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Whakatane Observatory
boy! have we got a universe
to show you
explore the Moon check out the planets in our 
solar system
School Groups are welcome want to learn how to use
a telescope?
become a member and meet
the visitors to our area

Public Viewings

The satisfaction our society gets is in seeing others enjoying the exploration of our great universe.

open Tuesday and Friday nights.

Astronomical Information

The Crab Nebula is just one of many millions of interesting items in our night sky. We have a great select of information and links to start your own exploration of our Universe

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Tonight at Whakatāne Observatory

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Moon

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Planets visible tonight

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Good telescope & binocular targets

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This is a selected list of prominent objects, not every object visible in the night sky.

Local Sidereal Time

Location: Whakatāne Observatory
Longitude: 176.98° E
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Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea

September 13, 2026

This sight was worth getting out of bed early. Just over four years ago, Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) rose before dawn to the delight of northern sky enthusiasts awake that early. Up before sunrise on July 8th, the featured photographer was able to capture in dramatic fashion one of the few comets visible to the unaided eye this century, an inner-Solar System intruder that has become known as the Great Comet of 2020. The resulting video detailed Comet NEOWISE from Italy rising over the Adriatic Sea. The featured time-lapse video combines over 240 images taken over 30 minutes. The comet was seen rising through a foreground of bright and undulating noctilucent clouds, and before a background of distant stars. Comet NEOWISE remained unexpectedly bright for over a month, with its ion and dust tails found to emanate from a nucleus spanning about five kilometers across. APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod