Aboriginal Skies a free talk by Paul Curnow - Outback Astronomy - 22 October 2014

Community Event
Outback Astronomy is putting on a special event in Broken Hill on 22 October 2014.

'Aboriginal Skies' is a free community event which will see guest presenter Paul Curnow delivering an insightful discussion on how the world's first astronomers interpreted the night sky.

The event has a limited number of spaces and a booking must be made by contacting Robinson College on 08 8087 6022.

Here is a link to more information about the event -

http://www.outbackastronomy.com.au/show-times/special-free-event-aboriginal-skies-new-location-22-october

Special Free Event - Aboriginal Skies http://t.co/UWdMUNVxsw Book your place now if in #BrokenHill on the night!
— Outback Astronomy (@OutbackAstro) October 9, 2014

Paul is a council member of the Astronomical Society of South Australia and has been a lecturer at the Adelaide Planetarium since 1992.

He is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on Aboriginal night sky knowledge.

The free event is sponsored by Inspiring Australia and the NSW Government.

Inspiring Australia (www.inspiringaustralia.net.au) is a national strategy for science engagement.

Time - 7.30pm - 9pm

When - 22 October 2014

Where - Outback Astronomy at the Racecourse - Racecourse Road, Broken Hill.

(www.outbackastronomy.com.au)

Bookings - Robinson College on 08 8087 6022.

Following the discussion there will be the opportunity for some star gazing to show some of the objects mentioned by Paul.

The event coincides with the launch of the Far West Science Hub.

Sounds like a really interesting night. There is always something fascinating going on in #BrokenHill.

Cheers, Jane Deany

Saturn disappears behind the moon on 4 August 2014 - see it in Broken Hill

Community Event
Astronomers are looking forward to an exciting astronomical event tomorrow  4 August 2014, when Saturn disappears behind the moon, as they become perfectly aligned for about an hour.

The event is known as a 'lunar occultation of Saturn'. It is the third time it has happened this year. In this instance, it will be a first quarter moon. Central and eastern Australia will see the moon to the west.

Outback Astronomy is putting on an event. It could be a great opportunity to check out Broken Hill's famous night sky. The event (and Outback Astronomy) takes advantage of Broken Hill's inland remoteness, which is not effected by big city lights.

Here is a link to Outback Astronomy's website where you can find more details about their 4 August 2014 event -

http://www.outbackastronomy.com.au/show-times/tonights-sky-moon-bonus-4-august

Below is a tweet I saw about the 4th August event. The tweet takes you to a link to a great article I read about this lunar event, and which I have sourced some of my information for this blog post.

Thanks to Tanya Hill and 'The Conversation' website -

http://theconversation.com/third-time-lucky-saturns-disappearing-act-29928

#BrokenHill will be watching with clear sky ... Saturn's disappearing act http://t.co/h2cDUkfPKM via @ConversationEDU
— Outback Astronomy (@OutbackAstro) August 2, 2014

Times - Adelaide 8.33pm - 9.28pm; Melbourne 9.24pm - 9.52pm; Sydney 9.22pm - 10.22pm. As Broken Hill is closer to Adelaide than Melbourne, I'm guessing the event will commence around 8.50 approximately and might take 45 minutes. No doubt Outback Astronomy would have more details.

I published a post about Outback Astronomy on the 28 of May, 'Outback Astronomy - starry skies shine in Broken Hill'.

You can find a link to the article below -

http://www.ilovebrokenhill.com/2014/05/outback-astronomy-starry-skies-shine-in.html

The post was written by Linda Nadge of Outback Astronomy, about her exciting new astro tourism business. It was the first guest post I have published on www.ilovebrokenhill.com .

I wish you beautiful clear skies.

Enjoy, cheers, Jane Deany

Outback Astronomy - starry skies shine in Broken Hill

Outback Astronomy delivers personal, guided night sky experiences in Broken Hill

'Outback Astronomy' is a pilot business which began providing night sky astronomy shows in March 2014.

The inaugural night sky presentation was attended by students from the Mornington Peninsula.

Eager star gazers - image courtesy
Linda Nadge from Outback Astronomy's Facebook page

The feedback from the Year 11 and 12 students and their teachers was overwhelmingly positive.

Since then, night sky shows have been scheduled on a regular basis, and are advertised on the website www.outbackastronomy.com.au.

This pilot business seeks to develop astro-tourism in Broken Hill, featuring a variety of experiences and themed night sky shows.

At present, night sky viewing is done mostly with the naked eye. Yes, the sky is that dark that you can still see stars filling the vast outback skies!

Binocular assisted viewing is also pursued to demonstrate the contrast in observing. It’s terrific to see people visibly moved by the magnificence of what they see with just a little boost in magnifying power.

There are plans to add in powerful telescopes when a permanent observatory structure is built.

The viewing is conducted on the edge of Broken Hill at the race course. The business plans to build an observatory and other facilities at this sight. An architect is currently designing the facility.

"It’s terrific to see people visibly moved by

 the magnificence of what they see ..."

Eager star gazers - image
courtesy Linda Nadge from
Outback Astronomy's Facebook page

As the business owner, I am looking forward to implementing a broad business plan over the next several years.

The naked eye and binocular assisted sky viewing is therefore the pilot business which is designed to prove many of the underlying business assumptions.

Since the first paid guests attended our sky shows, the feedback has continued to be extremely positive.

A variety of sky shows have now been developed, including one that targets young children, from 5 years to 12 years.

The sky shows are designed for the night sky novice.

This article was written by -

Linda Nadge, owner - Outback Astronomy

Linda kindly accepted my offer to write a guest blog post.

This is the first guest post on www.ilovebrokenhill.com

Thanks very much Linda for writing this article and telling us about your very exciting new Broken Hill business that you are in the process of creating.

Cheers, Jane Deany