SRAA - Scenic Rim Astronomy Association

20/08/2026

Before-and-after view of the crater formed after a Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon’s surface on Aug. 5, 2026.

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/nasas-lro-images-falcon-9-crater-on-moon-learns-new-details/

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shares before-and-after view of the crater formed after a Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon’s surface on Aug. 5, 2026.

08/08/2026

Good crowd tonight, patiently waiting for dark.

08/08/2026

Finally, a great night for viewing (8 August 2026). Bring an extra jumper.

08/08/2026

Tonight's viewing at Laravale is on. The cloud forecast looks pretty good. See you there!

04/08/2026

This Saturday, Aug 8, is a public viewing night at Laravale.

We'll post again to confirm that it’s on or cancelled (depending on the cloud forecast) on the Saturday morning. The forecast is better than a 50/50 chance of clear skies at present.

Comment to confirm you plan to come.

Here's the plan:
• Come to 77 Christmas Creek Rd, Laravale. Full directions athttps://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hxmi7vtde0ejb4h3roz9o/SRAA-Visitor-Viewing-night-information.pdf .
• Please arrive by sunset (5.20 pm) so you can park easily in the light.
• Observing from about 1 hour after sunset (6.20 pm) until 9.00 or 10.00 pm, leave anytime. When leaving, please try to minimise headlight use until you are well away from the telescopes.
• Bring plenty of warm clothes, any binos or telescopes you have.
• BYO BBQ / dinner from 5.20 pm.
• You may prefer to bring sandwiches or something quick to eat, or buy something like pizza or Subway in Beaudesert. A thermos of something hot to drink is a good idea.

What's in the Sky...
• Sunset 5.22 pm. Alignment stars visible 6.05 pm. Dark by 6.42 pm. A 25% Moon rises around 3.00am.
• Venus sets at 8.50pm, it's 52% illuminated and will be visible low in the west.
• Saturn rises at 9.42pm, observable by about 11.00pm low in the east.. We'll have to wait until October to see it in the early evening.
• Neptune rises at 8.55 pm, observable by about 10.30pm. We'll have to wait until October for it as well.
• Comet Tempel 2 is at mag 6.9. It rises at 5.35pm, and may be visible in binos or scope by about 7.30pm low in the east in Piscis Austrinus.
• Virgo, Libra, Scorpius and Sagittarius, plus Ophiuchus, Corvus, Hercules, the Southern Cross, and Carina will be well displayed.
• Come and see the Blue Planetary, and Keyhole nebulas, the Jewel Box, Gem and Southern Pleiades clusters, globular clusters Hercules and Omega Centauri, the Hamburger galaxy, plus Markarian's chain in Virgo.

18/07/2026

Check this out.
His page has some awesome videos and images, and he includes the camera settings he used.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BbiM9YQ3T/?mibextid=wwXIfr

THE RED SAIL - Another incredible image I am proud to unveil from my trip to Namibia. Following last year’s steps to produce an RGB-Ha+Oiii image of that area of the southern hemisphere sky, I tried again this year with another backdrop.

Vela, or the sail, is an extremely large emission nebula that features loads of hydrogen alpha and oxygen III emissions, remnants of exploding stars 🤩 I particularly love this region of the sky because of how large it is, how uncommon it is and how many different colors there are, especially when paired with the Magellanic clouds (bottom left).

Panorama of 9 tiles, 3 for the foreground and 6 for the sky. Both sky and foreground were taken at the same time, with same gear, same orientation and position was respected.

SKY:

RGB: Canon 6Da + Sigma 40mm f1.4. 6 tiles of 5 tracked, tracked, stacked exposures of 60 seconds each, f2.2, ISO 3200 (+ LP filter).

Dual band data: Canon Ra + IDAS NB12 filter, 6 tiles of 40 stacked exposures of 90 seconds each, f2, ISO 6400.

Foreground: Canon 6Da + Sigma 40mm f1.4. 3 tiles of 1 exposure at 60 seconds each, f2.5, ISO 3200

Full image in comments

16/07/2026

SRAA Viewing Calendar for 2026

27/04/2026

Have you ever seen a star explode?

A rare event could happen any night now — and you may be able to see it from your backyard.

The “Blaze Star” (T Coronae Borealis) is forecast to erupt in 2026.
It only happens about once every 80 years, making this a true once-in-a-lifetime event.

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What is it?

This isn’t a supernova that destroys a star — it’s a nova.

A white dwarf star pulls material from a nearby star until it suddenly releases a burst of energy, causing it to brighten dramatically for a short time.

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What will you see?

A new bright star will suddenly appear in the sky.
It should be visible to the naked eye for a few days to about a week, then fade away again.

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How to watch for it

Look north after dark when Arcturus is well above the horizon.
Then move slightly to the right to a small arc of stars called Corona Borealis.

Watch that area — if a new bright star appears, you’re seeing it.

(Brisbane sky charts are attached)

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Best viewing time guide

Brisbane – when you’re most likely to see it

2026 Best viewing window
May 9:00 pm – midnight
June 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
July 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
August 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
September 6:45 pm – 8:00 pm (low in the west/north-west)

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Important

It has not happened yet.
There will be no warning.
When it does happen, it will be noticed worldwide very quickly.

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This is something most people will never see in their lifetime.
Keep an eye on the sky — you might catch it.

(Who knows, you could be the first to report it, like a 15-year-old boy in Wales (Michael Woodman) who was credited with being among the first to notice the last eruption of the Blaze Star in 1946
He saw a “new bright star” appear in Corona Borealis, about as bright as Polaris, and reported it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_Coronae_Borealis

13/04/2026

Comet C/2025 R3 (Pan-STARRS) captured from my backyard this morning ( April 12th) over the eastern horizon before sunrise. It’s now 77 million miles away, 14 million miles closer than my last photo on April 8th!

You can currently find it in the constellation Pegasus, low in the eastern sky just before dawn. Its magnitude 5.1 should be visible with the naked eye under a very dark sky. I saw it with my binoculars only as a fuzzy star from my light polluted yard. The comet looks much better now as it’s brightened and the Moon is not interfering as much.
Over the next few weeks, things get exciting:
• It reaches perihelion (closest to the Sun) around April 20
• Makes its closest approach to Earth about a week later (~45 million miles)
• Expected to brighten steadily, with the tail becoming more pronounced as solar heating increases

Next week should be the best time to catch a glimpse or a photo of the comet as it should brighten significantly and the Moon will no longer interfering. The Comet is more easily observed from the Northern Hemisphere right now, but once it emerges from the Sun at the end of the month it will be an evening comet for the Southern Hemisphere. This could be when it’s at its brightest.

I used my RASA8 telescope for this shot which brought out a lot more detail in the tail versus my photo from a couple a days ago.

Follow for regular updates!

Telescope: 8” RASA f/2
Camera: Zwo ASI2600MC Pro
Exposure: 15 x 1min
Mount: Zwo AM5
Guiding: ASI120mini, 30mm scope
Filter: None
Software: ASI Air, DSS, Pixinsight

10/04/2026

Artemis II may be worth a look this Saturday morning, with the best viewing time likely around 5:00 am AEST, before nautical twilight.

At that time, the spacecraft is expected to still be about 65,000 km away, so binoculars or a small telescope will probably be needed.

NASA has not published any brightness forecasts, so it is hard to know how easy Artemis II will be to see. Its visibility will depend on how much sunlight is reflecting from the spacecraft at the time. We may get lucky and catch an “Artemis flare.”

Sunrise in Brisbane is 6:02 am AEST.

Re-entry is expected at around 9:55 am AEST, over the Pacific, between Hawaii and California.

You can track NASA’s Artemis II mission in real time here:
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-2/track-nasas-artemis-ii-mission-in-real-time/

NASA says:
“Using AROW, anyone with internet access can track where Orion and the crew are, including their distance from Earth, distance from the Moon, mission duration, and more.”

AROW is also available via:
NASA’s website: www.nasa.gov/trackartemis
The NASA app: www.nasa.gov/nasa-app

Finder charts for Brisbane:
https://www.heavens-above.com/artemis2/LunarReturnFinder.aspx?lat=-27.469&lng=153.0235&loc=City+of+Brisbane&alt=0&tz=UCTm10&ticks=639114444000000000

Attached finder charts are for the 5:00 am Brisbane view, along with a position table showing distance, altitude, azimuth, and RA.