Campbelltown Rotary Observatory

Campbelltown Rotary Observatory is owned by Western Sydney University and is located in the appropriately named Milky Way, behind the University in the new residential suburb of Macarthur Heights.

It was founded by its Director, Dr Ragbir Bhathal and was constructed with considerable support from Campbelltown Rotary and other organisations. It was originally opened on 15th July 2000.

You can find the Observatory’s official website lower down this page. (At Dr Bhathal’s request I  consented to WSU using the above feature photograph on the official WSU Observatory website but WSU did not credit my image).

In 2013, the Observatory was temporarily closed while the hill it was then situated on was bulldozed to make way for the new housing estate.

2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Twin Domes Cropped RP
2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory twin domes.

In 2015 it was reopened about 150 metres away from its original location. It is now closer to the University and is a stunning visual feature at  Macarthur Heights.

Public observing sessions are conducted over the winter period each year, in collaboration with Macarthur Astronomical Society. For details go the Macarthur Astronomical Society website.

2015-01-15 UWS Rotary Observatory Steps
2015-01-15 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory – steps up.

 

2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Steps
2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory – steps down from the Observatory to the “Gates of Light” sculpture.

 

2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory & Moon in Clouds
2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory: Moon in the clouds.

 

2015-12-05 The Domes Public Night - Dome 1 Sunset
2015-12-05 Dome-1 in the sunset.

 

2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Dome 1 Open
2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory: Dome-1 open

 

2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Domes 1&2 White Light
2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory domes in white light.

 

2015-12-05 The Domes Public Night - Dome 2 Cropped
2015-12-05 Dome-2 on a public night in red light.

 

2015-12-05 The Domes Public Night - Setting Up
2015-12-05 Public Night: MAS members setting up telescopes next to the Observatory.

 

2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Domes 1&2 Red Light
2016-05-14 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory domes in red light.

 

2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory
2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory in white light. 

 

2015-12-05 The Domes Public Night Dome 1 & Stairs Cropped
2015-12-05 The Domes Public Night: Dome-1 & stairs

 

2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Twin Domes
2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory twin domes.

 

2015-12-05 The Domes Public Night - Steps Down
2015-12-05 The Domes: Public night, steps in red light.

 

2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Plaque
2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory plaque put in place in 2015. It makes scant mention of the original Observatory opening on 15th July 2000, at a location approximately 150 metres away (at a bearing of 245° – see Google Earth). A few months after the plaque was installed, the University rearranged its name to Western Sydney University.

 

2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Domes
2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory domes.

 

2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Dome 1
2015-11-23 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Dome-1.

 

2015-01-21 Astro-Arches 1
2015-01-21 “The Gates of Light” sculpture below the observatory

 

2015-01-15 UWS Rotary Observatory
2015-01-15 Campbelltown Rotary Observatory day view from Milky Way.  

 

2015-12-05 The Domes Public Night - Dome 1 With Seat
2015-12-05 The Domes on a public night: Dome-1 with seat.

The Original Observatory Location

Here is where the observatory was between 2000 and 2013 (left), compared with its current location (right). Of course, none of the roads existed then:

Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Locations
Campbelltown Rotary Observatory: Old and New locations marked with yellow pins. Image: Google Earth.
Rotary Observatory from Narellan Road 1
This is what the since bulldozed hilltop looked like then in 2009, when the Campbelltown Rotary Observatory was in its original location. Viewed from Narellan Road.

EDIT (1st July 2019):
Added two additional images of the Observatory at its old location – plus weblinks and two relevant historical documents:

2009-07-04 Moon above UWS Rotary Observatory Cropped No Moon
2009-07-04 – The twin-domed UWS Rotary Observatory at its original location. Since the relocation, UWS has been renamed WSU and the Observatory itself has been called Campbelltown Rotary Observatory.

 

2009-07-04 OSETI Plaque
2009-07-04 – my image of the OSETI Plaque which was placed at the original observatory to record that the location of the first Optical Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence was in Campbelltown, NSW. The whereabouts of the plaque since the re-opening of the Observatory is unknown to me. One candidate “laser-like” signal was detected but has not been replicated.

I published two different sets of images about the Observatory on my sister website, Focused on Campelltown. They are:

The Original Observatory    and    The Relocated Observatory

 

Historical Documents:

UWS Rotary Observatory Opening – Programme

UWS Rotary Observatory Specification – circa 2000

Web Links:

Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Official Page

Campbelltown Rotary Observatory – Wikipedia: 


All photographic images © R.Powell


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