Local Observatories #1 Bowen Mountain, New South Wales, Australia
By
Purplepeopleater on 12-May-12. Waypoint GA4380
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | Virtual |
| Container: | Virtual |
| Coordinates: | S33° 33.742' E150° 37.311' (WGS 84) |
| 56H 279238E 6283832N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 470 m |
| Local Government Area: | Hawkesbury City |
/150.62185,-33.562367,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
Crago Observatory is the ASNSW's "local" dark sky observing site at Bowen Mountain
Set on 4 acres (1.6 hectares) of Crown Land surrounded by National Park, Crago Observatory provides ASNSW members with a surprisingly dark sky observing site, only a short distance from Sydney and at a location easily accessible to most members.
Crago Observatory consists of a large rotating dome housing a high class ?????? telescope, fitted with Argo Navis and ServoCAT as well as a wide range of eyepieces and star charts available for use with the telescope.
The ground floor of the observatory contains basic cooking facilities and limited seating.
Around the base of the observatory, a large cleared area provides ample space for members and visitors to set up their own telescopes.
As some damage has occurred to equipment in the past, a system of accreditation has been implemented for the use of some facilities outside of normal scheduled observing sessions, and only accredited members may use these facilities at these times, unless accompanied by an accredited member.
Members wishing to gain accreditation for the use of any of these facilities need to contact ASNSW for further details and to book a time and date for an accreditation session. There is a separate accreditation process involved for each of the Society's facilities, including the Wiruna Property, the 17½" Telescope at Wiruna, and the 16" Telescope and dome at Crago Observatory.
Scheduled Observing Sessions at Crago Observatory for 2011/2012
| 28 January 2012 | 18 February 2012 | 17 March 2012 |
| 14 April 2012 | 12 May 2012 | 16 June 2012 |
| 14 July 2012 | 11 August 2012 | 8 September 2012 |
| 6 October 2012 | 3 November 2012 | 8 December 2012 |
How to get to Crago Observatory
The observatory is located about 100m past the fire trail at the northern end of Lieutenant Bowen Rd, Bowen Mountain, near North Richmond. All current Sydney Street directories now include this portion and are quite easy to follow.
To claim this cache you must take a photo of yourself holding your GPS with the observatory in the background and answere the following questions:
a) What are the co-ordinates of the observatory as stated on the observatory itself
b) What is the elevation of the observatory as stated (and as measured if you have an altimeter)
c) What type and size of telescope is housed in teh observatory?
Happy star gazing!!
Logs
Hidden behind the firetrail trees, this small building seems to pop out from nowhere, and indeed its size does leave one to wonder at the telescope within.
Photos will be added and the Q answers to be emailed forthwith.
Thank you to Purplepeopleater for the Virtual, and for the prod to go online to learn more on the Crago Observatory.
Found today with rogerw3 during our afternoon 'GCA Loop' trek from the Blue Mountains, down to Richmond and Windsor, and them back home again.
Have found the answers to all three questions and will send an e-mail to the CO.
Required picture to be uploaded in the next hour.
Interesting place to visit. Good idea for a virtual!
Thanks very much to PPE. 'Four Thumbs Up' rating . . .
No problem finding the observatory, you can't miss it, lovely spot.
Thanks for bringing us to this place, loved it.
I was surprised to find this one so close to houses, I was expecting a way more isolated location, and a longer walk to it. So it was a pleasant surprise to find we didn't need to walk far. Just far enough to let the kids have a run & use up some excess energy.
If we'd been around a little later in the day, we might have got to see the telescope in action, as I see 3 November is one of the rare open times.
Thanks for taking us to an interesting place
This close-ish to home unfound virgin marked the milestone perfectly.
We did expect to see the building so big hidden around the corner of the track!?!
TFTC.
