It’s one thing to gaze apon a beautiful starlit sky with the naked eye. It’s another to view stars, planets, comets or the moon through a purpose-made lens. If you want to learn more about our solar system, there is no better place to start than the Alloway Observatory.
Have you ever noticed the large, white geodesic dome on Goodwood Road and wondered what it is? Built in 1968, the Alloway Observatory is the home of the Bundaberg Astronomical Society.
Today, the Society opens the Observatory to the public for a small fee from dusk on the last Friday of the month, except when it’s cloudy. For those already in the know when it comes to celestial equipment, the Observatory includes a newtonian reflector, sun telescope, meade telescope and atadioptic telescope.
Mac Jonsen is a founding member of the Society, which has helped educate thousands of local school children since it started in 1960. He was introduced to star gazing at the age of 12. “My father bought me a telescope to see the Northern Lights,” Mac said. “When I came to Bundaberg from Scotland I met local canefarming brothers, Greg and Bill Fielding. They donated the land at Alloway and were instrumental in starting the Observatory and Society.”