Twinstar Guesthouse & Observatory in Ballandean, Queensland, Australia | Arts and entertainment

Twinstar Guesthouse & Observatory

Locality: Ballandean, Queensland, Australia

Phone: +61 7 4684 1135

Address: 28146 New England Highway 4382 Ballandean, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.twinstarguesthouse.com

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• Motel
• Museum
• Observatory

25.01.2022 Jupiter. This stunning picture of Jupiter was taken by our guest, Mr Colin Ward here at Ballandean. You can see such detailed delicate patterns on its surface, and even inside the Great Red Spot. Colin is a member of AAQ (Astronomical Association of Queensland). https://www.facebook.com/A.A.Q.astroclub Thank you very much Colin for allowing us to share and admire such a great photo with everyone! Comments from Colin: "Cool Dry Air and Steady Atmospherics allowed this pictur...e to be taken with a 10 inch SCT working at an effective focal length of 5000 mm on the night of the 25th August 2020. Using AutoStakkert version 3.1 the best 216 frames of 8999 were combined then processed using RegiStax 6. This is my first bit of astrophotography since the lunar Occultation of Saturn last year. What better place to be than Twinstar Guesthouse thank you Eiji & Naomi for rekindling my interest in Astronomy. " See more

22.01.2022 Facebookhttp://www.astroarts.co.jp//showcase/magazine/2020/10/inde

21.01.2022 ... Data: 15mm, f2.8, ISO3200, 30sec See more

20.01.2022 7242PENTAX KP+ 30

19.01.2022 Wildflower walk near Mt Norman at Girraween National Park. This popular free guided walk is held on Sun 8 November. Mt Norman Day use area is the alternative southern approach to Mt Norman from Wallangarra (Qld-NSW border town) and one of our favourite sections at Girraween NP. It provides picturesque views. Join the walk, learn about wildflowers, and enjoy the spectacular views.

19.01.2022 Asteroid Stanthorpe. Do you know an asteroid named Stanthorpe? It was discovered by Mr Tsutomu Seki, an internationally-known comet hunter in Japan (co-discoverer of famous Comet Ikeya-Seki). Its name was proposed by us in the hope that dark beautiful night skies around Stanthorpe are preserved forever to be enjoyed by locals and visitors. Asteroid Stanthorpe’s orbital diagram can be found at this NASA site. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi The 2nd photo is a mural art ...found on the main street of Stanthorpe. It depicts that Stanthorpe is known as an apple-producing region. Its official naming citation is: 10078 Stanthorpe Discovered 1989 Oct. 30 by T. Seki at Geisei. Stanthorpe, known as Queensland's wine capital, is a town nestled in national parks on the highlands in the south-eastern part of the Australian state. It is also known for fruit production and beautiful night skies.

19.01.2022 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Followed by the previous Milky Way photo, this SMC image was taken by our guest, Mr Hidekazu Nakano from Osaka, Japan. SMC is a dwarf irregular galaxy, forming a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). In this photo you also see the second brightest globular cluster in the sky, "47 Tucanae" on the top right corner. Both SMC and 47 Tucanae are visible to the naked eye, especially here under the dark rural sky of Ballandean!

18.01.2022 FB PENTAX KP300mmX2

17.01.2022 The Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611). It is a young open cluster of stars surrounded by a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Serpens. The "Eagle" reflects visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the centre of the nebula. Can you see an eagle stretching its wing? This area is also famous as the "Pillars of Creation" (a large region of star formation) imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. This magnificent image was taken by our guest, Mr Steve Noble on 12 September 2020 with a 40cm Dobsonian telescope at Twinstar Guesthouse.

17.01.2022 An owner of Sirius Observatories and AstroDomes kindly suggested a stargazing trip to Twinstar Guesthouse. He has recently visited us to fix the faulty shutter of our big 4.5m AstroDome. Thanks to his great & efficient work, the dome is now up and running again!

17.01.2022 ORSO Thai Restaurant. https://www.facebook.com/Orso-Thai-Restaurant-224468730904550 This is one of our favourite eateries in Stanthorpe. Prices are reasonable (around $15 for lunch, $20 for dinner), staff members are friendly, and dishes are tasty with full of healthy vegetables (as you can see this photo). You should try this nice Thai Restaurant next time you are on the Granite Belt. Oh, don't forget to bring a bottle of local wine (BYO)!

17.01.2022 Frogs near Quart Pot Creek in Stanthorpe. Our frequent guest and a nature photographer, Mr Steve Noble took these awesome shots. The 1st photo is a Pobblebonk frog, which makes distinctive banjo-like "bonk" sound, hence the name. The 2nd one is a Stony Creek Frog, which is a terrestrial and nocturnal frog commonly found in NSW and Qld. Next time you walk along creeks and streams, watch carefully for these cute frogs!

16.01.2022 Snow on Saturday??? According to the weather forecast, temperatures will drop significantly in the next a few days and we may see snow even on the Granite Belt this Sat 22 Aug. Today is relatively mild with temperature around 15 degrees, but it feels less than 10 due to the strong wind. Winter is not yet over!

16.01.2022 NGC6188 The Dragons of Ara. It is an emission nebula in the constellation Ara (the Altar). The red colour is due to emission from hydrogen, lit up by recently-formed stars. This stunning image was captured by our guest, Mr Takaharu Tsuda from Ehime Prefecture, Japan. This photograph was on the Japanese popular astro-magazine, "Tenmon Guide" in September 2018.

15.01.2022 The southern Milky Way over the Ballandean Pyramid. This beautiful image was taken by our guest, Mr Clayton Ross during the stay with his partner Sara in early October. It looks amazing! The Ballandean Pyramid is certainly very popular among our astro-photographers. Photography Data: Nikon D850 14-24mm F2.8 lens iOptron Skyguider Pro tracker Sky=4x4 minute exposures stacked at ISO 800 with 4x4 minute darks subtracted in Equator Foreground=1x4 minute exposure at ISO800... Processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop See more

14.01.2022 Jupiter video. Followed by the beautiful Jupiter photo we have recently posted on the Facebook, our guest, Mr Colin Ward produced the absolutely stuning video of Jupiter! You should stop the video frequently in order to admire its colour, pattern and movement of the Great Red Spot. This is truly a rare occasion to see such a detailed surface of the king of the planets. How mind-blowing it is! Thank you, Colin.

14.01.2022 A new water tank. We purchased and installed a new 22,730L water tank. Thanks to the Rural Water Tank Rebate Scheme, we will pay only around $100 for the tank. And La Nina has arrived at last! For the last 10 days we have received a total of 61 mm rain, which is really great! Rain attracts a lot of frogs including this Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea). Do you know the Green Tree Frog lives as long as 20 years? The species has an average life expectancy in captivity of 16 years, but some have been known to live over 20 years.

13.01.2022 Brisbane River and Jupiter. We took this photo around 18:00 after sunset from the walking track along Brisbane River. Even under the strong lights from streets and skyscrapers we could see Jupiter, Saturn, the Southern Cross and the pointers quite easily. We often hear that city dwellers cannot see stars due to the light pollution. Come on! Dust off your telescope and binoculars and see those planets, Alpha Centauri, the Jewel Box, etc. There are so many things you can enjoy with your equipment from your own backyard/balcony!

11.01.2022 2018 Kildare Rd.! Data:15mm,f4.5,ISO3200,60sec,

10.01.2022 An Australian Magpie is catching a snake in the garden! It looks like an earthworm, but it is acutually a little snake. An early spring is a busy season for them. Adult birds and their chicks need decent food like this one! Adults protect their nests by infamous swooping attacks and chicks need to grow. They are also known as one of the most proficient song birds. Magpie's beautiful warble can be heard across Australia every day. So soothing...

09.01.2022 Lunch at O'Mara's Hotel in Stanthorpe. Aussie steaks served at hotels are usually large, but there is an option for a small steak (100g) at O'Mara's. The steak was good and the price was quite reasonable ($14.50). The dish behind was chicken grill & veg ($22). O'Mara's Hotel http://www.omarashotel.com.au/

09.01.2022 Amanda and Massimo were recent guests at Twinstar. Hope to see you again soon!

08.01.2022 EQ platform with a 3D printer. Our guest, Mr John Mizuno created an equatorial platform (tracking device for astronomical objects in the sky on an equatorial axis) with a 3D printer. It is amazing that the total cost for building this device was only $64! He says that it is very accurate with his 10-inch Dobsonian telescope. For those who are interested in home-made EQ platforms, have a look at his You Tube video.

08.01.2022 Coreopsis. Have you noticed these bright yellow flowers in paddocks and roadsides on the Granite Belt lately? They are Coreopsis plants (Coreopsis lanceolata) and regarded as weeds. Native to North America, Coreopsis has invaded native grasslands and open woodlands, and is most abundant in this area of south-eastern Queensland. It is belong to the Asteraceae (daisy) family, spreading easily by numerous seeds and runners. Although it is very beautiful, don't bring it to your home garden!

08.01.2022 Rain! We received 48 mm rain over the weekend. It has been dry again after the decent downfall in January and February. Our pet dog, Ponta and we are happy. Yellow wattle flowers started to light up Australian landscapes. Just like cherry blossoms in Japan, wattle flowers symbolise the arrival of spring in Australia. They look so beautiful.

07.01.2022 The Flame Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula. Located in the constellation Orion, these nebulae are very difficult to see through a telescope, mostly because they are faint and the horse head is a dark nebula. However, the photograph like this one shows their appearance. Can you see the black "horse head" on the right upper corner of this image? Our guest, Mr Steve Noble captured the image, while he was staying here recently. He used a 40cm Dobsonian telescope with a Poncet platform.

05.01.2022 The Milky Way around Scorpius and Sagittarius . Mr John Mizuno took this photo from this property while he was staying with his family and friends at Twinstar about 10 days ago. It was a cold, but crisp and dark winter night. Data: 30sec, f2.5, iso400 with Canon 70D It's almost the end of July. Although spring "officially" starts from September, we gradually see signs of spring here and there (e.g. Jonquils and quinces bloom, Leaf buds of lilacs and apples swell, etc.). Our gardens will be full of greens and flowers soon!

04.01.2022 The Trifid Nebula (M20). Followed by the previous Eagle Nebula photo, this image was also captured by Mr Steve Noble using a 40cm Dob with a Poncet mount. The name Trifid refers to its three-lobed appearance, as you can see in this photo. You may also notice two different colours of nebulae; the red emission nebula and the blue reflection nebula. Although the both are star-forming regions, reflection nebula does not emit any light of their own, but simply reflects the light of nearby stars. If you have a telescope, try to locate M20 in the constellation Sagittarius (easy to find) and see those features.