Northern Star Party – April 17th to April 19th 2026
2026-04-17 16:30 - 2026-04-19 11:00 (Pacific/Auckland)
Dark Sky Weekend
We are excited to announce the dates for the Northern Star Party for 2026 to held at Waharau Regional Park and hosted by the Auckland Astronomical Society. We are holding the event over the nights of Friday 17th and Saturday 18th of April. Packing up on the morning of Sunday the 19th.
It will be a weekend of practical astronomy and dark sky observing. It is great opportunity to spend a weekend viewing the sky from a dark site, on Moonless nights, though a range of different telescopes. Bring your telescope or binoculars, but if you don’t have any there will be plenty there for you to look through. Also the society has telescopes available for hire though the hire will have to be set up prior to the camp. For rental enquiries, please email rental@astronomy.org.nz

During the day on Saturday, there will be a full program of practical astronomy – how to use equipment and various types of telescopes, new equipment demonstrations and an astrophotography workshop.
Films will be shown in the early evening on Friday and if appropriate on Saturday.

Prices
Members
Non-members

Early Bird paid by 12th April
$30
$40

Late bookings
$50
$60

No one night price.
To book, please log into Hello Club……….Click here for link.
From the Hello Club page, you will need to log in.
Program:
Friday: Viewing, movie (TBC)
Saturday:
Workshops: 1:00pm to 2:30 pm.
Solar Viewing during the day on Saturday.

Time
Activity
Details

13:00
Dwarf Mini and Dwarf 3 compact Smart Telescopes by Dwarf Lab
This presentation outlines their design, operation, and real-world performance in imaging deep-sky objects. Also covered is tracking, image capture, stacking, processing and using their Stellar Studio processing suite.

14:00 – 14:30
Easy Image Stacking for Beginners

Why stack?
Stacking demonstration
Stacking tips
Survey of stacking software

16:30 – 18:00
Telescope trail
Telescope trail

For the full information pack, click here.
Some possible visual observations on the nights
Some visible with the naked eye, some through small telescope

Practical Astronomy April - Variable Stars
2026-04-20 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Observation of variable stars has a long history with amateur astronomy. We will discuss the types of variable stars and how to observe them to obtain scientifically useful data. This is still a valuable activity even with the large survey telescopes, as amateurs can obtain data for stars that are too bright for the large telescopes, or for certain types of variable stars where changes are happening rapidly, the survey scopes cannot be dedicated for short cadence observing of a single star.

2026 Annual General Meeting
2026-04-27 20:00 - 22:00
The Auckland Astronomical Society 2026 Annual General Meeting. The agenda will include reports from Society Officers, Stardome report, Astronomy NZ Ltd report and election of officers for the AAS Council 2026/2027
All members are encouraged to attend.

Practical Astronomy - The study of Occultations
2026-05-11 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
In this meeting Michael Camilleri will give a presentation on Occultations and what can be learned from them.
An occultation in astronomy is an event where one astronomical object, such as the Moon or a planet, passes in front of another object, like a star, blocking it from view. Measuring precise timing from multiple locations of these events can reveal much information about the occulting object

Monthly Meeting May - Rocks from Space
2026-05-18 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Rocks from Space
with Professor Jonti Horner
Jonti first became interested in astronomy at the age of five, after seeing the BBC TV programme ‘The Sky
at Night’, and soon became an enthusiastic amateur astronomer. He joined his local astronomical society
in the UK, WYAS (the West Yorkshire Astronomical Society) at the age of eight, and is currently honoured
to serve as the society’s honorary president. To pursue his dream of turning his hobby into a career, Jonti
studied a Masters’ degree in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Durham, before moving to the
University of Oxford to undertake his doctoral studies. Once his PhD was complete, Jonti worked as a
postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bern and the UK’s Open University before moving to
Australia in 2010 to work at UNSW. In 2014, he moved to Toowoomba, to join the University of Southern
Queensland, where he is now Professor of Astrophysics. His research ranges from the study of our own
Solar system to the search for planets orbiting other stars, as well as trying to understand the different
factors that could come together to make one planet more or less suitable as a target in the search for life
beyond Earth.

Film Night May - Cosmos - 45 years Later - The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean
2026-05-25 20:00 - 21:00
The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean
Subject: Introduction to the scale of the Cosmos using the “Ship of the Imagination”; cosmic calendar; Eratosthenes and the Library of Alexandria; humanity’s place in the universe. 45 Years Later:

Hubble Space Telescope (1990–) and JWST (2022–) have mapped billions of galaxies and precise cosmic distances; universe age refined to 13.8 billion years.
Discovery of cosmic microwave background anisotropies (COBE/WMAP/Planck) and accelerating expansion (dark energy, 1998).
Exoplanets: from zero in 1980 to >6,100 confirmed; billions likely in the Milky Way alone.

Introduction to Astronomy June 2026
2026-06-01 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
NASA’s Perseverance Rover
Searching for Ancient Life on Mars
NASA’s Perseverance Rover landed on Mars in February 2021, exploring Jezero Crater. Come along for this special evening to learn about the rover, its instruments, and how it conducts its science, then take a visual journey through this fascinating crater. Hear about Perseverance’s key discoveries and their implications for our understanding of Mars and its past ability to support life. You will be surprised by how this incredible rover is helping scientists solve the ultimate cold case: Did Life Exist on Mars? A scaled model will also be available to view.
All attendees will receive a comprehensive, multi-page handout that covers and expands on everything we discuss. Don’t miss out!

Monthly Meeting June - The NASA Psyche mission: First Journey to an Unknown World
2026-06-08 20:00 - 21:00
The NASA Psyche mission is on its way to orbit a small but immensely ancient world in our asteroid belt: A metallic object, the first humans will ever have visited. When our solar system was in its infancy, thousands of planetesimals (tiny planet-like objects) formed in less than a million years. Many planetesimals later melted, allowing metal cores to form inside rocky mantles. One of these metal cores may be revealed in the asteroid (16) Psyche. Dr. Elkins-Tanton, the Mission Lead, takes us behind the scenes in planning and carrying out this remarkable mission of exploration, which launched in 2023, and updates us of where we are over two years post-launch.
This is a rebroadcast of a Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture.

Practical Astronomy June - The Winter Night Sky
2026-06-15 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345

Film Night June - The Cosmos - 45 years later.
2026-06-22 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue
Subject: Evolution by natural selection; Heike crab story; origin of life; DNA and the unity of life. 45 Years Later:

Genomic sequencing revolution (Human Genome Project 2003; thousands of species sequenced); horizontal gene transfer and RNA world hypothesis strengthened.
Laboratory synthesis of self-replicating RNA and protocells; complex organics detected on comets (Rosetta) and asteroids (Ryugu samples).
JWST detecting prebiotic molecules in protoplanetary disks.

Introduction to Astronomy July 2026
2026-07-06 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
Classifying Stars & Tracing Stellar Evolution
Arguably, the most important diagram in astronomy, the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HRD), shows how plotting the brightness of stars against their surface temperature enables the classification into different stellar types and maps their life cycles.
Learn how astronomers measure the true brightness or luminosity of stars and their surface temperature, followed by how this is used to construct an HRD and interpret the information provided, including what’s going on inside stars at each stage of their lifespan to cause them to expand and change colour.

Monthly Meeting July - Pluto Isn’t a Planet
2026-07-13 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union adopted a definition of a planet that demoted Pluto to just one of what is likely hundreds of dwarf planets in our Solar System. Exploring the remote Kuiper Belt, this lecture challenges us to think about what kinds of scientific questions are worth our attention, what it means to name something – and why Pluto is worth caring about anyway.
This lecture was recorded by Chris Lintott on the 3rd of June 2026
Professor Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at New College.
Having been educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College London, his research now ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to using machine learning to find the most unusual things in the Universe, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He was the founder of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for more than two million online volunteers to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, ‘The Crowd and the Cosmos’. His latest book is ‘Our Accidental Universe’.
Professor Lintott is best known for presenting the BBC’s long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer. Away from work, he cooks, suffers through being a fan of Torquay United and Somerset cricket, and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max. He can often be found at the helm of Oxford’s science comedy night, ‘Huh, That’s Funny’.

Practical Astronomy July - Equatorial Mounts: Why We Use Them and How They Work
2026-07-20 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Why does a telescope need an equatorial mount, and what makes it different from simpler fixed or altitude–azimuth designs? This beginner-friendly talk starts with the basic problem of following objects across the night sky, then uses practical examples and simulations to explain tracking, field rotation and the deceptively simple idea behind an equatorial mount.
Curator of Instruments, Steve Hennerley, follows the development of telescope mounts from early transit instruments and seventeenth-century helioscopes through to modern computer-controlled equipment. He then moves into the practicalities of setting up an equatorial mount in the Southern Hemisphere, including finding true south, levelling the mount, polar scopes, drift alignment and electronic polar-alignment tools.
No previous knowledge is assumed, making this an accessible introduction for visual observers and anyone beginning to explore astrophotography.

Film Night July - Harmony of the Worlds
2026-07-27 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
We continue our revisiting of The Cosmos Series.

Episode 3:
Subject: History of astronomy from astrology to Kepler’s laws; Ptolemy, Copernicus, Brahe, Galileo; scientific method triumph. 45 Years Later:
Kepler Space Telescope (2009–2018) discovered thousands of exoplanets using transit method, validating Kepler’s laws on a galactic scale.
Gaia mission (2013–) mapped precise positions and motions of >1 billion stars, refining galactic structure.
General relativity tests passed with ever-higher precision (e.g., gravitational waves, LIGO 2015).

Introduction to Astronomy August 2026
2026-08-03 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Titan: Earth’s Frozen Twin
Guest speaker: Jonathan Park
In many ways, Saturn’s moon Titan looks uncannily familiar: dunes like those in Earth’s deserts, mountains, branching river channels, rain, lakes, and seas. But here, methane takes the place of water, and frozen water stands in for solid rock. Beneath Titan’s thick orange haze lies a world near minus 180 °C, where chemistry, climate, and the possibility of life follow entirely different rules. This presentation explores how we get there, what we find, and what NASA’s Dragonfly mission hopes to discover when it arrives in the 2030s.

Emerging Astronomers - Is There Life on Venus?
2026-08-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
We’ve changed our minds about that several times. In the 1950s we pictured a warm jungle world. Then multiple spacecraft found a surface at ~400°C that destroyed every lander we sent. Now the question has reopened, this time about Venus’s clouds, and about a chemical signal nobody can explain.
Tim Sol is a Year 11 student at Wentworth Computer Science College, Auckland, and the new leader of the AAS Junior sessions, having volunteered with the Society through 2026’s Matariki solar-telescope outreach. He is a 2025 “15@15 Youth Building Democracy” winner and placed 3rd in the 2025 “Mars 2040” Space Competition (Arts & Business College of London). He founded and led his previous school’s Space Club and co-runs Open Process (a YouTube channel about engineering, robotics, and AI).

Monthly Meeting August - Shining a Light on Dark Matter
2026-08-10 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Carnegie Science Observatories postdoc Andrew Robertson focuses on one of the key mysteries in contemporary astronomy: the nature of dark matter. We know that this mysterious form of matter makes up about 85 percent of the mass in the universe, but astronomers still don’t know exactly what it is. Drawing on his experience as a former postdoc at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Robertson will explain how astronomers came to believe that dark matter exists, and how some gargantuan collisions of galaxy clusters—particularly the famous “Bullet Cluster”—provide some of the strongest supporting evidence for its existence. He’ll demonstrate how these extreme cosmic collisions can be used to probe the fundamental properties of dark matter itself. Dr. Andrew Robertson – Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie Science Observatories.
This is a rebroadcast of a Carnegie Science Lecture

Practical Astronomy August - An overview of Astronomy software for Amateurs.
2026-08-17 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
This month will be an overview of Astronomy software for amateurs, particularly Sky Charting software for desktop and mobile. We will also cover some available options for telescope mount control, image capture and processing.

Film Night August - The Cosmos revisited 45 Years later - Heaven and Hell
2026-08-24 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Episode 4: Heaven and Hell
Subject: Comets, asteroids, and impacts (Tunguska, Venus greenhouse); planetary evolution and catastrophes. 45 Years Later:

Chicxulub crater confirmed as dinosaur extinction cause (1980s–1990s); multiple impact threats mapped (NEOWISE, etc.).
Venus: confirmed runaway greenhouse; no life but extreme lessons for Earth climate.
Jupiter’s Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact (1994) observed live; DART mission (2022) demonstrated asteroid deflection technology.

Introduction to Astronomy September 2026
2026-09-07 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland, 1345, New Zealand
Large Scale Structure of the Universe
This evening, Chris Benton will discuss how the Universe is structured on large scales. Starting with our location in the Milky Way, we move out through the Local Group into the Virgo and Laniakea Superclusters of galaxies and beyond to reveal the large-scale structures of the Universe, as shown in a video travelling through space made from Sloan Digital Sky Survey data on observed galaxy positions and distances. Come and learn about the most recently discovered structures involving observations of Gamma Ray Bursts and distant quasars, and how they fit in with what we know about the cosmos on grand scales.

Emerging Astronomers September - What Are Saturn's Rings, Really
2026-09-14 19:00 - 19:50 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Everyone knows Saturn has rings — but what are they made of, where did they come from, and how long will they last? Junior sessions continue on Monday 14 September. We’ll go past the famous picture to the real thing: rings sculpted by tiny moons, a world with rivers and rain where you could strap on wings and fly, and another firing water into space from a hidden ocean that might hold life. Saturn is at its best in our sky right now, so everyone leaves with something to go and look at.

Practical Astronomy September - The Spring Night Sky
2026-09-21 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
This will be one of our seasonal Planetarium sessions. We will use the Planetarium to explore the Spring Night Sky. This is a great way to improve your knowledge of the Spring constellations and learn about some of the deep sky objects to be found in them.

Film Night September - The Cosmos 45 Years Later - Blues for a Red Planet
2026-09-28 20:00 - 21:00 | Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland, 1345
Episode 5: Blues for a Red Planet
Subject: Mars exploration history; Percival Lowell’s canals; Viking missions (1976) and search for life. 45 Years Later:

Rovers (Sojourner 1997 → Perseverance 2021): ancient river/lake beds, organic molecules, “leopard spot” biosignature candidate (2024).
Perseverance caching samples for return (2030s); evidence of past habitability strengthened dramatically.
Methane detections and subsurface ice; potential for past microbial life now a major focus.

2026 Annual Burbidge Dinner
2026-11-15 18:30 - 22:00 | Sorrento In the Park, Cornwall Park, Auckland, New Zealand
This is the Annual Burbidge Dinner held in honour of the principle founder of the Auckland Astronomical Society, Professor Percy Burbidge. Prior to the start of dinner we will be presenting the awards for the winners of the 2026 New Zealand Astrophotography Competition. The Dinner will be followed by the Burbidge Lecture, which will be delivered by Dr Culan Howlett from the University of Queensland.
Dr Howlett is a Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland, and recipient of the 2026 Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. His research focuses on mapping the positions and motions of millions of galaxies to understand how our Universe has evolved since the Big Bang — and to shed light on the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that make up 95% of everything in it.
Dr Howlett works on some of the largest galaxy surveys ever undertaken including:
DESI (the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) — a project mapping tens of millions of galaxies across the Universe.
4HS (the 4M OST Hemisphere Survey) — a new southern-sky survey that began observations in 2026, in which he leads the cosmology team.
Ticket Information
The price includes attendance and a buffet dinner. There will be a cash bar available. The final booking date is 8th November 2026.
Earlybird price for members and their guests $65 pp until 31st October 2026. After 31st October until 8th November, the price for members and their guests is $75 pp.
Members may book tickets by logging in to the Hello Club Auckland Astronomical Society membership portal and select 2026 Burbidge Dinner from the Upcoming Events:
https://members.astronomy.org.nz/
Earlybird price for non members is $75 pp until 31st October 2026. After 31st October until 8th November, the price for non members is $85 pp. Note that non members are required to pay the ticket fee at time of booking. Non members can purchase tickets by emailing treasurer @ astronomy dot org dot nz
