Observing space at your own place

ALTHOUGH in a “deep lull,” the Ballarat Municipal Observatory & Museum is still sparking the city’s curiosities when it comes to the night sky and space.

Manager, Judith Bailey said the facility’s members in the Ballaarat Astronomical Society, whether individuals, businesses or schools, are being offered access to online resources, and she hopes the community of observers will grow.

“It’s a new arm of our offerings to the community, which may build up over time, as the whole situation is changing. We have world-class movies from some of our suppliers, information and alternative content, which closely touches what we do at the observatory,” she said.

“Some of the movies are flat screen versions of dome movies, so it’s excellent content. It’s a direction we can go in to hopefully create some income to help pay our bills, which don’t stop, of course.

“It’s for the cost of the yearly membership. It’s tremendous value, because the price of one individual’s visit to the observatory is the price of one year’s membership, and the cost for a business or school is way below.”

April’s recent International Dark Sky Week saw the society measuring the darkness of the night sky above their properties, and monitoring how much light their homes spill into the atmosphere.

“It’s to help create an awareness of the need to reduce our light spill and enable the sky to be dark at night, so we can see the stars,” Ms Bailey said.

She emphasised the value in engaging with the way the universe operates, and this International Dark Sky movement, to grasp a broader scientific understanding.

“It’s all interconnected across the disciplines, really. You’re looking at biology, environment, animals, how light affects us at night, and not only humans, but animals, insects and all forms of life.

“There’s nothing to stop Ballarat from becoming an International Dark Sky Community, if we can get as many people of all levels of society to work towards reducing unnecessary light spill, and turning off unnecessary advertising by midnight,” Ms Bailey said.

“That reduces the night light that’s wasted when the light goes up into the atmosphere. The levels of night light are very important for our health and wellbeing.”

Visit observatory.ballarat.net/society to join the Ballaarat Astronomical Society.