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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.

 

Telescopes to View Sea of Tranquility on the Moon

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing, the ASV and Saxon will have large portable telescopes set up on Princes Bridge, Melbourne, for the public to view the area on the moon where Armstrong first walked on the lunar surface - the Sea of Tranquility! It will be on Sat 20th July from 8 - 11pm. The moon will rise a little after 9pm, and so before then we will be showing Jupiter and Saturn. It's all FREE so take the family and tell your friends, come and celebrate with us.

The Great Melbourne Telescope Restoration on Ch 9 News

Many people are not aware that Melbourne Observatory was the home of the largest steerable telescope in the world during the second half of the 1800s. There is magnificent volunteer effort from ASV members to restore the Great Melbourne Telescope and have it reinstalled in its original roll-off roof observatory not far from The Shrine. Channel 9 News presented a report on it recently and if you missed it on air, here's a link to it: https://twitter.com/9NewsMelb/status/1058993849224163328

Monthly Meeting Presentations

Our June Monthly Meeting featured Belinda Wickens presenting her visit to Norway in 2017 and the beautiful photography of the Northern Lights. Belinda has kindly given us access to her presentation slides in a PDF that can be downloaded by members. Please click here to access the file.

Many thanks also to our March Meeting presenter Alex Cherney for his images of timelapse night sky photography. His presentation can be downloaded here by members.

Crux Magazine for June-July

The June-July edition of Crux is now available for downloading by Members.

ASV 2019 Yearbook Online

The ASV 2019 Yearbook is now available in PDF for downloading by Members.

ASV Items For Sale

A section in the ASV Forum has been created for members wanting to buy or sell Astronomical Items.

Please log in to the Members Only section and visit the Forum or click on the 'Chat' icon.

The Great Melbourne Telescope Restoration Project

Here's a link to a story by Liz Clarkson with a number of images of ASV members hard at work in restoring the Great Melbourne Telescope. It gives a little bit of history and outlines the aims and current status of the project to bring this telescope back to Melbourne Observatory, in a working condition for members of the public to look through. It was once the largest steerable telescope in the world back in the late 1880s.

Events iCal

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.

Fri 19 July

Lunar and Planetary Section meeting

8.00pm - 10.30pm

Location: ASV Lodge
For more information, contact Section Director: Andrea King

Sat 20 July

Instrument Making Section

2.00pm - 5.00pm

Location: ASV Lodge
For further information contact Section Director: Mark Justice

Sat 20 July

๐•๐ข๐ž๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ž๐š ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐œ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐›๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐€๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ

8.00pm - 11.00pm

Location: Princes Bridge, Southbank VIC 3006, Australia

To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of humans landing on the moon, the ASV - with the help of Saxon instruments, will have large portable telescopes set up for the public to view the Sea of Tranquility on the moon - the area where the landing took place. The date will be Sat 20th July, 8pm - 11pm on Princes Bridge, Melbourne. The moon rises soon after 9pm that night, so until then we will also be offering views of Jupiter and Saturn. All for FREE, bring the family and tell your friends, come and celebrate with us!

Sun 21 July

Astrophotography Section meeting

2.30pm - 4.30pm

Topic: Image Capture Software : APT, SGP, VOYAGER - Presented by Tom Fowler and Paul Litchen
Location: ASV Lodge
For more information, contact Section Director: Paul Litchen

Wed 24 July

Cosmology and Astro-Physics 101

8.00pm - 10.30pm

Cosmology and Astro-Physics 101

โ€œBeginners Cosmology and Astro-Physicsโ€

Note: ASV members only

Location: ASV Lodge
Contact: Ross Berner
Mobile: 0403 167 004
Email: cosmology@asv.net.au

Fri 26 July

Club Section meeting

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 โ€“ 11:00pm at the ASV Lodge.
Come along for a chat, all members welcome.

Sat 27 July - Sun 28 July

Deep Sky Section

6.00pm Sat 27-Jul - 8.00am Sun 28-Jul

Location: LMDSS

Bring a plate to share at supper.

For further information, contact Section Director: Paul Gardiner

Sun 28 July

Historical Section meeting

1.00pm - 4.00pm

Location: ASV Lodge

For further information, contact Section Director: Rod Brown

Sun 28 July

Solar Section meeting

2.00pm - 4.00pm

Location: Birdwood Avenue, Birdwood Ave, Melbourne VIC 3004, Australia

Location: Meet in the ASV Library at 1:50pm

Topic this month: "Review of the July 2nd total solar eclipse over Chile".

There will an update on the current state of solar activity and contributions from members are welcomed. 

Observation of the Sun through the historic photoheliograph if weather allows.

For more information contact: Russ Cockman, Section Director
Email: solar@asv.org.au

Sun 28 July

ASV Library (Members Only)

2.00pm - 4.00pm

Location: Birdwood Ave., Melbourne

The Library is open at the following times:
+ Monthly Meeting - before 6.00 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 Astronomersโ€™ 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 Libraryโ€™s needs, for sale. The sale is on-going whenever the Library is open.

For further information contact Barry Cleland, 0418 356 832

Wed 31 July

Council

7.45pm - 10.15pm

ASV Council meeting
Location: ASV Lodge

Fri 2 August

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 โ€“ 11:00pm at the ASV Lodge.
Come along for a chat, all members welcome.

Sat 3 August - Sun 4 August

Dark Sky Night

6.00pm Sat 3-Aug - 8.00am Sun 4-Aug

Location: LMDSS
Please note that Dark Sky 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 5 August

Computing Section

8.00pm - 10.00pm

For further information contact Section Director: Craig Boyd
Location: ASV Lodge

More events: Calendar