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
FREE EXO-PLANET TALK THIS WEDNESDAY 8PM
For its November Monthly Meeting, the ASV is proud to present a talk by Dr Valentin Christiaens (Monash), having just returned from making observations in Chile. He's been working on solving the mystery of how these planets outside of the solar system have formed and will give us the results in this presentation. The evening will also include a brief talk by Perry Vlahos on a comet that will be visible to the naked eye soon and how to find/view it.
There's no charge for both members and the public, but be there early to get a good seat, Starts 8pm this Wed 14th Nov, at the National Herbarium, Birdwood Ave, Melbourne. All this plus a delicious FREE supper and viewing through the telescopes of Melbourne Observatory at the end of the meeting. See you there.
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 
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 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: The Latest on Extra-solar Planets
Speaker: Dr Valentin Christiaens, School of Physics & Astronomy, Monash University
Everybody is welcome and the night will end with a delicious supper and it is FREE
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Fri 16 November
Library
6.30pm - 7.45pm
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 16 November
Members' Night
8.00pm - 11.00pm
Location: ASV Library, Observatory Gate, Birdwood Ave., Melbourne
Contact: Rod Brown
Fri 16 November
Lunar and Planetary Section meeting
8.00pm - 10.30pm
Location: ASV Lodge
For more information, contact Section Director: Andrea King
Sat 17 November
Instrument Making Section
2.00pm - 5.00pm
Location: ASV Lodge
For further information contact Section Director: Mark Justice
Sun 18 November
Astrophotography Section meeting
2.30pm - 4.30pm
Topic: TBA
Presenters: TBA
Location: ASV Lodge
For more information, contact Section Director: Paul Litchen
Mon 19 November
Radio Astronomy
8.00pm - 11.00pm
Radio Astronomy Section meeting
Location: ASV Lodge
For further information contact Section Director: Clint Jeffrey
Tue 20 November
The Diurnals
3.20pm - 4.30pm
Location:
Visit: Melbourne Planetarium, Spotswood
Time: 3.20 p.m. for a 3.30 start. (Note: change of time)
Presenter: Dr. Tanya Hill – Melbourne Planetarium
Film: ESO’s Out there: “The Quest for Extra Solar Worlds” (followed by ‘behinds the scenes’ presentation)
COST: FREE
For further information contact Section Director: Patricia Larkin
Wed 21 November
New Astronmers' Group (NAG)
7.30pm - 10.00pm
Topic: The Messier 100 hunt
Location: ASV Lodge
For more information, contact Section Director: Ken Le Marquand: nag@asv.org.au
Sun 25 November
Historical Section meeting
1.00pm - 4.00pm
Location: ASV Lodge
For further information, contact Section Director: Rod Brown
Sun 25 November
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 25 November
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 28 November
Council
7.45pm - 10.15pm
ASV Council meeting
Location: ASV Lodge
More events: Calendar