23 August, 2026
Hello SA members and guests,
August Meeting
Those who attended Friday’s monthly meeting were treated to a fascinating presentation by Gerard Keyzer on meteors, with a specific focus on the two main sources of these “shooting stars”, namely asteroids and comets. As usual, the slides from Gerard’s presentation will be uploaded to this website under “Presentations” (see Members Section). This was followed by an impromptu exposé by John Bambury on distance and velocity scales associated with the Earth, the Sun and our Milky Way Galaxy. The meeting opened with the President’s usual perusal of this month’s sky, including current planetary positions, comet 10P/ Temple, a lunar occultation of Antares, and a quick look at those constellations conveniently placed for observation at this time of year (see September 2026 Sky).
UOW Science Day
A massive thank you to Colleen Duncan, Larry Wakelin, Frank Gross and John Bambury who hosted our information stall at the UOW Science Day on Saturday (Aug 22). Also, our gratitude to Mark Town who opened the observatory and assisted over 30 interested persons (kids and adults) to view Venus in the daylight. Yours faithfully presented a talk on “What you can see through a (modest) telescope” to a very receptive and inquisitive group of young folk and their parents. Going by some of the astute questions and answers, there are some budding astronomers in our youngest generation.
Membership fees
Thanks to everyone who has paid their annual membership fee, which is most of us. There are a few still due, so check again if you are one of them.
The Committee
Thanks to John (and Jenny) Gould who have volunteered to act as SA Treasurer for the time being. Also, thanks to Colleen Duncan who has taken on the role of Social Media Officer, following in the path of Lachlan Mabbutt’s pioneering efforts. Colleen has already applied her graphic design skills to our Facebook page and has uploaded information about SA onto several online Shoalhaven community noticeboards. She is currently working on a strategy to increase awareness of SA in the general community and potentially attract new visitors and members.
Website Highlight
We are currently updating our website (https://shoalhavenastronomers.asn.au), which is a wonderful treasure trove of astronomical information. I encourage every member to explore the riches that it contains and, to that end, I plan to highlight one of those gems in each monthly newsletter. This month I draw your attention to the LINKS on the right side of the HOME page: Universe Today; Science Daily; Hubble Telescope News; James Webb Telescope News; and AstroImaging Channel. These are very useful sites that provide the latest astronomical discoveries and research frontiers. Check them out.
BAM600
Congratulations to John Bambury whose list of 600 astronomical objects for southern skies has been formally recognized as an observing program by the Astronomical League (the umbrella organization for over 300 US astronomical societies). Those who complete 100 objects on the list will receive an official AL certificate. The list identifies double stars, clusters (globular and open), nebulae (emission and planetary) and galaxies that are within the reach of a modest telescope. It is organized in Excel format so that it can be easily sorted according to constellation, object type, magnitude etc (see BAM600). The committee is currently considering ways to use BAM600 (or a subset of it) as a group observing project for SA members over the course of one year.
Siding Spring petition
Government funding for the Anglo-Australian telescope at Siding Spring, Coonabarabran, ends next year and its future is far from clear. This is Australia’s largest optical telescope and it has been at the forefront of international astronomical research for fifty years. Consequently, a petition has been prepared requesting clarification on the future of the AAT from the Minister for Science (Tim Ayres). The petition has already reached 500 signatories and is now aiming for 1000 at least. If you are interested in signing go to www.change.org and search for “Siding Spring”.
Upcoming Meetings
These are the scheduled topics for our remaining meetings this year:
Sep 18 – Grand Tour 3: Uranus & Neptune (Lachlan Mabbutt)
Oct 16 – Public Lecture: The Future of Dark Skies (Marnie Ogg)
Nov 20 – Women in Astronomy (Eleanor Hewison)/ Astrophotography Display
Dec 11 – End-of-Year Dinner (Heidi’s Café, UOW campus)
Note that the End-of-Year Dinner is the second Friday of December (not the third). The menu is $37 per head (entrée – chilled prawns; main – lamb or turkey roast with vegetables; plus bread rolls). Heidi’s is a licensed venue, so alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are available for purchase. We need at least 20 people to attend, so members are encouraged to book their seats soon by emailing our secretary Andrew Wood (amwood1961@outlook.com). Partners are very welcome.
You will also notice that there will be an astrophotography display at the November meeting, so all of our talented astrophotographers are invited to start preparing their latest images to share with us that night.
Call for 2027 presentation topics
We are now planning presentation topics for next year’s meetings. The standard format is two presentations per meeting, each lasting about 45 minutes. So, if you are interested and have a relevant topic that you would like to present to the group at some stage next year, please email me (paul.gwynne@unsw.edu.au) soon so that we can start organizing the schedule.
See you all on September 18 for part 3 of Lachlan’s Grand Tour.
Clear skies.
Paul Gwynne
SA President