Our Sky Shows
To view the available dates for the Sky Shows, go to the Sky Show Calendar.
Our Sky Shows
We schedule our events to reflect the lunar cycle. The Moon dictates what is visible in your night sky.
No Moon means darkness – at our venue you won’t see your hand held in front of your face. Our moonless night sky is inky black. Book into Milky Way Hangout or Hang out with the Stars®.
A small Crescent Moon means variety – some light and dark – a perfect time to get to know your night sky. Book in to The Sky Tonight.
A Gibbous Moon means brightness – a perfect time to learn about the Moon. Book into The Sky Tonight or Discover the Moon.
At any time we may also schedule Dinner with the Stars – an event that combines a hearty meal with a sky show that may, or may not include moon viewing.
During the day time we schedule See the Sun and Discover the Moon.
All evening sky shows include live commentary of the sky view and access to various equipment and optics (telescopes, binoculars). However, pricing differs, depending upon your preferences. For example, do you want to book in for “the lot”? If so, select the PLUS ticket option. Alternatively, do you want to craft your own experience? If so, select the Standard ticket option to build up an experience that suits you and your travelling party.
About Pricing Differences
Sky shows that are scheduled only in the evening offer Standard or PLUS tickets.
PLUS Ticket
By far the most popular ticket is the PLUS. Each guest with a PLUS ticket receives a super-sized snack to graze upon for the duration of the sky show. One beverage is included and you select that from our drinks list on the night. Delicious boutique wines are sourced from Orange, NSW, and a range of regional varieties are also sourced from Victoria and South Australia. Additional drinks can be purchased at the time of booking.
The PLUS ticket includes (in addition to the audio and equipment):
- reclined chair
- side table
- food/drink service
Standard Ticket
The Standard ticket booking includes bench seating. However, during the booking process, you can upgrade seating to a reclined chair or an upright chair. You can also add some food and drink options, for example a single serve of cheese and crackers we’ve called “White Dwarf Plate”, the single serve of sweets and chocolate we’ve called “Brown Dwarf Plate”, or a shared platter of snacks called the “Asteroid Scatter Platter”. There are others you can review here.
Extras at the time of Booking
When you are in the booking section, you can see extras are categorised as:
- Sky Show Options
- Food
- Drinks
For example, in the Sky Show Options section, you may need to purchase ear phones if you don’t have some already. Ear phones are required to plug into the audio unit we supply to hear our live commentary (see details in the FAQs).
In the Food section, you can opt to purchase single food serves, or share plates for larger group bookings. If you book the Super-Giant Platter and Wine, for example, there is enough food and wine to serve five persons (we serve 150ml in our wine glasses). We invite guests to arrive early to begin to enjoy hospitality prior to the event so that some socialising is possible around platters and share plates.
In the Drinks section, you can choose from beer, wine (by the glass or the bottle), soft drinks and bottled water. Please note – we do not interrupt our sky shows with drinks orders. Guests are welcome to arrive at the earliest time we text to you on the day to seek bar service before the sky show begins.
Last Minute Bookings
If you book your evening sky show event on the day it is scheduled, you may see the letters “SSO” in the title. This means “sky show only” can be booked and ability to purchase certain extras, eg food, is no longer available.
To ensure you book the experience you prefer, always try to book well in advance.
Upcoming Change to Full Refund Policy
We realise some nights may be cloudy and some guests may not be able to reschedule their event. If we must cancel an event prior to commencement, because of clouds and you cannot reschedule, we currently fully refund your booking.
This is a costly promise we make to you as cancellations due to cloud are beyond our control.
- Weather forecasts are so bad.
We do watch the weather closely. It is not uncommon to observe clear conditions at our property while at the same time some weather service providers forecast full cloud cover. That’s an extreme version of what we deal with. We put it down to an over-reliance on computer models by weather service providers. Despite investment in numerous weather service subscriptions, we routinely experience poor forecasts. This can often result in cancelled events when conditions do clear, but by then the decision to cancel results in refunds.
- It costs us money to fully refund you.
All banks and financial institutions that provide online payment services take a commission from every booking we receive. They take a fee at the time you make the booking and again if we have to fully refund you. While you don’t feel the pinch, we certainly do. It amounts to thousands of dollars per year.
We cannot continue to bear these costs. Beyond 1 June 2024, we will review our full refund policy so that the fees and charges we incur at the time of the booking and when it is refunded is recouped. This means that from 1 June 2024 instead of a full refund (for cloud or any other reason, eg sickness) our policy will stipulate that refunds will be made “less fees and charges incurred from online payment providers”, or words to that effect, and amended from time to time to reflect changes to those fees and charges that we incur.
In reality this means that about 96% of a booking will be refunded when refunds are made after 1 June 2024. We do hope that you can appreciate the situation we face.
We host this during winter months when the hazy band of the Milky Way Galaxy is clearly visible and directly overhead. When this sky show is listed you can be sure the viewing is spectacular as we enjoy inky black skies for about two weeks of each lunar cycle. It’s the quintessential stellar gazing experience from our big open air observatory.
There are no obstructions to the view as we guide you through the galaxy. Consider this to be like a virtual galactic cruise. From May, see Scorpius. During Winter get set to see the Teapot in Sagittarius and other wonderful sights that adorn the galaxy haze above.
This sky show is mostly scheduled during warmer months, although we may also host it for parts of Autumn and Spring. Seek out the naked eye views of Andromeda Galaxy (and enhanced viewing with binoculars and telescopes) on warm evenings in November through to January, while naked eye viewing of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are possible most of the year.
The Summer views of Orion, Taurus, Canis Major and Canis Minor are spectacular. By the time of Autumn, we begin to farewell this enormous hunting scene and welcome into view the awesome centaur, along with the hazy band of the Milky Way.
With this event, expect to see the Moon in the evening. It will be semi-dark, or is it semi-bright! This is a super sky show that is hosted all year round. Learn a bit about the Moon, the stars, planets if any are about, and see wonderful celestial objects like star clusters and galaxies.
There’s still plenty to see with the naked eyes. We also use binoculars and telescopes to see more. We also share knowledge that helps you learn about the sky above. One of the extras that can be purchased online when booking is “Outback Astronomy’s Stargazing Field Guide”. As a conveniently sized guide, this will fit nicely in your glove box. Take it with you on your adventures and road trips and teach yourself the art of naked eye stargazing.
We allow one and a half hours for dinner and another one and a half hours for the sky show. You spend all this time outdoors from sunset – to experience the changing sky. Cycle through dusk to darkness, enjoy some private time at the telescope before other sky show guests arrive, and sample our generous outback hospitality. Gas heating or camp fires will keep you warm in winter. Our meals are all prepared in our commercial kitchen right next to our telescopes.
The event cannot be booked within 48 hours of the scheduled date so be sure to book well ahead of the date. At the time of booking you will pre-select the main course for all members of your group. This knowledge in advance allows us to cater for small, exclusive groups. In Summer expect two courses (main and dessert) and in Winter, there may be three (ie, if very cold, we include a warm soup entrée). A hot beverage is included in the ticket price and served in a thermos mug to enjoy during the sky show. Enjoy the sky show in a reclined chair with a sleeping bag, included in the pricing.
Day and Night Event
Modern space missions and the Moon are the focus of this event. We will use maps and a range of powerful optics to explore the Moon in detail. At certain times this event can be hosted during the day. Expect to learn more about the Moon, how to understand its phases, its surface features and other fun facts. This is a one-hour event that requires a minimum number of paying guests in order to proceed. Book online and we’ll let you know if you will have company. We refund if numbers are not reached.
This event allows children aged from 5 years to 15 years can attend for free. We assume one adult can supervise three children. If you have a large group of children wanting to attend, you must ensure sufficient adults attend to maintain an adult-to-children ratio of 1:3.
No ear phones are necessary as we may use a public address system if the group is large. No prior knowledge is required.
Day Event Only
Learn about our home star and view it safely through our powerful, sun-safe optics. Prominences and sunspots are plentiful during 2024 and 2025 so prepare to be sunstruck.
We share knowledge about the Sun that is useful for stargazers – learn about its nature and why it matters to us. This is a great entry point for beginning to understand stars. If you can relate to the Sun through more knowledge, then a starry sky will be far easier to understand and appreciate. No prior knowledge is required.
