Ballarat Municipal Observatory

18/07/2026

This coming November an event will occur that will be the first of it's kind in the history of the Earth.

Approaching One Light-Day

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2026, at 2:16:07 a.m. PST, or 20:16:07 p.m. AEDT in Ballarat. NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft will be 16,094,799,096 miles (25,902,068,356 kilometers) away from Earth — or, the distance light travels in 24 hours, also known as one light-day.

Voyager 1 will be the first human-made object to reach this distance from Earth, adding to a long list of historic firsts for the mission. Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to ever operate outside the heliosphere, or the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the Sun.

Track the Voyagers’ progress through the cosmos with the interactive tools below.

You can go online here https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/where-are-voyager-1-and-voyager-2-now/ and track Voyager as it nears this once in a lifetime event.

18/07/2026

Public nights coming up

Each Session is run by astronomers from the Ballaarat Astronomical Society who love to talk about all things astronomy-related. Evening Sessions are aimed at all ages and are jampacked: History Tour, Presentation, Stargazing, Telescope Viewing, and Q&A with an astronomer all within 2 hours. In case....

04/06/2026

Amazing!

The largest magnetic map of the Universe ever produced – five times larger than all previous efforts combined – marks the beginning of a new generation of research into the field of intergalactic magnetism.

Magnetic fields influence how galaxies grow, how matter moves through space, and how the Universe has evolved over billions of years.

The new map was produced by an international team led by researchers at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the SKA Observatory (SKAO), an intergovernmental organisation building two of the world’s largest radio telescopes.

​Scientists have produced a map of the Universe’s magnetic fields revealing an invisible cosmic web that shapes how galaxies form and evolve.

30/04/2026

This year marks 140 years of the Ballarat Observatory! Join us for our FREE Celebration. Bookings are required so we can ensure each session is not overcrowded. https://www.trybooking.com/DLONO .
More information can be found at: https://ballaratobservatory.org.au/events/140th-anniversary-9th-may-2026/