The evening’s mission is to capture photographs of Saturn, a bright dot slowly rising above the horizon.
Their gear ranges from unassuming equipment such as camping chairs, drinking flasks and headlamps to an array of technological curiosities one may assume to have come straight from NASA.
The makeshift set-up, called the “eastern observatory” by the trio, is in desert country on the Barkly Highway about 20 kilometres east of Mount Isa.
The men are among six members of the Astronomy Group of Mount Isa, which started more than 30 years ago.
“Initially, there were people that sparked the interest together, individuals who had telescopes got together, and it grew,” says head of the group Grant Sabadzics.
Club withstands impact of FIFO work
The passionate, amateur astronomers, made up of Mount Isa locals, officially started meeting under the leadership of local veterinarian Len Fulham in 1992.
The group has met monthly ever since, sometimes camping overnight to capture an event in the early hours of the morning.
But Mr Sabadzics says dynamics of the club, like many in the outback mining town, changed when fly-in, fly-out shifts at the town’s biggest employer became the norm in 2021.
“Everything went downhill with that introduction of 12-hour shift work,” he says.
“The population in Mount Isa was actually higher then than it is now.
“We’re down to a small band of mainly older people who get out and enjoy it.”
Meteors, spooks and snakes
One of the astronomers is Darryl Fraser.
As night falls, he tinkers with his equipment, a combination of tracking, observing and photography gear.
Full of colourful anecdotes — some “unofficial” — Mr Fraser explains that “you can see some strange stuff out here”.
“When you see a big fireball, that can scare the daylights out of you.
“[And] we had pythons that night attacking us [in the observatory] —a whopper!” he recalls.
“I’ve told you a billion times, don’t exaggerate, Darryl,” Mr Sabadzics laughs.
The banter, mateship and camaraderie among the friends is spontaneous and genuine.
“I think that the friendship and the community part of it is really important,” Mr Sabadzics says.
“[It’s] an important thing … when you’re retired and having an interest and still being involved in things.”
Jovial anecdotes aside, the men agree the most “amazing” sight they’ve witnessed in their 20 years combined with the group was Queensland’s largest meteor in 30 years.
“I’ve never seen one like it before or since,” Mr Sabadzics says of the 2023 encounter.
“We were taking photos of the Milky Way rising and next minute, this super-bright light shone across everyone.
“It was just amazing.”
Unique location
North-west Queensland’s outback provides world-class stargazing opportunities.
It’s inspired the amateur group to collaborate in larger citizen science projects and has attracted the attention of international astronomers.
In 2005 the group collaborated with the Paris Observatory to monitor Pluto’s newly discovered satellite Nyx.
In 2012 they hosted one of 10 globally distributed telescopic attachments known as chronographs, built by the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur and Paris Observatory, to monitor the atmosphere during the transit of Venus.
“Our location is unique being in the Southern Hemisphere, but fairly close to the equator,” Mr Sabadzics says.
“The outback has low light pollution.
“We’re really quite isolated out here, just the town and mine.”
Break-in leads to makeshift observatory
Until earlier this year, the group’s official headquarters were near Lake Moondarra about 15km north of Mount Isa.
But when the 27-year-old facility was broken into earlier this year, the group lost decades of resources, leading them to rely on their makeshift Eastern Observatory at a truck stop by the side of the Barkly Highway.
“It’s a bit unfortunate that people want to destroy things instead of using them and enjoying them,” Mr Sabadzics says.
The amateur astronomers don’t dwell on the setbacks and instead look to the future.
“We’re at a point now where I think, ‘Well, let’s get it repaired’ and we might gather a few more interested people to our small band,” Mr Sabadzics says.
He’s eager to have fresh eyes in the team.
“We’d love some young people to get involved,” Mr Sabadzics says.
“It gives you joy seeing stars and galaxies.”
In the meantime, with the impending dawn of a new day, it’s mission accomplished for the Astronomy Group of Mount Isa.
Not only have they managed to photograph Saturn on the horizon, they’ve also captured the hearts and wonder of those involved.
“Things that in textbooks or the internet tell you they’re there, but to actually see it with your own eyes, it sort of brings your feet back down on the ground,” Mr Sabadzics says.
By Maddie Nixon
