Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | Museum

Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium

Locality: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Phone: +61 7 3403 2578

Address: Brisbane Botanic Gardens, 152 Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong 4066 Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planetarium

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• Landmark & historical place
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25.01.2022 Weekly Digest: 5-11 October With opposition on the 14th (when it is opposite the Sun in the sky), Mars is now the brightest planet in the evening sky, and rises before the end of twilight. It is one of four naked-eye planets in the early evening sky. See charts for finding Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn. All charts timed for the end of twilight at the start of the week. We get to see Jupiter and Saturn roughly every year, but Mars takes about a couple of years to come to pea...k brightness and visibility. It is a small planet, and currently appears only half as big as Jupiter, through a telescope. Even so, many amateur astronomers are able to take detailed images, using modern equipment and techniques; you can see some examples in the Spaceweather gallery: https://spaceweathergallery.com/index.php?title=Mars The Moon is waning now, rising around 8:45 tonight; by Sunday, it doesn't rise until 2 am.

22.01.2022 Are you looking for some entertainment today? Most of our Skydome shows today still have seats available, including family favourite We Are Aliens! Phone the booking office on 07 3403 2578 or email [email protected]. https://bit.ly/2skKiY8

22.01.2022 Little Astronomers Club: Astrojokes How do you know when the Moon has enough to eat? . . . When it’s Full.... Where would an astronaut park his spaceship? . . . At a parking meteor! What was the first animal in space? . . . The cow that jumped over the Moon! Feel free to share your favourite space jokes below.

20.01.2022 Deep-sky Delights: the Horsehead Nebula. One of the best-known astronomical objects, the Horsehead is a giant dark cloud of dust in a region rich with star formation. In a large telescope under a very dark sky, the eye can just see a vague shadow against a faint background glow, but with photography the nebula’s form becomes obvious. This short video gives you an in-depth look at the Horsehead, combining Hubble and amateur astronomer imaging: https://hubblesite.org//med/videos/2013/12/1176-Video.html

20.01.2022 Deep-sky Delights: gravitational lensing. We know that gravity pulls on things, but did you know it can bend light as well? Really massive objects or, as in this case, giant clusters of galaxies, can not only bend the path of light in space, but can distort it as well. Astronomers can use this effect to study objects behind big galaxy clusters, like this one, called Abell 370. Read more about gravitational lensing: https://hubblesite.org/conte/articles/gravitational-lensing

19.01.2022 Show available Due to a booking cancellation, we now have seats available in our 10:30 children's show today. Previously scheduled as The Little Star That Could, we will now be running Perfect Little Planet. Come along on a journey through the planets. More information: Please phone the booking office on 07 3403 2578, to reserve your seats.

19.01.2022 Get out of the house this weekend and explore the planets! Our new show, Worlds Beyond Earth, looks at some of the planets in light of recent space exploration. Find out more and book your spot today: https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/whats-on-and-events/search

19.01.2022 Little Astronomers Club - Astrojokes Here's a few jokes to entertain your family and friends What's the best kind of music in space?... . . . A Neptune! Why did the people not like the restaurant on the Moon? . . . Because there was no atmosphere. Do aliens eat clowns? . . . No, because they taste funny! Do you have a favourite space joke? Share it below.

19.01.2022 Weekly Digest: 28 Sep - 4 Oct As we come into Spring, Scorpius is still high in the sky, but starting to dip towards the west, while the Southern Cross is now getting very low, with only another month before it starts to dip below the Brisbane horizon. The early evening has four planets, with Mercury putting in a typically brief appearance for a couple of weeks in the west, setting around 7:40 pm, while Mars is now rising at 7:10 on Monday, and 6:40 on Sunday. Mars is now... brighter than Jupiter, but it might seem fainter when it is very low. The Moon starts the week in gibbous phase, rising in mid-afternoon, with Full Moon early on Friday morning. By Sunday the Moon rises just before 8 pm, just beside Uranus. Sky charts by Stellarium, Moon images by NASA.

18.01.2022 International Space Station There are two very bright ISS passes this week, in the early evening. Tonight, Thursday, look SW around 7:45 pm. ISS will rise almost vertically, and will pass into Earth's shadow almost overhead, after 7:50. Tomorrow, look SW again just before 7 pm. This time ISS rises at an angle, passing close to the Pointers (depending on your location) just after 7, fading into Earth's shadow just after 7:05.... The full-sky charts will be viewed correctly when held overhead. See charts for your own location at https://heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx - just edit the location details for your site.

18.01.2022 Little Astronomers Club Astrojokes Why did the sun go to school? . . . It wasn't bright enough!... Why did Mickey Mouse go to outer space? . . . He was looking for Pluto. What chocolate do astronauts prefer? . . . Mars bars! What are your favourite space jokes? Share them below!

16.01.2022 Weekly Digest: 12-18 October At the start of the week, The Moon is a morning object, not rising until 3 am on Tuesday; by Sunday it is a thin evening crescent, setting about 7:30 pm. Throughout the week, twilight ends around 7:15-7:20, and it will still be possible to see Mercury throughout the week in the west as well as Mars in the east, although Mercury fades rapidly at the weekend.... Mars is now well risen at the end of twilight, and reaches its highest point in the north, just before midnight. It was at its closest to us last week, but is at its brightest now, slightly brighter than Jupiter. Planetarium staff member Tom Harradine photographed it on Tuesday night. Early on Wednesday morning, the Moon is close to Venus, and around 4:31 am, the ISS does a flyby, setting a few minutes later. We’ll post about this tomorrow.

15.01.2022 Feel like a weekend getaway? Come and explore distant galaxies, dark matter and dark energy in the Cosmic Skydome during our Dark Universe show. Book your seats now: https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/whats-on-and-events/search

13.01.2022 Weekly Digest: 28 Sep - 4 Oct As we come into Spring, Scorpius is still high in the sky, but starting to dip towards the west, while the Southern Cross is now getting very low, with only another month before it starts to dip below the Brisbane horizon. The early evening has four planets, with Mercury putting in a typically brief appearance for a couple of weeks in the west, setting around 7:40 pm, while Mars is now rising at 7:10 on Monday, and 6:40 on Sunday. Mars is now... brighter than Jupiter, but it might seem fainter when it is very low. The Moon starts the week in gibbous phase, rising in mid-afternoon, with Full Moon early on Friday morning. By Sunday the Moon rises just before 8 pm, just beside Uranus. Sky charts by Stellarium, Moon images by NASA.

11.01.2022 Little Astronomers Club Going Dotty! Here's a challenge for all our budding space fans! Can you reveal the details of the Hubble Space Telescope? The telescope has been taking photos of the Universe for 30 years and has made a huge difference to our scientific knowledge. Its giant mirror is 2.4 metres across - that's 160 times wider than Galileo's first telescope!... Join the dots to see what the Hubble Space Telescope looks like. If you want to colour it in afterwards, we'd love to see your arty Hubble!

10.01.2022 Queensland is looking fairly cloudy this evening, but you might have a chance of seeing the last bright ISS evening pass for a couple of weeks. Look SW around 7 pm Brisbane time, and ISS should appear a minute or two later, crossing Scorpius. It will be highest, in the NW, around 7:04 pm. Chart from https://heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx

09.01.2022 Little Astronomers Club: Astrojokes How do you know when the Moon has enough to eat? . . . When it’s Full.... Where would an astronaut park his spaceship? . . . At a parking meteor! What was the first animal in space? . . . The cow that jumped over the Moon! Feel free to share your favourite space jokes below.

08.01.2022 Jupiter in daylight! If you can get outside right now, look up at the Moon, high in the east. Then look just to the left; can you see Jupiter? In this pic, taken 5 minutes ago, Jupiter is just visible as a pale dot, as it was with the unaided eye. See marked image in the comments, showing Jupiter's location. We'd love to see your photos of the Moon and Jupiter in tonight's sky. Try it in twilight, and set your camera/phone to manual focus, if possible.

08.01.2022 Just before midnight tonight, Brisbane time, the Sun crosses the equator of the sky heading southbringing the start of astronomical spring to the southern hemisphereso tonight it will set almost due west, around 5:45 pm. Keep looking west after sunset, to see Mercury very close to the bright star Spica. Can you see a colour difference between them? Mercury usually appears slightly pink, while Spica is blue-white. An hour after sunset, they will be very low in the west, but ...the fading twilight will make them easier to see. Mercury will climb higher after dark over the next nine days, appearing furthest from the Sun on 1 October. After then it will fade quite quickly and swing around between us and the Sun. Chart made with Stellarium sky software.

07.01.2022 Little Astronomers Club Astrojokes Why did the sun go to school? . . . It wasn't bright enough!... Why did Mickey Mouse go to outer space? . . . He was looking for Pluto. What chocolate do astronauts prefer? . . . Mars bars! What are your favourite space jokes? Share them below!

07.01.2022 Last night's ISS pass was a good one - almost as bright as it gets. Here's a set of nine 15-second exposures, showing ISS rising before disappearing into Earth's shadow at the top of the image. There's another bright pass tonight, around 7 pm.

05.01.2022 Weekly Digest: 12-18 October At the start of the week, The Moon is a morning object, not rising until 3 am on Tuesday; by Sunday it is a thin evening crescent, setting about 7:30 pm. Throughout the week, twilight ends around 7:15-7:20, and it will still be possible to see Mercury throughout the week in the west as well as Mars in the east, although Mercury fades rapidly at the weekend.... Mars is now well risen at the end of twilight, and reaches its highest point in the north, just before midnight. It was at its closest to us last week, but is at its brightest now, slightly brighter than Jupiter. Planetarium staff member Tom Harradine photographed it on Tuesday night. Early on Wednesday morning, the Moon is close to Venus, and around 4:31 am, the ISS does a flyby, setting a few minutes later. We’ll post about this tomorrow.

04.01.2022 The Moon reappears in the evening sky Look west this evening in twilight and you might see a slender crescent Moon, and Mercury but you’ll need a clear view of the western horizon as they will be very low; Mercury sets just after 7 pm. The Moon will be above right of Mercury, with the star alpha Librae, Zubenelgenubi, between them. That name comes from Arabic, meaning the southern claw the constellation Libra has been known both as the claws of Scorpius, and as the ...scales, which is the modern identity. Image credits: Stellarium, NASA.

04.01.2022 Little Astronomers Club - Astrojokes Here's a few jokes to entertain your family and friends What's the best kind of music in space?... . . . A Neptune! Why did the people not like the restaurant on the Moon? . . . Because there was no atmosphere. Do aliens eat clowns? . . . No, because they taste funny! Do you have a favourite space joke? Share it below.

04.01.2022 Weekly Digest: 5-11 October With opposition on the 14th (when it is opposite the Sun in the sky), Mars is now the brightest planet in the evening sky, and rises before the end of twilight. It is one of four naked-eye planets in the early evening sky. See charts for finding Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn. All charts timed for the end of twilight at the start of the week. We get to see Jupiter and Saturn roughly every year, but Mars takes about a couple of years to come to pea...k brightness and visibility. It is a small planet, and currently appears only half as big as Jupiter, through a telescope. Even so, many amateur astronomers are able to take detailed images, using modern equipment and techniques; you can see some examples in the Spaceweather gallery: https://spaceweathergallery.com/index.php?title=Mars The Moon is waning now, rising around 8:45 tonight; by Sunday, it doesn't rise until 2 am.

04.01.2022 If you have a very low E & W horizon tonight, around 7:30, you might be able to see four naked-eye planets. Jupiter and Saturn will be nearly overhead, Mercury will be near setting and Mars just risen. At that time, Mars & Mercury are both ~3 elevation, so you will need a very good horizon in either direction.

04.01.2022 Deep Space Delights People have gazed at the night sky since before recorded history, but only since 1609 have we had telescopes to look at objects fainter or smaller than the eye can see. For a few decades now, we have had telescopes in space, allowing us views in all regions of the spectrum, including many that are normally blocked by Earth's atmosphere. In these images, various telescopes have imaged the eta Carinae nebulaa distant complex of glowing gas and dark dus...t clouds that includes many star-forming regions. The final pair of images compares the view in visible light with what can be seen using infrared. Our Passport to the Universe show takes you on a journey through space, including a dive into the great Orion Nebula. Find details about that show on our website: https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/whats-on-and-events/search