Linden Observatory

18/05/2026

We had a huge working bee with Linden residents and volunteers helping around the grounds and with the ongoing building maintenance of the workshops. Also painters and carpenters doing essential repairs. Our resident possum was unimpressed but I’m very happy with the work. A huge thank you to all involved.

18/04/2026

We hosted Basketry today for the first time. Perfect Linden weather!

01/04/2026

In the December 1977 Blue Mountains bush fires the observatory storeroom burned down. I stood in the doorway of the adjacent building - which houses the planetarium - armed with a backpack spray, trying to stop it burning. I finished the day singed and blackened. I’ve since recovered, but the building still carries the scars.

19/03/2026

Yesterday, Air Services Australia installed an aircraft noise monitor at the observatory to measure the impact of aircraft from the Western Sydney Airport.

We are participating in the monitoring program as collecting good data is essential to having an informed discussion about the new flight paths, their impacts, and future flight path choices.

After calibration, the reading was as low as 34db, which is very quiet, and typical for the observatory with no aircraft overhead. I’ve measured it myself in the past and 35db is common (not calibrated, just an app in my phone)

While we have no measurements with aircraft yet, I expect the result will be significantly different once there are regular flights from the airport. The anticipated extra noise will be a loss of amenity for the observatory and the Linden community, aside from the atmospheric effects of aircraft across the sky.

17/03/2026

A pair of curious magpies dropped in to see what I was doing on their territory this morning…

17/03/2026

Linden citizens have volunteered to help with some essential maintenance projects at the observatory. A good crowd at the first meeting, I’m very appreciative of the help.

21/04/2025

In the back of the machine shop is this chair mde from a butter box with a plank nailed to it for the back. I spent many hours when I was younger sitting on this in front of a metal press, making gaskets and washers for the Department of Public Transport. Back then it had a cushion for comfort, made from a wheat bag snuffed with hay. They don’t make them like this anymore!

14/04/2025

A big thank you to the Rural Fire Service who are doing controlled burnoffs to the north and west of the observatory this week. It looks spectacular but it’s all under control, and gives us a zone of a lot less fuel on the ground in event of a bushfire.

14/08/2024

As part of science week Radio National are running a live rooftop radio event tomorrow night 15 August, with a theme of protecting dark skies and the impact of light pollution.

See https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-07-25/abc-science-week-light-pollution-dark-skies/104119868 for more info.

Great to see the growing interest in protecting skies and this ancient aspect of our shared cultural heritage.

It's almost Science Week, and this year we're looking at the night sky (and how we can preserve it): from how to take great night sky photos, to who can see the Milky Way and live events.

02/08/2024

A lot has been happening in the background since our last post, with ongoing work towards Dark Sky accreditation, and working to protect the skies over Linden from the proposed flight paths from the new Western Sydney Airport.

News just in today is that we have won changes to the flight paths, with night flights no longer crossing over the mountains at Linden!

The flights will now continue west for a longer time before turning north, keeping clear of the Blue Mountains towns, and keeping out of the observatory airspace.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us, and the Linden residents who have rallied to protect the community.