatory has stood proudly in the hills since 1972 and since rescuing the facility from destruction in 2010, Mt Burnett Observatory has reaped the benefits of keeping the telescopes set on the skies above Pakenham.
Around 170 keen stargazers journeyed up the hill on Saturday to celebrate the observatory’s birthday, with a tour of the dome during the afternoon before night-time viewing as the dome – and its massive 0.45m Cassegrain/Newtonian telescope – stayed open well into the later hours.
Mt Burnett Observatory founding member Perry Vhalos said the evening was a wonderful success and highlighted how quickly the organisation has expanded in three years since the facility re-opened on 21 January 2012 to rapturous applause from the astronomical community.
“It has been a terrific day,” Vhalos said.
“Lots of people have come up and more than half the audience have been people that have never been before, so the news has been spreading around.
“It’s grown tremendously since the five that started it originally, we’re now over 150-160 members, which makes us the second largest association in Victoria.
“It’s terrific – we’re growing really nicely.”
The observatory is open every Friday night for lectures and observing through the domed telescope and Vlahos encouraged anyone with an eye on their astronomy to come visit.
“People are always welcome to come up and see what we’re doing and if they’d like to sign up that would be terrific because it’s via people’s support and the community’s support that we can continue to exist.”
For more information on the observatory, set your sights on info@mtburnettobservatory.org
