Mount Stromlo Observatory in conjunction with the Canberra Astronomical Society invite the Canberra community to attend our public observing nights of 2018. Come and see the rings of Saturn, the craters of the moon, and beautiful star clusters and nebulae. On the night attendees will be taken on a ‘tour of the universe’ with talks by astronomers from Mt. Stromlo Observatory and observations on several telescopes.

Abby Hodges is a Science Communication student at The Australian National University, and a Mount Stromlo Outreach Assistant specialising in Astrobiology.

Eloise is a first year PhD student at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. She studies the earliest stages of star and planet formation to figure out where and when planets start to form. Her scientific interests are all stages of star and planet formation.

Professor Trevor Ireland is located in the Research School of Earth Sciences at the ANU. He is Group Leader for Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry which sees him looking at the preservation of interstellar stardust in meteorites. Professor Ireland is currently involved in two missions to return samples from meteorites: Hayabusa 2 will arrive at the asteroid Ryugu in June and Osiris-REx will arrive at the asteroid Bennu in August.

Keith Baker is a semi-retired Canberra engineer who has a strong involvement in heritage recognition and conservation. He is a member of the Canberra Engineering Heritage group and past chair of the national committee. In consultation with ANU staff, he prepared the nomination for Mount Stromlo Observatory to be recognised by Engineers Australia with an International Engineering Heritage Marker.

Bookings are essential and entry is by gold coin donation. Warm clothing is recommended. The café will also be open to serve food and drink.

In the event of cloudy/bad weather, stargazing will be cancelled (the talks will occur regardless of the weather). You can check out the weather at Mt Stromlo using our all sky camera. We will also post updates on our Facebook page.

2018 Dates: 20 April, 18 May, 15 June, 13 July, 17 August, and 14 September.