Mount Stromlo Observatory in conjunction with the Canberra Astronomical Society invite the Canberra community to attend our public observing nights of 2018. Come and see the rings of Saturn, the craters of the moon, and beautiful star clusters and nebulae. On the night attendees will be taken on a ‘tour of the universe’ with talks by astronomers from Mt. Stromlo Observatory and observations on several telescopes.

Professor Trevor Ireland is located in the Research School of Earth Sciences at the ANU. He is Group Leader for Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry which sees him looking at the preservation of interstellar stardust in meteorites. Professor Ireland is currently involved in two missions to return samples from meteorites: Hayabusa 2 will arrive at the asteroid Ryugu in June and Osiris-REx will arrive at the asteroid Bennu in August.

Professor Matthew Colless has been the director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics since 2013.  He currently serves on the board of directors for the Giant Magellan Telescope, a 25-metre telescope being built in Chile.  In 2001, he was listed as one of the most-cited scientists in Australia.  He has an interest in how galaxies form, and cosmology, including measuring sound ripples from the Big Bang called Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations.

Dr Kathryn Grasha is an observational astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the ANU. She uses high-resolution images of star clusters to study how star formation is organised in local galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope.

Bookings are essential and entry is by gold coin donation. Warm clothing is recommended. The café will also be open to serve food and drink.

In the event of cloudy/bad weather, stargazing will be cancelled (the talks will occur regardless of the weather). You can check out the weather at Mt Stromlo using our all sky camera. We will also post updates on our Facebook page.

2018 Dates: 20 April, 18 May, 15 June, 13 July, 17 August, and 14 September.