Grove Creek Observatory

The Grove Creek Observatory was established in 1985 primarily for conducting public tours of the arrival of Comet Halley.Grove Creek is considered one of the best observing locations in Australia. No matter what the size of any given telescope, a dark sky is essential for visual observations. The observatory is situated on the highest point of a sheep and cattle grazing property, well away from any light pollution with a 360° view of the night sky. The nearest village, Trunkey Creek, is located 4kms south/west from the observatory and hidden within a deep valley. With a population of only 50 people and protected street lighting, no lights can be seen from the village. That makes Grove Creek Observatory one of the best dark sky locations available and therefore considered the premier site for seeing faint interesting objects and taking CCD images of the southern night sky.
On a yearly average, Grove Creek loses only 1 night in 4 to total cloud cover (compared to Siding Springs, the largest observatory in Australia, which loses 1 night in 3).