Welcome to the Astronomical Society of Victoria
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.
Membership is open to all with an interest in astronomy.
Astronomy for the people
Astronomy for the People is an ASV service providing telescopes for schools and public demonstrations. Image by David RolfeMore Info
Membership
Anyone with an interest in astronomy can join the Society. Membership gives you access to the loan telescope program, ASV meetings and our pristine dark sky property.Join now
Image Gallery
View astronomical images taken by members of the ASV - everything from the moon and planets to nebula and far away galaxies.View images
Astrophotography
Our Astrophotography section meets regularly at ASV lodge and has monthly field trips to our dark sky site. The section is very active and new members are always welcome. Read more
The October monthly meeting
will be held on Wednesday the 12th of October at the Mueller Hall Birdwood Ave, Melbourne starting at 8pm.
The speaker will be:
Phil Hart
who will speak on
Cloud forecasts for Australian astronomers.
Phil will talk about clouds, the challenges of forecasting them and how to improve your chance of picking the clear nights for astronomy. In particular Phil will introduce the new non-profit website cloudfreenights.com by ASV member Robert Dahni. This site is providing Australian astronomers with cloud forecasts based on the Bureau of Meteorology's high resolution ACCESS weather model. Short term ACESS model forecasts outperform those m global alternativessuch as the United States GFS, which otherwise dominate online services. The cloudfreenights.com site provides the ability to see cloud maps and meteograms for all regions of Australia and quickly compare the forecasts form the ACESS and GFS models.
The Australian Night Sky - September 2016
As we arrive at the start of Spring, a new edition of Australian Night Sky has arrived, thanks to Wayne Roberts.
Crux August-September 2016
The latest edition of Crux is now available for download by members.
Membership Application Glitch Fixed
Apologies to anyone that has been trying to become a member of the ASV recently. A techinical problem has been preventing people from joining the fold since 1st July. It has now been fixed and the membership process is up and running once again. If you've tried unsuccessfully to become a member in the last couple of weeks, PLEASE TRY AGAIN NOW. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Events 
The ASV runs a large number of events to cater for a broad range of astronomy related interests. Check the website on a regular basis for the latest updates. The next 14 events are listed below - view the calendar page for a full listing of planned events.
Wed 28 September
Council
7.45pm - 10.15pm
ASV Council meeting
Location: ASV Lodge
Fri 30 September
Club Section
8.00pm - 11.00pm
Club 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 the ASV Lodge.
Come along for a chat, all members welcome.
Sat 1 October - Sun 2 October
LMDSS Field Trip (Members only)
6.00pm Sat 1-Oct - 7.00am Sun 2-Oct
Location: LMDSS
Please note that LMDSS Field Trip nights are not an organized event and the criteria for these nights are as follows:-
- is a Saturday night
- has at least two hours dark sky, (that is after Sunset and when twilight ends, and also prior to Sunrise and before twilight starts)
- dark sky is calculated from the times of Astronomical Twilight
- dark sky must start before midnight (or before 0100 Sunday during Australian Eastern Daylight Time
Remember to obtain the gate/clubhouse codes from the ASV webpage
Mon 3 October
Computing Section
8.00pm - 10.00pm
For further information contact Section Director: Craig Boyd
Location: ASV Lodge
Fri 7 October
Club Section
8.00pm - 11.00pm
Club 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 the ASV Lodge.
Come along for a chat, all members welcome.
Sat 8 October
International Observe the Moon Night
7.00pm - 10.00pm
Location: Melbourne Observatory, Birdwood Ave, Melbourne VIC 3141, Australia
A great opportunity to bring your families along to this ASV event, to meet members of the Society, and look at the moon through their telescopes. The cost is a gold coin donation.
Wed 12 October
Library (Members Only)
6.30pm - 7.45pm
Location: Observatory Gate, Birdswood Ave, Melbourne
The Library is open at the following times:
+ Monthly Meeting - before 6.30 to 7.45pm and after from approx. 10:00 to 10:45pm
+ Members' Night - from 7pm to 7:50pm
+ Last Sunday of month - 2pm to 4pm
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
Wed 12 October
GMT Section
6.45pm - 7.45pm
Location: GMT House Annex
For more information, contact Section Director: Jim Pollock
Wed 12 October
ASV Monthly meeting
8.00pm - 10.00pm
Location: Mueller Auditorium, National Herbarium, Birdwood Ave., Melbourne
Topic: Cloud Prediction
Speaker: Phil Hart, ASV
All are welcome. There is no cost and supper is provided. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Fri 14 October
Junior Section
7.00pm - 9.00pm
Location: ASV Lodge
Meeting times:-
7:00pm - 9:00pm (EST)
7:30pm - 9:30pm (DST)
For further information contact Section Director: Chris Rudge
Fri 14 October
Library (Members only)
7.00pm - 7.50pm
Location: Observatory Gate, Birdwood Ave., Melbourne
The Library is open at the following times:
+ Monthly Meeting - before 6.30 to 7.45pm and after from approx. 10:00 to 10:45pm
+ Members' Night - from 7pm to 7:50pm
+ Last Sunday of month - 2pm to 4pm
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
Fri 14 October
Members' Night
9.00pm - 10.00pm
Location: GMT House
Sat 15 October
Instrument Making Section
2.00pm - 5.00pm
Location: ASV Lodge
For further information contact Section Director: Mark Justice
Sun 16 October
Astrophotography Section
2.30pm - 4.30pm
Topic: Weather: forecasts, observing conditions, monitoring & fun with ASCOM
Presenters: Nick Jones & Robert Dahni
Location: ASV Lodge
For more information, contact Section Director: Nick Jones
More events: Calendar