Omaka Observatory Latest News:
Astronomical Events Calendar
Latest News
Accurate Cloud Cover Forecast now available
Wonder if the sky will be clear? Check the Clear Outside Forecast below, shows the next 72 hours at the Observatory.
White in the total cloud means heavy cloud, dark blue is a clear sky. With the summary red means not suitable for star gazing, orange means it will be marginal and green means it should be clear, also shows temperature on-site.
Thanks to the team from Clearoutside.com.
23/06/2022
Great Matariki gathering at Rarangi this morning. Thanks to Marlborough Youth Trust for organising and providing kai afterwards. We got a glimpse of Matariki through 6″ scope and also captured in the photo below.
Venus is bright and in the centre of the photo, Matariki is to the bottom left of Venus.
Work continues on getting us open, still on target for the 1st July, we will open our booking system for tours once our opening date is confirmed.
7/5/2022 VR has arrived
Whilst we are working on getting the crater built and the classroom fitted out our three VR kits have arrived.
Here Emily is attempting a Space Walk to fix an issue on the International Space Station.
Our two other VR kits include a journey in space (taking you to black holes and distant galaxies) and a tour inside the ISS.
These VR kits will form the high-tech side of our classroom resources.
Thanks to our technology sponsor pcMedia for providing the equipment to run our VR equipment on.
More exciting astronomical equipment is on its way too. Got one box on route from the US and another on route from Australia.
3/4/2022 The 14″ Finally goes into Operation!
14″ Celestron 14″ HD Scope fully assembled and good to go.
Finally we got a clear night!
Got to work through some dew issues but other than that an amazing piece of equipment!
Thanks again to the Pelorus Trust for donating this.
2/4/2022 X Marks the Spot!
Post marks the center of the Observatory
Earthworks about to begin, site being marked out and the post marks what will be the center.
Now over to the great team at TG Excavations to prepare the site and start to construct the crater.
21/3/2022 We have Resource Consent!
Finally got resource consent granted and can start work on getting the Observatory built. Timelines for our Matariki launch are tight and weather dependent so fingers crossed!
8/3/2022 The Celestron CGX EQ with 14″ Edge HD OTA Arrives for testing!
Our star attraction is finally here!
Most of the components for our 14” Celestron HD Scope, kindly donated by the Pelorus Trust has arrived. Initial set-up and testing is in the process of being carried out.
This will join our 9” Scope donated by the Mazda Foundation and our 6” Scope to form the core of our scientific equipment.
Lee and Andrew assembling it for its first test, the tube scope and counterweights are nearly 80kg. Here it is on its tripod, on site it will be attached to a fixed base. When we get some good clear nights we will update with more photos.
19/11/2021 Site testing with the Mazda Foundation Telescope
Emily one of our student testers. Site testing has been carried out every week for the last six months to check light conditions, suitability and cloud cover. She is on-site with one of our scopes kindly donated by the Mazda Foundation click here to get more information on our sponsors.
Emily here is checking out Jupiter and its moons as well as Saturn . She was able to easily see the all of the Galilean moons of Jupiter as well as Saturn’s rings.
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