Look up this dark sky week

Skies the limit: The Ballarat Municipal Observatory will hold activities on site, and off, inviting people to take a look through their various telescopes, one of which is accessible to people of all abilities. Photo: FILE

INTERNATIONAL Dark Sky Week begins this Saturday, 15 April and is part of a global campaign encouraging people to discover the night sky above them, and limit light pollution.

Ballarat Municipal Observatory and Museum staff are part of the celebrations, holding a series of events on site, in the Woowookarung Regional Park, and at Lake Wendouree, to engage people of all ages throughout the community in different spaces.

“Education is the key thing,” said Ballarat Municipal Observatory and Museum manager Judith Bailey.

“It’s critical to offer education outside the gates of the observatory… and have not such a narrow understanding [of just seeing the stars].”

Activities at the observatory on Tuesday, 18, Thursday, 20, and Saturday 22 April include telescope viewings and movie screenings.

Why earth’s inhabitants need a dark night sky, and how light pollution can be reduced will also be explained, and an IDSW competition will be run, with binoculars up for grabs to look at wildlife and the sky.

An opportunity to rug up and learn about Woowookarung’s fauna will be offered at the park on Friday, 21 April, with participants able to look through telescopes to see the sky above.

“We’re so, so lucky to have this area, which is 634 hectares, protecting our night sky at the observatory, because it covers the south-east to south-west part of our sky,” Ms Bailey said.

“There are some very important objects there which you can’t see in the northern hemisphere.”

The flora and fauna of Lake Wendouree will be the focus on Sunday, 23 April, but photographers will also have the chance to capture the three-day-old Moon and Venus, and view them through a telescope.

Visit bit.ly/3mooasm to register. IDSW officially runs until Saturday, 22 April.