19 September, 2026
Hello SA members and guests,
September Meeting
Last night’s meeting was very well attended by visitors and guests, with many new faces supplementing the regular “older” ones. A special welcome to new members, Mike Hayes and Warwick Edwards. The meeting opened with the usual SA News and This Month’s Sky (Paul), where we learned that the next full moon is both the Corn Moon and a Harvest Moon, and well-placed constellations for early evening viewing at this time of year include Cygnus in the north, Capricornus and Aquarius at the zenith, and Grus and Tucana in the south. In addition, Saturn and Neptune are approaching opposition and therefore will soon be in a great position for observation. Indeed, after being perfectly side-on to earth last year and thus “losing” them, Saturn is once again showing off its beautiful ring system (check out this image sent in by Gerard Keyzer that shows the planet’s angle changes over the last 8 years). This was followed by a video by Frank Gross on the turbulent history of the apparently benign looking Andromeda Galaxy and its likely collision with the Milky Way to create “Milkdromeda” in the distant future. Finally, John Bambury spoke to us about the life and death of stars, including the critical (inverse) relationship between stellar mass and longevity, the fact that the universe is still relatively young given that no red dwarf has yet had time to live its full lifespan of a trillion years, and how incredibly heavy a teaspoon of neutron star matter is. Earlier in the afternoon, Mark Town ran another observatory training session for six eager skywatchers who practised opening shutters, moving the dome and pointing telescopes at the Moon, without hitting one’s head or tripping over something.
October Public Lecture
Our next meeting is the annual public lecture:
7pm Friday October 18 Main Lecture Theatre UOW Nowra Campus.
The topic this year is “The Future of Dark Skies in Australia” and our guest speaker is Marnie Ogg, Founder and Outreach Director of the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance. ADSA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing light pollution and preserving the night sky for people, wildlife and future generations. Tell your friends about it and make sure you don’t miss it.
2027 Meetings 2027 Schedule
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to do a presentation at some stage next year. As a result, we already have a rich and varied program of topics, ranging from the Sun and the outer solar system to starburst galaxies, the formation of rocky exoplanets and the enigma of dark matter. The schedule will soon be uploaded onto this website at Calendars/Association Events.
Christmas dinner
A quick reminder that our final event of the year will be our Christmas Dinner, Friday December 11 at Heidi’s Café, UOW Nowra Campus. We need at least 20 people to attend, so please put this in your diary and join us to celebrate another successful year at SA. Members are encouraged to book their seats soon by emailing our secretary Andrew Wood (amwood1961@outlook.com). Partners are very welcome.
Frogmore camp
Members and guests are also invited to join several other southern NSW astronomical societies (Wollongong, Blue Mountains & City Skywatchers) for a dark sky observation session at Frogmore, near Boorowa on October 9-11. If you are interested in attending, please check out the information email and registration form that Andrew Wood sent to all members last week.
Website highlights
Our astrophotography highlight this month is a collection of superb images created by member Scott McAleer. Check out the Dragons of Ara, Thor’s Helmet, the Statue of Liberty and other stunning nebula on our Home page.
Also, take a look at Calendars/ Astronomical Events, which provides very useful information on the position of the Moon, planets and current comets, as well as the timing of meteor showers, conjunctions and occultations each month.
See you all on October 18 at the Public Lecture.
Clear skies.
Paul Gwynne
SA President