Donna the Astronomer (Milroy Observatory)

Donna Burton guides stargazing tours from Milroy Observatory outside Coonabarabran, inside the Warrumbungles — the first Dark Sky Park listed in Australia, in 2016. Burton was the first Australian woman to discover two comets, C/2006 R1 and C/2007 Q3 Siding Spring, and is a PhD candidate in astronomy and astrophysics, holding a science degree in computing and a master's in research. She has taught astronomy for more than 30 years and is national coordinator for Astronomers Without Borders. In 2025 she was named Lachlan Shire's Australia Day Ambassador and holds the Medal of the Order of Australia. Tours run from the observatory roughly 15 minutes out of Coonabarabran, putting guests behind working telescopes to find planets, star clusters and nebulae under the dark the park was listed for. Burton guides alongside a small team, including staff named Kyle and Gary, but the tours are built on her own decades of comet-hunting and teaching rather than a rotating roster. The operation runs from the one fixed site rather than a mobile or multi-location setup, and is pitched across the range from school groups to serious astrophotographers.