Is there life on Mars? 

The Australian Painted-snipe - help track one of the world's rarest birds

Binoculars for serious bird watching and nature lovers, summer sport and more - Nikon M5 and M7 Binoculars 

Black Friday - quality Meade beginners' telescopes from $159 

Lower ZWO Astronomy Camera Prices

Unistellar app update - automatically capture the Solar System

BINTEL Family Day 3rd December - Fun Space activities for the kids

BINTEL Xmas Trading Hours and Shipping info

Michael Grey posted his image of the Orion/Running Many nebula complex to the BINTEL Society Facebook group.  He used a Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED telescope, NEQ6Pro and ZWO ASI294MCP camera.

Is there life on Mars? - We don't know for sure,  but...

The Perseverance rover detected organic compounds in the sediments of Jezero crater on Mars (NASA image). 

Answering the question of whether life ever arose on Mars is NASA's top science priority for the Red Planet. The simple answer is "we don't know" despite nine successful landings and other orbital missions.  All the ingredients for life have existed on Mars in the past and recent discoveries tease us with possibilities. 

Dr. Jon Clarke, Director and President of the Mars Society Australia writes for BINTEL about the search of life on Mars and the difficulties obtaining an answer either way to this tricky question.

As Mars shines bright in this summer's night sky, hi-tech robotic rovers are crawling over its surface and spacecraft orbiting around the planet. It will be sometime before humans plant their boots on the surface, but who knows what might be found in the meantime.

The Australian Painted-snipe - help track one of the world's rarest birds

Only 340 individuals left. So rare, its call has never been recorded.  

BINTEL is fully behind the efforts by Dr Matt Herring and his team to track these elusive, ghost-like birds using the latest satellite and mobile phone tower technology. They hope to discover more about the Australian Painted-snipe's habitat and behaviour by keeping a close eye on just twelve of them,

You can learn about the program from the YouTube video or like BINTEL have done, contribute via the link below.  PS: First Dog on the Moon even has a bit to say about the Painted-snipe.

Nikon Monach M5 and M7 Binoculars. Birdwatching favourites - In stock now

Nikon M7 10x42 Binoculars

We had some questions from last week's newsletter asking what would be some good binocular options for serious bird watchers and sports fans. 

The Nikon Monarch series have been favourites here at BINTEL for years and our best-selling bird watching binoculars. We often suggest them to our customers and the feedback we receive about them is quite positive. The Monarch M5 and M7 series were released recently and added some handy improvements to the previous series. 

First of all, both the M5 and M7 have a better field of view (FOV) compared to previous models. This makes finding and then following birds much easier, especially when they're in flight or moving through ground cover.  They also have improved rubber protection to guard against knocks and bumps. 

There are several options for the Nikon Monarch M5 and M7 binoculars. If you are unsure about what is the best one for you, have a look through the BINTEL introduction to binoculars and spotting scopes guide in last week's newsletter or call us for a chat.

Nikon M5 8x42 Binoculars

The Monarch M7 series are a little more expensive than the M5 binoculars. This M7 have even a wider field of view as well as water and oil repellent coatings on the lenses.  Both the M5 and M7 are highly recommended by BINTEL. 

Black Friday Meade 40% off sale still on - quality beginners' telescopes from $159 

In case you missed it - save 40% on Meade beginners' telescopes for the next few days. 

Famous brand Meade telescopes now start at just $159 - this includes the telescope, sturdy tripod, and mount plus all the accessories you need to get going.  Great for land and ocean viewing as well as the night sky 

The same savings are on all the larger, more advanced models in the range too

Lower ZWO Camera prices- *NOT* Black Friday specials

We have recently lowered the prices of a range of popular ZWO astronomy cameras. And not just for Black Friday either!

Unistellar app update - capture the Solar System

Unistellar have released a major update to their app which adds Solar System imaging and tracking.  The brightest planets - Jupiter, Saturn and Mars will be in the night sky for some months to come. For example, the update makes imaging Jupiter’s coloured bands and its Great Red Spot a quick and easy task.

It works by automatically picking the best pictures and then combining them to produce the clearest images.  More on Unistellar from the link below

BINTEL Extended Xmas Trading Hours  

The BINTEL retail showroom will open these extended hours leading up to Christmas:

• Thursday 1st December - 9.30am to 7.30pm
• Thursday 8th December - 9.30am to 7.30pm
• Thursday 15th December - 9.30am to 7.30pm
• Thursday 22nd December - 9.30am to 7.30pm
• Sunday 18th December - 10am to 4.00pm

During extended trading hours, we won't be answering phone enquiries to let us concentrate on helping in-store shoppers. 

Christmas Eve:

• Saturday 24th December - 10.00am to 2.00pm

Outside of these extended hours, BINTEL will be open 9.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am to 4.00pm on Saturdays. 

We will be closed on NSW public holidays over the Christmas/New Year period plus the 31st of December due to Sydney Harbour foreshow crowds gathering for the New Year's Eve celebration and fireworks.  

We will be closed:

• Monday 26th December 
• Tuesday 27th December 
• Saturday 31st December
• Monday 2nd January

Xmas Shipping Dates Order before these dates to make sure Santa delivers

These are the last dates for shipping orders from BINTEL for items we have in stock to make sure they arrive in time for Christmas 2022.

Orders must be received by 12pm Sydney time on these dates to ensure shipment.

• NSW:  19th December
• ACT:    16th December
• QLD:   16th December
• SA:      16th December
• WA:     8th December - **Please note change due to flooding!**
• TAS:    16th December
• NT:      9th December 

We will keep sending out orders placed after these cut off dates, but we cannot promise delivery by Christmas for them.

Next weekend! 3rd December 2022 Family Day - 

We're running a Family Day at BINTEL!

• 3rd December 2022
• 11am - 3pm
• Kids' astronomy and space questions answered. (Yes, we know - that one could be tricky...)
• Kids’ Fun will include Space Craft, Discovery Activities, Competitions & Prizes
• Popular Stocking-fillers such as Astronomy & Landscape Calendars, Bird Callers, Books, Moon & Planet Maps, Planispheres
• Have a chat with the friendly BINTEL team about telescopes, astrophotography, bird watching, nature viewing and more

Looking forward to seeing you there.  More details on the link below. 

* Please note - adults will need to remain with the kids on the day.   

Artemis 1 Launched - Shaun the Sheep is in Space!

The Orion spacecraft has reached the Moon.

After a successful launch, the Orion spacecraft which is part of the Artemis 1 mission has reached the Moon.  Shaun the Sheep is about to the furthest a critter - either two legged or wooly - has even travelled away from the Earth.

Next time....another part of the BINTEL Christmas Buyer's Guide. It's been 50 years since NASA sent humans to the Moon. We'll remember Apollo 17 and talk about some of the science that flowed from the program.