Exploring the Stars of the Southern Hemisphere
Frances AzarenAPRIL 22, 2019, 08:30 - 10:00 UTC
Join us live on April 22 from 6:30 pm (08:30 UTC) until 8 pm (10:00 UTC) as Sydney Observatory's 400mm f8 Ritchey Chretien telescope is used to explore the sky from Australia's oldest observatory built in 1858. Your host for the evening will be Geoffrey Wyatt the Education Program Producer (Science) for the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Weather permitting, the scope will collect ancient photons from the brightest radio sources in the sky NGC 5128, which is thought to be the result of colliding galaxies roughly 16 million light years away. We will also see the most magnificent globular cluster of them all, Omega Centauri, the Jewel box, of course NGC 3372 Eta Carinae with its supernova progenitor and possibly the Tarantula nebula more than 200,000 light years away. There will be time to chat and even though the view is from the middle of Australia's biggest city, our camera can cope with a lot of light pollution. An alternate night in the same week will be announced if clouds look like ruining the view. See you online.
Geoffrey Wyatt began working as a casual guide at Sydney Observatory in 1986 while an undergraduate at the Sydney Institute of Education studying to become a physics and chemistry teacher. He loved astronomy education so much he stayed and became the Senior Astronomy Educator, Acting manager and is now the Education Program Producer (Science) for the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. He was the first person to win the David Malin Astrophotography competition twice and had his images featured on Space Weather. He also won the MAAS Staff development award and while trying something different for a fun, the TAFE State Medal for Conveyancing.
He has been invited to share his enthusiasm for astronomy extensively through NSW to school and community groups, the Northern Territory, Hong Kong and Tianjin in China. He has been a contributing writer for the Japanese astronomy magazines Tenmon Guide, Gekkan Tenmon, and CCD Astronomy. His personal mantra is "Stars, Cars and Japan".
To learn more about Geoffrey Wyatt and his work at the Sydney Observatory, click here to read the article, "Sydney after Dark, When the Real Stars Come Out to Play." The Sydney Morning Herald, March 26. 2011.
Additional resources:
Carter, Jamie. "A Beginner’s Guide to the Southern Hemisphere Sky. " Sky and Telescope magazine, March 2, 2018
Link: https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/beginners-guide-to-the-southern-hemisphere-sky/
The New Zealand Astronomy Directory
Link: http://nzastronomy.co.nz/pages/the-southern-hemisphere-sky
Skymania.com - A current sky chart of the night sky in the southern hemisphere.
Link: https://www.skymania.com/wp/southern-hemisphere-sky-chart/
