1 April 2011

As Autumn approaches and the nights draw in we’ll be making the most of the extra hours of darkness by offering additional telescope viewings on Tuesday nights. Carter Observatory will be open at the normal time of 10am on Tuesdays but will stay open until 9.30pm. Planetarium shows will be held at 11am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 3pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm and 8.30pm on Tuesdays.

“Our Saturday night telescope viewing sessions have become very popular”, says Acting Director Nataša Petković-Jeremić. “We decided sometime ago, that we needed to offer the public additional telescope viewing opportunities and we think the Tuesday nights will add another dimension to Carter’s offering”.

To make the most of the clocks changing back to standard time, Carter will hold a special week of late nights between 16 and 23 April. The observatory will be open until 9.30pm every night this week with telescope viewing, dependent on the weather.

“These evenings provide a wonderful opportunity to inspire the public to look up. Seeing these amazing astronomical objects first hand through a telescope can be a truly remarkable experience”, says Dr Claire Bretherton, Education & Public Programmes Manager, “and one that many people will never forget”.

The 12th of April marks the 50th anniversary of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space. To celebrate this remarkable and inspiring achievement, Carter will launch our new planetarium show “Dawn of the Space Age” on the evening. The event starts at 6.30pm with the first show at 7pm. This will be followed by a showing of “First Orbit”, a free film to download and share created to celebrate the first 50 years of human spaceflight which will be premiered around the world on this evening. Cost: $18 adults / $8 children / $13 concessions / Free to Star Pass Holders.

During the April school holidays we will continue with the spaceflight theme with lots of hands on activities to keep children entertained including: space shuttle making, gallery trail and competition, special planetarium showings of “Tycho to the Moon” (on Wednesday and Sunday mornings at 10.15am) and “The Problem with Pluto” (1pm weekdays).

There’s lots going on at Carter, so one visit is never enough! We have a great combination of Star Pass membership options from $25 for a child pass. Star Pass membership gives visitors unlimited entry to Carter Observatory for 12 months, great discounts from our retail store and special invitations to events and many other benefits, including seeing all the wonderful new planetarium shows we have on offer.

Don’t miss out on Peter Read – The People’s Astronomer. Still showing at Carter until the end of June.

Come and catch the stars at Carter and be inspired to look up!

ENDS

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