My mother and I visited Sydney Observatory at night for the first time today. It overlooks Sydney Harbour and the views from Observatory Hill are just spectacular. We saw Alpha Centauri, Jewel Box, the Southern Cross, Jupiter and its moons and various examples of an open star cluster.

Various events are being held throughout the Winter holiday as 2008 is the year of the Festival of the Stars. The Festival of the Stars commemorates 150 years since the completion and opening of Sydney Observatory.

My mother and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and gleaned reasonable amounts of knowledge on beginner’s astronomy and some of the pivotal moments in the history of astronomy.