User:Ginginobservatory

The Gingin Observatory is situated just North of Perth in Western Australia, lying within the Shire of Gingin being approx. 20 km east of the township and within a 15 minute drive from Yanchep National Park on Military Road. The Observatory can be accessed from Wanneroo Road which travels towards the town of Lancelin and from the Brand Highway traveling north from Perth towards Geraldton. Visitors can easily travel to the Observatory by following signs situated on both Wanneroo Road and the Brand Highway.

The Observatory sits on the traditional land of the Yued Aboriginal people of the Nyoongar Tribe called the Wallingup Plain, and opened in 2001 when founding Astronomer, David Nicolson relocated his telscopes from the nearby "Golden Grove Observatory" in the Chittering region. Next to the observatory lays the 'Gravity Discovery Centre' and the 'Australian International Gravitational Observatory'(AIGO). AIGO is part of a worldwide gravitational wave telescope partnership which is between Australia, USA, Germany, India, France and China and is the only gravitional wave detector within the Southern Hemisphere. These three unique centres combine to make one exciting educational centre just one hour north of Western Australia's Capital city.

Evening and Daytime astronomy feature hands on telescope use and plenty of time with astronomers in this world class public observatory. The Gingin Observatory runs year round and feature special astronomical events throughout, specially catering for group bookings of children, primary and high schools, scout groups, corporate events, car clubs, senior and international visitor groups. The observatory also have general public viewing nights where members of the public book and eventually form a group ranging from 20 up to 56 people.

The use of special filters allow viewing of the sun and it's sun spots during the day while up to six telescopes are used during the evenings. Away from the city lights of Perth, the night skies are very dark which make it an ideal place for stargazing.

In 2009 during the International Year of Astronomy a new telescope was commissioned at the Gingin Observatory. The Zadko Telescope was purchased by Jim Zadko, from the United States of America and is worth one million dollars. The Zadko telescope is involved in reaearch and its primary objective is to photograph gamma ray bursts in the Universe. To do this, it communicates with two satellites - G.L.A.S.T and S.W.I.F.T Satellites. These satellites can locate a gamma ray burst and communicate with the telescope to start taking images.

Even though the Zadko Telescope is involved in research, the Gingin Observatory have access and feature special 'Zadko' evenings throughout the year. The Zadko is used world wide by professional astronomers and scientist through a remote server via the internet. It is hoped that the telescope will help scientists learn and understand more about the Universe and educate the general public about research and its importance.