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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.

 

Crux Magazine for October-November 2018 Online

The Oct-Nov Crux is now available in PDF for downloading.

The Australian Night Sky

I'd like to thank Wayne Roberts for authoring The Australian Night Sky for the last few years.

It has been a very popular publication and we have been honoured to host it here.

Wayne has decided to head off on a trip around Australia and explore this amazing country so he wont be writing for a while.

Previous editions of The Australian Night Sky are available at http://asv.org.au/night-sky.

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 26 October

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

Sun 28 October

Historical Section meeting

1.00pm - 4.00pm

Location: ASV Lodge

For further information, contact Section Director: Rod Brown

Sun 28 October

Solar Section meeting

2.00pm - 4.00pm

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

Location: GMT House
For more information contact: Russ Cockman, Section Director

Sun 28 October

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 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, 0418 356 832

Wed 31 October

Council

7.45pm - 10.15pm

ASV Council meeting
Location: ASV Lodge

Fri 2 November - Tue 6 November

VicSouth Desert Spring Star Party

4.00pm Fri 2-Nov - 12.00pm Tue 6-Nov

See http://www.vicsouth.info/vicsouth.htm for more details

Fri 2 November

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.

Mon 5 November

Computing Section

8.00pm - 10.00pm

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

Wed 7 November

Cosmology and Astro-Physics Section Meeting

8.00pm - 10.30pm

Discuss current news in Cosmology and Astro-Physics
Topic: “Pluto” & “Travel to Alpha Centauri”

Location: ASV Lodge
“All Welcome – Bring an Open Mind”

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

Fri 9 November

Junior Section

7.30pm - 9.30pm

Location: ASV Lodge

Meeting times:-
7:00pm - 9:00pm (EST)
7:30pm - 9:30pm (DST)

For further information contact Section Director: Chris Rudge

Fri 9 November

Members' Night

8.00pm - 11.00pm

Location: ASV Library, Observatory Gate, Birdwood Ave., Melbourne

Contact: Rod Brown

Sat 10 November - Sun 11 November

Dark Sky Night

6.00pm Sat 10-Nov - 8.00am Sun 11-Nov

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

Wed 14 November

Library (Members Only)

6.30pm - 7.45pm

Location: 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, 0418 356 832

Wed 14 November

ASV Monthly meeting

8.00pm - 10.00pm

Location: Mueller Auditorium, National Herbarium, Birdwood Ave., Melbourne

Topic: To be advised
Speaker: To be advised

Everybody is welcome and the night will end with a delicious supper and it is FREE
Looking forward to seeing you there.

More events: Calendar