Auckland Astronomical Society Inc

Young Astronomers May - Features of the Moon
2022-05-09 19:00 - 20:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Features of the moon and why we tend to see images like the man or the bunny on the moon. This will include a video in the planetarium of Rona and the moon.

Monthy Meeting May - Cosmobiology: Recent Progress in Cosmology, Exoplanets, and the Prerequisites for Life in the Universe
2022-05-09 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
In this talk, astrobiologist Dr Charles Lineweaver discusses the history of life on Earth and what we can deduce from our understanding of the universe about the existence and history of life elsewhere. He recounts the ongoing discovery of large numbers of exoplanets — planets orbiting other stars — and what we can learn from the varieties of planets that are being found. He challenges us to think about what parts in the development of intelligent life on Earth would necessarily happen elsewhere and what parts might be unique to our planet.
The venue will be the Auckland Stardone Obersvatory
This is a rebroadcast of one of the recent Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures.

Astrophotography Group May - The EV Scope
2022-05-16 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Gareth Davies will demonstrate the astrophotography capabilities of the Unistellar eVscope eQuinox Digital Telescope.

Practical Astronomy May - Beginner Astrophotography
2022-05-16 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
This month will be a basic introduction of the various types of astrophotography, the equipment used and associated issues. We will be discussing, telescopes, lenses, mounts, cameras and a brief introduction to some of the software used for acquiring and processing images.

Film Night May 23
2022-05-23 20:00 - 21:30 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Space Exploration – The Age of Hubble
&
BBC The Sky at Night – The Pillars of Creation.
We welcome you back to our first movie night for some time, with a fantastic film.
From how Stars are made to chemical reactions in space and much much more, these two films are highly recommended.
We look forwards to watching this with you, in person, at Stardome Observatory & Planetarium

Practical Astronomy - The Winter Night Sky
2022-05-30 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
The Winter Night Sky review is normally held in June but this year, the Stardome will be holding Matariki events all nights of that week to mark the inaugural public holiday. Therefore we are making use of the fifth Monday of May. There will be no AAS events on Monday 20th June.
The Winter Night Sky review is held in the Planetarium. We will review the constellations and deep sky objects of the Winter Night Sky.

Introduction to Astronomy June 2022
2022-06-06 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
The James Webb Space Telescope
Gateway to a Golden Era in Astronomy

Christmas Day, 2021, one of the most talked-about and highly-anticipated telescopes in history launched into the sky. Were you one of many people asking what the fuss was all about and what makes the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) so unique? If so, this talk is for you!
Tonight Chris Benton reviews who developed the JWST and why it is located so far out in space. On the technical side, he will discuss the range of infrared wavelengths the telescope will observe and the innovative design features enabling this. Chris will then highlight the JWST’s prime astronomical targets and how this opens a gateway to a golden era in astronomy.
There is something in this talk for everyone, whatever your interests. We look forward to seeing you all for an informative and fun evening.

Young Astronomers June.
2022-06-13 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
This month, our aim is to show our young people how to use a telescope to look at the moon, along with tips for how to care for them and what kinds of issues to look out for. Bring warm gear to be outdoors!

If the conditions are cloudy or rainy, we will arrange to still do some practical telescope work indoors.

Clear Skies, YA Team

Monthly Meeting June
2022-06-13 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Precision Metrology of the Sky: Advances and Problems of VLBI Astrometry
The use of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique revolutionizes modern astrometry. It surpasses Gaia’s positional accuracy and allows conducting distance (parallax) measurements in the galactic plane far beyond the reach of optical telescopes. In this talk I will describe the method and report on some recent developments at the Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory in the field of radio (VLBI) astrometry. We will discuss problems of positional measurements in radio astronomy, talk about effects of radio source structure on determination of its precise position on the sky, about the perspectives of mapping spiral arms beyond the Galactic Centre with the use of methanol maser emission sources, learn about the “Gaia Sausage” as well as of a new class of pulsars based on rotating white dwarfs (rather than neutron stars).
Professor Sergei Gulyaev is the founder and director of AUT’s Institute for Radio Astronomy and Space Research (IRASR). Under his direction, the institute has built an observatory at Warkworth, north of Auckland, equipped with a 12-metre and a 30-metre radio telescope.
A hallmark of Professor Gulyaev’s research is his collaborative approach with the IRASR forging working relationships with radio astronomy and national aeronautical organisations around the world, including NASA, SpaceX, ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japanese Space Agency).
In one of many collaborative projects Professor Gulyaev and his team have used a technique known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to link the Warkworth radio telescope with observatories across Australia, including ASKAP (Australian SKA Pathfinder). Acting as one virtual radio telescope they were able to get greater resolution or sharper cosmic images from their observations.

No meetings this Week
2022-06-20 19:00 - 21:00
Stardome will be running events all week celebrating the inaugural Matariki Public Holiday, so there are no AAS Meetings on Monday 20th June. The Practical Astronomy Winter Night Sky review was transferred to May 30th. The Astrophotography Group meeting will be held on Monday 27th Jun before Film Night,

Film Night June 27
2022-06-27 20:00 - 21:15 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
We are running two films tonight:
Search For the Edge of Space
The universe has long captivated us with its immense scales of distance and time. Many astronomers today have come to believe that what we can see represents only a small fraction of all there is. They are pioneering bold new theories that describe a cosmic landscape that extends far beyond the limits of our vision. What lies beyond the streams of galaxies that extend as far as our telescopes can see? Where does it all end? How do we fit within it?
BBC The Sky at Night Destination Moon 2022
2022 marks the fiftieth year since an astronaut last set foot on the moon. The Sky at Night team looks back at the legacy of the Apollo programme and forward to the future of lunar exploration.

Introduction to Astronomy July 2022
2022-07-04 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Life In The Solar System – Part 1
Guest Speaker – Jonathan Park
Could life exist elsewhere in the Solar System? Could it even get started anywhere else? People often wonder about the possibility of life on other worlds. Even if we eventually find only microbial life elsewhere in our Solar System, this will show life has arisen more than once around a single star in a galaxy of billions. Such a discovery would open the door for possibilities of life throughout the universe.
Tonight, in Part 1 of a two-part series, Jonathan will explore the potential for life elsewhere in our Solar System. We will ask the question “what is life?”, look at the building blocks of life, how life might get started, and Earth’s extremophiles – organisms which love extreme conditions. Next, we visit Saturn’s tiny icy moon Enceladus, to see what conditions are like there.

Monthly Meeting July
2022-07-11 18:00 - 19:00 | AUT WG403, 55 Wellesley Street East, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
Dr Steve Goldman
Observatory Scientist, SOFIA/USRA
Monday 11 July, 6.00 pm
WG403, Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT City Campus
Abstract
Where did the material that makes us up come from? It boils down to understanding how stars affect their surroundings, and vice-versa. We think that a lot of Earth’s Carbon and Oxygen originally formed during the final stages of ancient sun-sized stars called Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, but exactly how much remains unclear. These stars pass this material on to the Universe in the form of dust. The dust in the interstellar medium is then pulled together by its own gravity to create stars and planets like the Sun and Earth. Understanding the origin of dust may allow us to better-understand the formation of our Solar System, and how Earth-like planets may form across the Universe. During this talk, I will discuss recent results targeting dusty evolved stars in nearby galaxies with the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, as well as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). I will also discuss the status and recent achievements of SOFIA, currently on deployment in New Zealand.
Bio
Dr Steve Goldman did his PhD at Keele University (Staffordshire UK), followed by a Postdoc position at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI, Baltimore, MD USA). Currently, Steve works as a SOFIA Observatory Scientist at the NASA Universities Space Research Association (USRA, Mountain View, CA US).

Young Astronomers July - Moon Landing Conspiracies!
2022-07-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
This event has been cancelled due to illness.
Kia ora koutou,
Welcome to the 2022 Young Astronomers programme! Our theme this year is ‘Mission to the Moon’.
The programme caters for all school aged students that are curious about the night sky and would like to
meet other like-minded people.
This month, our aim is to explore moon landing conspiracies! We will also aim to do some practical as-
tronomy and use telescopes if the weather conditions allow for it. Please note that our meeting will be
on Monday the 18th of July 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Clear Skies,
YA Team

Astrophotography Group July
2022-07-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
High Resolution lunar imaging with a planetary camera and telescope with Shaun Fletcher.

I will use he videos and images from my most recent session as examples, and give lots of hints and tips from my experience of these type of images.

Special July Presentation - Polynesian navigation and ocean-going waka
2022-07-18 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Speaker Stan Conrad

I started my Voyaging in 1985 on the double-hull Voyaging Waka Hokule’a from Hawaii. Then in the year 1992 I captained the Voyaging Waka, Te Aurere, that Sir Hector Busby built, on its maiden voyage to Rarotonga. In 1993, I was the skipper of Te Aurere on its circumnavigation of the North Island and in 1995 I captained Te Aurere from Tahiti to Hawaii, Te Aurere being the first Maori Voyaging Waka to cross the equator in centuries.

In 2012 I sailed Te Aurere, accompanied by Nga Hiraka Mai Tawhiti, Sir Hector Busby’s second Voyaging Waka, to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

I’m so grateful to have the knowledge of Voyaging, Traditional Navigation and Waka building taught to me by Mau Piailug, Nainoa Thompson and Sir Hector Busby. Today I pass the knowledge to the next generation.

Film Night July
2022-07-25 20:00 - 21:15 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
A Journey to Our Nearest Stars – Part 1
The universe is full of all kinds of stars – from tiny red dwarves to majestic blue giants. Some of them dimly twinkle for billions of years while others burn up almost instantly by space standards.
Today we are travelling to some of the most exciting ones, with every new star we come across further and further away from our home planet. This journey of thousands of light years will start near our closest star – the Sun. Together with the Parker probe we will brush its scorching corona and take a peek in its fiery depths. After that we will leave our home system to go around Alpha Centauri and check out some exoplanets located closest to the Earth.
A Journey to Our Nearest Stars – Part 2
We continue our journey visiting Betelgeuse and then onto WR102 which is believed to be the hottest star in the known universe. So hot that it turns all objects in its vicinity into ash.
We look forwards to viewing this exciting and informative film with you

Introduction to Astronomy August 2022
2022-08-01 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Life in the Solar System – Part 2
Guest Speaker: Jonathan Park
Last month, in part 1 of “Life in the Solar System”, Jonathan explored the potential for life elsewhere in our Solar System. We looked at the building blocks of life, how life might get started, and Earth’s extremophiles. This was followed by a visit to Enceladus to see what it might have to offer in the way of habitability.
In Part 2, we first visit Europa and Titan, and have a look to see whether conditions on either of these moons might be suitable for any kind of life. Next, we head to Mars, where we examine evidence of rivers, lakes, and an ocean. We will see that life had just as much chance of getting started on Mars as it did on Earth, but if it did manage to get started on Mars, would there be any way it could have survived up to the present? Following this, we very briefly touch on some upcoming missions to Titan and the icy moons of Jupiter, finishing with a look at other possible oceans in our Solar System, which could number up to 14!
We look forward to seeing you all there.

Young Astronomers August - moon landing conspiracies!
2022-08-08 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Kia ora koutou,

This event has been rescheduled from the previous month.
Welcome to the 2022 Young Astronomers programme! Our theme this year is ‘Mission to the Moon’.
The programme caters for all school aged students that are curious about the night sky and would like to
meet other like-minded people.
This month, our aim is to explore moon landing conspiracies! We will also aim to do some practical as-
tronomy and use telescopes if the weather conditions allow for it. Please note that our meeting will be
on Monday the 18th of July 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Clear Skies,
YA Team

Monthly Meeting August - The James Webb Space Telescope – An introduction to the first images
2022-08-08 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Speaker Dr Chris Benton.

Last month NASA released the first highly-anticipated images from the James Webb Space Telescope, stunning the world with their clarity and previously unseen objects. Tonight Chris Benton outlines the telescope’s design features enabling these images and the importance of observing in the infrared, followed by a study of the first five pictures. The review includes discussing the astrophysical processes involved with each photograph, what new detail we can see and how this will help us understand the relevant area of astronomy.

This session covers a variety of astronomy fields with something for everyone. Come along and enjoy learning more about this fascinating and current topic that has everyone talking.

Astrophotography Group August
2022-08-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Simple Narrowband imaging with DSLR and Telescope
For this months meeting I will run through the process I used to produce a clear noise-free Hydrogen Alpha image of M8 the Lagoon Nebula using an unmodified DSLR, Ha Filter and 200mm telescope.
Even this modest equipment, and no specialist software or knowledge, can produce an image to be proud of!

Practical Astronomy August - The Dobsonian Telescope
2022-08-15 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
This month we will be discussing the Dobsonian Telescope, one of the more common telescope types used by amateur astronomers, primarily for visual observing. The Dobsonian consists of a Newtonian OTA, mounted on a simple alt/az mount, named after the late John Dobson, “The Sidewalk Astronomer of San Francisco”, who popularised these for their ease of setup and use for visual observing.

Film Night August - Cosmic Radiation
2022-08-22 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
What are the different forms of radiation arriving on earth, where in the universe does it come from, how is it detected and what can it tell us. August film night looks at these subjects with contributions from various research centres and observatories.

Introduction to Astronomy September 2022
2022-09-05 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Relativity – The Layman’s Guide
Part 1: Historical Background and Special Relativity
Guest Speaker: Nick Odom
Nick starts with a brief description of physical knowledge in the 1890s and the problems that led to relativity, in particular with regard to measuring the speed of light. He will describe the basic axioms that underpin the theory and the effects on time and distance, including the relevance of inertial frameworks, the Doppler effect and the twin paradox. Concluding, he addresses the relationship between mass and energy and finishes with an introduction to spacetime.
Nick keeps mathematics very simple and uses plenty of diagrams to explain the main points, making this fascinating topic accessible to everyone. We look forward to seeing you all there.

Young Astronomers September
2022-09-12 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
“Living on the moon”. On Monday, YA will be exploring how and why scientists choose certain landing sites on the moon. They’ll be given information about various landing sites on the South Pole of the moon, and they’ll be working in teams to come up with a group decision.

Monthly Meeting September - Dark Star: The Invisible Universe of Brown Dwarfs
2022-09-12 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
This month will be a screening of one of this years Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures.
Presented by Dr. Adam Burgasser (University of California, San Diego)
In this illustrated talk, Dr. Burgasser explains what happens when a newly forming star doesn’t have “what it takes” to produce energy in its core in an ongoing way. This results in “failed stars” or brown dwarfs — objects that were predicted in theory, but only discovered in the 1990’s. Today, many thousands of these brown dwarfs are known, spanning a wide range of temperatures and masses, and occupying a unique niche at the intersection of stars and planets. Dr. Burgasser discusses how such faint objects are discovered, highlights their exceptional properties, and describes what this (mostly) invisible population can tell us about the formation and history of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Astrophotography Group September
2022-09-19 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
This class we will be running through a basic introduction to Pixinsight.

We will cover off the following items:

Why PixInsight?
Best raw image selection
Basic Stacking
Basic stretching and de-noising.

From this you should receive a understanding that basic processing in Pixinsight is easier than some suggest.

Practical Astronomy September - The Spring Night Sky
2022-09-19 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
This will be one of our seasonal Night Sky reviews. We will use the Digistar Planetarium to explore the constellations and deep sky objects of the Spring Night Sky. Weather permitting we will follow up with Telescope viewing using the EWB Zeiss telescope.

Film Night September 26th
2022-09-26 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
We have two exciting short films tonight:
Artemis I – Path to the Pad: The Rocket

Have you ever wondered what it takes to assemble the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built? This is the lead up to Nasa’s test flight in anticipation of the next Manned space flight to the moon.

BBC The Sky at Night 2022 – The James Webb Road Trip
The Sky at Night team meets the scientists in the UK researching the astonishing new data returned by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Introduction to Astronomy October 2022
2022-10-03 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Relativity – The Layman’s Guide
Part 2: General Relativity & Gravity
Guest Speaker: Nick Odom
Relativity and Newton’s law of gravity are mathematically incompatible. Einstein realized that the local effects of gravity and acceleration are equivalent, and that gravity is a distortion of spacetime. An analysis of the effect of gravity on light reveals that time runs slower in gravitational fields and that light bends. The bending is increased by the curvature of space. We briefly examine black holes and end with the observational consequences of the theory.
This is a fascinating topic and not to be missed. We look forward to seeing you all there.
This meeting will also be live streamed to the AAS YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/AucklandAstronomicalSociety
