Location: 6 Priors Lane, Billywillinga, NSW, 2795
Country: Wiradyuri
LGA: Bathurst Regional Council
Region: Central Tablelands
Website: bathurstobservatory.com.au
Socials: facebook.com/BathurstObservatory/
Map: Below
Back in 2017, astronomer, geologist, teacher and meteorite enthusiast Ray Pickard announced that he would be moving his Bathurst Observatory Research Facility to a remote bush location to escape the light pollution then bleaching his views of the night sky from his Limekilns Road site on Bathurst’s outskirts.
In the years since then, Ray’s life has changed dramatically, but, at last, he can welcome visitors back to his famed observatory and museum on its new site, and share the full glory of the very dark nights of Billywillinga.
Caption: top feature image: the dome of Ray Pickard’s Bathurst Observatory Research Facility half-hidden behind some of the site’s dramatic rock formations.
Above: Entrance to the Bathurst Observatory Rsearch Facility deep in bushland at Billiwillinga, NSW. Both photo by Merrill Findlay, 1 September 2025.
Captions
Gallery photos: 1) Astronomer Ray Pickard inside his observatory dome. 2) Interior of the Research Facility’s exhibition hall. 3) Some of the meteorites and other artifacts on display in the exhibition hall. Gallery photos by Marje Prior, for her hyperlocal magazine, Freemantle Road Connections, Issue 4, 2024, published by On The Stone.
Asteroid 1984 BQ named for Ray Pickard in recognition of his contributions to meteorite science.
Raypickard is a mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in the main portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Raypickard as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Raypickard orbits the sun every 1,350 days (3.70 years), coming as close as 2.24 AU and reaching as far as 2.54 AU from the sun. Raypickard is about 5.5 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.
The rotation of Raypickard has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 6.75 hours.
More on Ray’s namesake asteroid >>
This post is a stub waiting to be extended. If you have expert knowledge or lived experience of this site and would like to write about it, please read our authors’ Guidelines and Contact us.
Published 3 September 2025. Last updated 8 September 2025.
Permalink: https://inlandastrotrail.com/bathurst-observatory-research-facility/