Current Phenomena
Welcome to the Astronomical Society of Victoria Inc.
The Society is based in Melbourne, Australia and includes city and country members, as well some in other states and overseas. It attracts people with a wide range of astronomical interests, ages, abilities and experience. Originally founded in 1922, it is the largest such organisation in the southern hemisphere and this year celebrates its 90th anniversary. Membership is open to all with an interest in astronomy.
Andrew Prentice Prediction 9 May 2012
Dr. Andrew Prentice's presentation from his speech at the ASV monthly meeting held on 9 May 2012 has been uploaded to the ASV website. You can download a copy using this link. Refer to page 94 for the details! Audio file
Dr. Prentice's final prediction relates to the Dawn Press Conference (NASA HQ, Washington DC) on Friday 11 May 2012: 4.00 am that will present a new analysis of the giant asteroid Vesta using data from the agency's Dawn spacecraft.
The prediction is as follows:
Chemically-uniform model: MOI (moment-of-inertia factor) = 0.388 +/- 0.004
Differentiated model: MOI = 0.369 +/- 0.004
Good luck Dr. Prentice and thank you for a very enjoyable speech.
Event
18 May 2012
Lunar and Planetary,
8.00pm - 10.30pmLunar and Planetary Section meeting
For further information contact Section Director: Maurice Valimberti
Location: ASV Lodge
19 May 2012
Instrument Making Section, ASV Lodge
2.00pm - 5.00pmInstrument Making Section meeting
For further information contact Section Director: Ken Beard
19 May 2012
Section Meetings at LMDSS,
5.00pm - 6.00amSection Meetings at LMDSS
Astrophotography Section, Section Director; James McHugh
Deep Sky Section, Section Director: Eddie van den Berg
Meteor Section, Section Director: Paul Deany
LMDSS Field Trip
Remember to ring to get the gate/clubroom codes.
21 May 2012
New Moon,
12.00am 21 May 2012 - 12.00am 22 May 201221 May 2012
Radio Astronomy,
8.00pm - 11.00pmRadio Astronomy Section meeting
For further information contact Section Director: Clint Jeffrey
Location: ASV Lodge
25 May 2012
Club Section,
8.00pm - 11.00pmClub Section meetings are informal and take place on the first and last Friday of the month (public holidays excepted) between 8:00 – 11:00pm at ASV Lodge
26 May 2012
Solar Section, ASV Lodge
2.00pm - 4.00pmSpecial meeting on 'How to Photograph the transit and eclipse'.
For further information contact Section Director: Darren Bellingham
26 May 2012
LMDSS Field Trip (Members Only), LMDSS
6.00pm - 6.00amLMDSS Field Trip (Members Only)
Remember to get gate/clubroom code
26 May 2012
Meteor Section, LMDSS
6.00pm - 6.00amMeteor Section
For more information contact Section Director: Paul Deany
27 May 2012
Historical Section, ASV Lodge
1.00pm 27 May 2012 - 5.00pm 28 May 2012Historical Section
27 May 2012
ASV Library (Members Only), Observatory Gate, Birdwood Ave., Melbourne
2.00pm - 4.00pmASV Library (Members Only)
The Library is now in the old Government Astronomers’ Office which is in the north west corner of the main building at Melbourne Observatory.
There are currently a large number of books and magazines, surplus to the Library’s needs, for sale. The sale is on-going whenever the Library is open.
For further information contact Barry Cleland
29 May 2012
The Antikythera Mechanism: Astronomy and technology in ancient Greece, Sunderland Lecture Theatre, Level 2 (ground floor), Medical Building, corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade, The University of Melbourne
6.00pm - 7.00pmTuesday 29 May 2012
The Antikythera Mechanism: Astronomy and technology in ancient Greece
Professor John H Seiradakis, Department of Physics, Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
The Antikythera Mechanism was a portable (laptop-size), geared mechanism, built ca. 150–100 BCE, which calculated and displayed, with high precision, the movement of the sun and the moon and the phase of the moon for a given epoch. It could also predict eclipses and calculate the dates of the Olympic Games. It had one dial on the front and two on the back. Its 30 precisely cut gears were driven by a manifold with which the user could select, with the help of a pointer, any particular epoch. While doing so several pointers were synchronously driven by the gears to show the above mentioned celestial phenomena on several accurately marked annuli. It contained an extensive user’s manual.
The exact function of the gears has finally been decoded and a large portion of the manual (~3000 letters) has been read after 2000 years by a major new investigation, using state of the art equipment. No complicated geared instruments are known before the Antikythera Mechanism and for several centuries after. Therefore, this astronomical device stands out as an extraordinary proof of high tech in ancient times. The R D Wright Lecture is jointly sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne and the ‘Friends of R Douglas Wright’.
Time: 6:00 - 7:00 pm
Venue: Sunderland Lecture Theatre, Level 2 (ground floor), Medical Building, corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade, The University of Melbourne
RSVP essential, places limited:
http://alumni.online.unimelb.edu.au/john_seiradakis