Mount Stromlo Observatory in conjunction with the Canberra Astronomical Society invite the Canberra community to attend our public observing nights of 2019. 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.

Bookings are essential and entry is by gold coin donation. Warm clothing is recommended. 

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.

Eloise Birchall is a second 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.

Dr. Kathryn Grasha is an observational astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at ANU. She uses high-resolution images of star clusters to study how star formation is organised in local galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope.

Prof. Naomi McClure-Griffiths is an internationally recognised radio astronomer, the 2006 recipient of the Prime Minister's Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year, and the 2015 winner of the Pawsey Medal of the Australian Academy of Science. Her research has provide insights into the structure and evolution of the Milky Way and how it interacts with its neighbours. Naomi is playing a leading role in the scientific exploitation of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and Australia's participation in the program.

Prof. Trevor Ireland is located in the Research School of Earth Sciences at ANU. He is Group Leader for Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry which sees him looking at the preservation of interstellar stardust in meteorites. Professor Ireland has been involved in two missions to return samples from meteorites: Hayabusa 2 which arrived asteroid Ryugu in June 2018 and Osiris-REx which arrived at the asteroid Bennu in August 2018.

2019 Dates: 12 April, 10 May, 7 June, 12 July, 16 August, 27 September.