The job for an Astronomy Supervisor at the Ayers Rock Resort has been listed on SEEK. I thought as one of the Astronomy Supervisors out here I would give a real perspective of the job as last time it was highlighted on this forum there were numerous comments that were ill-informed.
I have worked here for four and a half months after seeing the job on this forum, applying and being successful. I drove from Brisbane for five days to get here and provided I stay for 9 months I will be reimbursed $600 relocation fees. I work 76 hours per fortnight but you will have to contact the company about the pay. I work split shifts from around 11:30am to 3:30pm and then from 6:30pm to 10:30pm. During the day I will either be at the Astronomy Centre answering questions from guests or in town with a telescope set up doing some daytime observing. I also sell our night-time tours at both locations as they are fantastic. At night I will pick up a group of twenty people early on in the evening (at this stage 7:45pm) known as the family tour. This goes for an hour and after a brief talk about constellations and stories of the night sky we have two Celestron CPC 9 ¼ inch telescopes that we get the people observing through. The later tour (at this stage 9:00pm) goes for an hour and a quarter and we talk about the science of the universe and then go onto the telescopes and answer questions from the audience.
I love this job and the pay is OK but the real reason I am out here is about my passion for astronomy as well as beautiful dark skies that during my down time I find myself imaging all the time. Also this area is stunning for anyone interested in landscape photography. We will be offering Astrophotography courses soon which will allow processing of images during the daytime as well. Is it a dream job? For me yes. If you are interested in quality astronomy outreach and freedom in your job under some of the best skies in Australia then apply.
Mark
