Aussie Bird Count - 16-22 October - Some excellent ZEISS binoculars

International Observe the Moon Night - Next weekend, 21st of October

 High Capacity Battery Pack - Larger version of the popular Powertech battery now available

2023 BINTEL Astrophotography Competition- Open until the 15th of November

Astronomy 2024 on the way - Australia's favourite astronomy annual arrives in the next few weeks

Space News this week part 1- Samples from asteroid Bennu arrive on Earth

Space News this week part 2- 526,587 additional stars discovered in Omega Centauri

David Stevenson from the Northern Sydney Astronomical Society (NSAS) sent us his image of NGC253 which is sometimes called the Silver Dollar Galaxy.  This was taken with a Tele Vue NP127is APO Refractor Telescope on a Paramount MYT mount and a QHY294 mono camera.  

To be featured, you can send us your Astro and Nature images here or post them the BINTEL Society Facebook Group where you can join 1.5k fellow astronomy and nature fanatics! 

Aussie Bird Count - 16-22 October

Get involved in Australia's largest citizen science project!

There's still time to sign up to observe and count the birdlife in your part of Australia, whether you're in the country, city, or suburbs - every bit of information contributes to our knowledge of birdlife and helps with their protection.

Sign up from the link below - and it's the 10th year of the event as well!

ZEISS Terra ED - Ideal all-rounder birdwatching binoculars

If you're looking for birdwatching binoculars, BINTEL have the ZEISS Terra ED range in stock. We've had some extremely positive feedback of late from our ZEISS customers about how the Terra ED range performs in the field.  They're an ideal introduction to the world of quality binoculars from a high-end optical company like ZEISS.

We're also extended the offer of a free ZEISS Cleaning kit worth $69 with every pair of ZEISS binoculars sold by BINTEL.  ZEISS binoculars are also backed with a 20 year warranty.

International Observe the Moon Night - Next weekend, 21st of October

NASA's annual global* celebration of observing the Moon.

Time to get out and observe the Moon!

Since 2010, NASA and other leading space and astronomy outreach organisations have been running International Observe the Moon Night. 

It's a time when we can celebrate and look up at our nearest celestial neighbour with liked minded folks, or on your own time.  Even you don't have a telescope, you can still observe the Moon.

Check out the BINTEL blog article via the link below.  Apart from details of the event itself, there are some hints on:

• Observing the Moon without a telescope
• What can I see on the Moon with binoculars?
• Telescopes suggestions for Lunar viewing
• Do you need a Moon filter?
• Online charts and Lunar Atlases 
• Getting started on photographing the Moon
• Plus more!

No matter how you observe the Moon - enjoy your time with our nearest celestial neighbour. 🌝

*Sorry Flat Earthers - you're going to have to sit this one out. 

High Capacity Battery Pack - Larger version of the popular Powertech battery now available

Lightweight but power packed battery pack for all night observing. 

PowerTech Lithium Power Tank 300WH - $475.00

With complex telescope mounts, computers, cameras, dew heaters and more, the power needs for astronomers keep increasing!

We now have the PowerTech Lithium PowerTech 300WH in stock. This has around twice the capacity as the PowerTech v2.

One of the things that surprised us is just how little this powerful battery unit weighs.  A must for demanding 12v and USB power requirements in the field.

Astronomy 2024 on the way - Australia's favourite astronomy annual arrives in the next few weeks

Now in its 33rd year - get your order in now!

Astronomy 2024 - $32.95 including postage in Australia

We know it's getting close to the end of year when the Astronomy annual lands at BINTEL.

This is simply the best book for anyone want to know what's going on in the skies above Australia and New Zealand.  Astronomy 2024 features a comprehensive guide to telescope eyepieces written by BINTEL's tech guru, Don Whiteman. 

2023 BINTEL Astrophotography Competition- Open until the 15th of November

Quick reminder - the BINTEL Astrophotographer competition is open and entries close on the 15th of November. We've had some amazing submissions sent to us so far, with several folks telling us the competition has been a catalyst to learn more and hone their techniques. 

Even if you're just starting your astro imaging journey, enter the BINTEL competition. You might be producing better photos than you think!

Space News this week part 1- Samples from asteroid Bennu arrive on Earth

The long-awaited samples were collected in space and contain pristine parts of the early Solar System

Some of the approx. 60g of material collected from asteroid Bennu. 

Images and data from the sample collected from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission were made public yesterday. 

They showed higher levels of carbon content than expected along with water - essential elements for life and may indicate that the building blocks for life are present on the asteroid Bennu.  The amount of material collected by OSIRIS-REx was also much higher than expected and will help researchers in the coming decades to study topics related to the origins of life here on Earth and the formation of the Solar System. 70% of the material from Bennu will be preserved for future international studies of this precious sample. 

Some fascinating knowledge is locked up in this small handful of water-bearing clay like material! More via the link below. 

Space News this week part 2- 526,587 additional stars discovered in Omega Centauri

More discoveries about one of our favourite deep-sky objects.

Globular cluster Omega Centauri imaged with a DWARF II Smart Telescope 

You might have read our blog article the other week about one of the most spectacular type of objects in the night sky - globular clusters. These are tightly packed ancient star clusters that are bound together by gravity and scattered around the edge of our Milky Way galaxies.  

New data collected by the GAIA space mission of the European Space Agency and released a few days ago also increases the number of confirmed stars in largest and the brightest globular cluster, Omega Centauri, by 526,578. 

While many more stars are estimated to be part of Omega Centauri - possibly up to 10 million - the recent GAIA data are confirmed images of individual stars. 

GAIA achieved this by using an engineering mode on the space telescope not originally intended for science and gathering data on crowed regions.  More via the link below:

Next week: Major BINTEL article on some basic care and cleaning of old binoculars. Are they still useful or do they need repair?