Donna the Astronomer at Milroy Observatory

The breadth of knowledge of the cosmos flowing like the milky way from the mouth of a real astronomer. Donna is an absolute star of a host and her associate Chris was equally knowledgeable. The moon did play spoil sport blinding our vision blocking several stars, but the final zoom in on the terminator line of the moon was just magnificent. I will be back with a bigger group on a darker night.
P.s. Pack warm clothing as the temperature drops rapidly.

Wow, amazing amount of knowledge and presented in such a fun way. Donna and her assistant use two large ground mounted telescopes and amazingly, they orient them by hand. Great to see the moon, Saturn, Jewelry box and other amazing constellations 10s of thousands of light years away! Best to come in the colder months and during no moon (or up to a few days either side)

What an amazing experience! Donna was such a wonderful host with be an enormous amount of knowledge and passion. She made the night fun and engaging with all of us, including the kids.
Will do it again on our next visit to Coonabarabran. Thanks Donna and team.

Loved it! Donna was so amazingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the stars. We had a great night and hope to be back 🪐

A wonderful and most informative night of stargazing. The sky was a clear as a bell and so very beautiful. Thank you for our delightful experience last Wednesday evening.

Lovely experience! Donna and her team are passionate and explained everything beautifully.
We got to experience a beautiful star studded clear sky. It was magical !

Beautiful spot for star sighting. Donna is fantastic as a star gazing-guide, oozing with passion for her job, and is eager to share with both the experienced and inexperienced alike.

Great pictures of the moon that you can take with your own smartphone.

Quiet little spot that is easy to access by car. Bring some warm clothes and a hat to stay cozy while relaxing with the stars. I would highly recommend bringing a flask of hot coffee or hot chocolate, as a cherry on top to this adventure for your eyes!

Good for beginners to have a first glimpse of star watching and astronomy.

My wife and daughter went on Friday night, we had a great night and Chris and his assistant Keira were great and very informative, nothing was too much trouble. Chris even helped my daughter set up her own telescope after the show. I recommend this show 100%. Thank you Chris and Keira.

Donna wasn’t with us when we visited she was in hospital, our night could not have been better handled well and a brilliant night no clouds and optimum viewing. If doing on a cool night don’t forget gloves and jumpers and beanies it will be cold!

Even without Donna our night was bliss! We saw with telescopes many beautiful stars and planets. The view of the Milky way galaxy is priceless. The stories from not only astronomy but also the history of our original custodian’s interpretation of the shadows of animals in the sky were a delight. A fair bit of humour, understanding of astronomers finding pareidolia in what they see. It’s a joyous night indeed.

Turn your phone off or in theatre mode disable your alerts and anything that could create light and enjoy yourself.

There are lots of interesting things to buy and well worth it. The observatory is a delight to view albeit not currently active it will be a sideshow to what you will see on your night.

A text message is sent with in-depth details and will help you get to the observatory follow the instructions and be ready to follow the instructions. My 9 year old loved the ability to see through a telescope and see planets! We went in early August and it was cold but worth it !

Amazing view, Amazing commentary, loved the conversion of technical jargon and celestial names into lay man terms and native Australian Aboriginal astronomy. Thank you, my kids loved it too.

Donna and her team gave us a wonderful tour of the night sky! She was informative, passionate and easy to engage with. We've been out stargazing at our campsite tonight with Donna's tips in mind. Definitely worth the visit!

Informative and educational show. Seeing the Milky Way and Stars from the vantage point was impressive.

The wife, grandson, and I attended our second viewing with Donna, her husband, and her team over the October long weekend. It was fantastic! This was our second time touring the night sky with Donna, she bent over backwards to ensure she could fit us in on the night. The experience was wonderful, genuinely informative, and a real treat for our astronomy mad grandson. I can't rate this experience highly enough.

Me and my family had an excellent experience star gazing with Donna. It was educational as well as entertaining…. Everything to do with the experience/knowledge she had gathered during her career. She is very friendly as well. I would recommend Donna to anyone looking for stargazing at Warrumbungle.

We loved the experience! This is a must visit place. We attended 2 events: one about moon and sun during the evening, just before sunset. Very nice facts about moon and sun. Followed by moon viewing and solar flares.

Second session was about night sky. We saw Saturn and rings, Jupiter and moons, Antares, moon again, kissing stars and we saw 2 shooting stars while we were listening to Donna.

This experience was absolutely worth, every frozen minute. Lucky they provide blankets for use. Viewing the milky way was a majestic moment, only enhanced by the knowledge that Gary spoke. It was a perfect night for viewing and i would 100% recommend this activity. My family and I Thank you.

I have known Donna the Astronomer for a couple of years now. I have learnt so much about the night sky in such a beautiful way. I look forward for Donna to share much more of her wisdom and expertise not only with me but the world.
Thank you Donna for sharing your expertise and value about the night sky. Faye

Went to the 10pm session. Donna and her team were brilliant. Very knowledgeable, and quick with getting the telescopes locked onto some really interesting things (47 Tucanae, Jewel Box, Jupiter, etc.). Great with kids. Very respectful of people who knew a little about astronomy and people who didn't! A really great night.

Our bushwalking club was visiting for 6 days and we all decided to do the star gazing. Fingers crossed with weather. I emailed Donna our intention of visiting (11 of us) and she got back to me immediately and even from her messages to me I could tell what a lovely friendly lady she is. She was soo accomodating with all my questions. We went last Thursday night and how lucky we were it was a clear night full of stars. Donna couldn’t take the group that night (we were disappointed) but the young man (sorry can’t think of his unusual name) DID NOT DISAPPOINT. He was absolutely amazing and soo full of knowledge and passion for astronomy and we all wish him all the best for his studies. He really was a lovely young man and an asset to your business. The young man helping him was also very friendly. Donna, congratulations on your wonderful staff. We would all recommend doing this. It was fabulous but very cold. Lol