Still trying to figure out the perfect Christmas gift for the space, nature or sports fanatic in your life?

BINTEL Gift Cards are available for any amount - can be used in person at our retail store or at the BINTEL online shop

BINTEL Extended Trading Hours

Sunday 18th December open 10am until 4pm

Thursday 22nd December open 9.30am until 7.00pm

Click and collect pick up available during these extra opening times as well.

Christmas Eve (24th Dec) 

Open 9.30am till 2.00pm

Please note - click and collect pickup on Christmas Eve closes at 12.00pm

James posted this montage to the BINTEL Discord Server. It was shot from the South Island of NZ over the duration of the recent Lunar eclipse using a DSLR and a 100-400mm lens with 2x extender.  

BINTEL Astrophotography competition - Winners announced soon!

The BINTEL Astrophotographer of the Year 2022 competition, held in conjunction with Samyang and Benro, has closed and we'll be announcing the winners in all categories in our next newsletter which will be sent out on Wednesday 21st of December. 

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition. The extremely high standard of submissions has made the judging very challenging but thoroughly enjoyable!

Confirm the Existence of Newly Discovered Worlds Right from Your Backyard with UNITE! - Join this NASA Partner program with Unistellar

Jupiter-like planets around stars play important roles in arranging planetary systems and can influence the abilities of planets to host life. But detecting them requires coordinated observations across multiple hours or days by astronomers worldwide. That’s why out of the more than 5,200 known exoplanets, we only have a few dozen examples of these Jupiter-like objects

A newly announced NASA citizen science project called UNITE brings telescope users from around the world together to make their own observations to locate these Jupiter-like planets around distant stars.  You can read more about NASA's UNITE project here or discover more the about the Unistellar Network from the link below.

Lunt SUNoculars -  Fun and Safe Solar Viewing this Christmas

Just arrived at BINTEL are the Lunt SUNoculars. 

These compact binoculars are designed for safely observing the Sun. You can check out the ever-changing sunspots as they move across the surface of our nearest star. They are an excellent choice for observing either partial or total Solar eclipses as well. 

The Lunt SUNoculars are only $199 and come in blue too. Pop into BINTEL on a sunny day and we'll show you the Sun through a pair!

In the Sky this week - Great line up of the planets

There's a line-up of planets this coming week. Here's a chart of the sky as seen from Sydney around the 18th of December at approx. 9.15pm.

Mars will be the bright red "star" close to the Pleiades open star cluster, also called "The Seven Sisters". Even though it's passed opposition, or a close approach to Earth, Jupiter is a still a fine sight in a small telescope or even binoculars.

This image was produced by the free web version of the popular Stellarium app. You can explore the night sky from your location via the link below. 

We're often asked for suggestions about space and astronomy activities over the school holidays.  A trip to Milroy Observatory at Coonabarabran for the tour of the night sky and views through their telescopes is highly recommended. 

Next time....what were some of the big space and astronomy stories for 2022. Plus summer birdwatching.