Section Director: Bruno Zielke

We usually meet on the 1st Wednesday of each month from 8pm to 10:00pm online using Zoom. We present topics relating to cosmology and astrophysics with time for discussion, questions and answers.

The details of the next meeting will usually be available at least a week before the meeting, you can view the details by clicking Cosmology (available to members only).

A few days before the meeting we will also send out an email advertising the meeting to all members who have ticked the box on their profile to register as a member of the cosmology and astrophysics section. To register for the sections you are interested in, please log in to the ASV website, click on your name at the top, click on the Edit profile button, and scroll down to subscribed sections.

Talks are presented by members and visiting physicists aided by short videos to stimulate discussion. To give an idea of the content of the meetings, some example topics are listed below:

•    What is cosmology about?
•    Major sciences of cosmology including - particle and quantum physics, relativity, and
thermodynamics
•    Standard models of cosmology and particle physics
•    Origin of the universe
•    Stages of the Big Bang
•    Early stars and galaxies formation
•    What is the universe made of? - Dark energy and dark matter, and ordinary matter.
•    How large is the universe and how the expansion is measured?
•    Life and death of stars including neutron stars and black holes, and supernovae.
•    Telescopes and relevant technology
•    Symmetry in physics and conservation of energy, information etc.
•    Artificial intelligence and consciousness
•    History of quantum theories and new developments
•    Life of black holes, their evaporation and information paradox.
•    Nature of reality and nature of time
•    Nuclear fission and fusion and power generation.
•    New developments in physics

If you want further information or have suggestions, feedback, ideas or requests feel free to email us at cosmology@asv.org.au

Previous meeting topics:

2 July 2025

ASV website demo (Jamie Chamberlain)

Black Holes - an Introduction (Mike Sharp)

How large is the universe? What shape is it? What is the universe made of? (Bruno Zielke)

4 June 2025

Running an Astronomy Club for Year 7 and 8 students (Kelly Clitheroe)

The Hubble Tension (Lawrie Hanson)

Paraparticles (Bruno Zielke)

7 May 2025

Dark Energy, Timescape model (Bruno Zielke)

Entropy (Mike Sharp and Bruno Zielke)

2 April 2025

One Hundred Years of Quantum Mechanics - How Quantum Mechanics became a Theory (Bruno Zielke)

Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity: an Introduction (Mike Sharp)

5 March 2025

Particle and quantum physics (Bruno Zielke)