Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Planetariums & Observatories

While we're in NZ we're going toe the Stardome Observatory (http://www.stardome.org.nz/) and I was wondering if there are any in SYD, CNS, or BNE that people would recommend.

The ones in Australia seem to be more Observatory and less Planetarium, though I enjoy both.

Well there is the Sydney Observatory which is quite small and just at the approach to the harbour bridge, you get access through the Rocks. There is a Deep space comm centre in Canberra which may run tours but that would be a day in itself to get there and back. A day in Canberra wouldn't be all bad I guess see parliament and the War Memorial.

The SYD observatory offers daily tours. It is more of a historic building and sometimes offers stargazing nights. However, watching the stars in the middle of Sydney only gets you so far. During day time they sometimes have sessions where they observe the sun and you might see some protuberances and sunspots (even so we are not at the hight of the cycle at the moment).

There is a planetarium in Brisbane (just get a local bus to Mt Coot-tha).

Never been there, so I can't recommend it one way or the other, but the website is located at http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:BASE:232448883:pc=PLANET


Evan :->

I know you may not be in Melbourne but there is quite a good on at the Scienceworks Museum.

http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/planetarium/

When in SYD, were you planning a day trip to the Blue Mountains?

My uni campus (located in Penrith which is the major town before the Blue Mountains - an hour out SYD CBD) has an observatory
(http://www.uws.edu.au/alumni/gradlife/uwsobservatory) You could do the day trip to the Blue Mountains, have dinner at one the lovely cafes in the Blackheath or surrounding towns and then proceed to the astronomy nights. I haven't been to one of the family astronomy night but a friend goes there a lot (a physics nut who lives near by) and loves it. I do not know what evenings they are on - contact name on the link.