Talk

Idea to Recognition - 25+ Years in the Making: An Amateur Can Still Still Make A Difference

Surjit Wadhwa

Astronomical Society of NSW

Can amateurs still make a difference in the professional sphere. For many decades amateurs have been restricted to variable star observations, occultations, visual discoveries of transients and more recently detection of extrasolar planets from archival survey data. Even theses avenues are becoming more restricted with the advent of rapid neural networks that can scan archival and new survey data much more efficiently than amateurs.

In this presentation I will discuss how my interest is astronomy research was ignited and how I imagined simple concepts through thought experiments as the physics and mathematics was beyond me. Over the years my thought experiments suggested that a certain aspect of contact binary evolution was incomplete. I could not mathematically prove what I was thinking. Taking a simplified approach I the heads of all astronomy departments in Australia to allow me to pursue my ideas through a Masters degree. Not one university replied!

Not to be deterred I visited the head of astronomy at Western Sydney University (WSU) to pitch my idea in person. His response was we have no experts in this field at the WSU however I will send your proposal to a friend in Serbia. That was late 2018. What followed is the stuff of dreams. In 2026 I graduated with a PhD in astronomy from WSU with absolutely no background in high level physics or mathematics. The talk will deal mainly with the events from 2018 to 2026.

Occultation Observing in 2026

Stephen Kerr

Trans-Tasman Occultation Alliance, Astronomical Association of Queensland, RASNZ, AAVSO, IMO

Occultation observing has been a staple of amateur astronomical citizen science since
the 1970's. The last five to fifteen years has seen a rapid change in the techniques
used by observers as new technologies put more capable equipment in observers'
hands. Science objectives have also changed as planetary science has advanced
through a range space craft missions rendering many of the previous amateur focus
areas obsolete but opening up new fields of involvement. This talk will cover what
has changed and where things may be headed.

Amateur contributions to professional Astronomy

Renato Langersek

Astronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ), Trans Tasman Occultation Alliance (TTOA)

Renato Langersek will be discussing his work on occultations, including:

• His participation in a NASA–tasked South West Research Institute expedition to the Northern Territory to observe a stellar light curve during Pluto’s occultation.
• Expeditions to Western Australia and the central United States to measure light curves of stellar occultations by the asteroids Patroclus and Menoetius.

As a highlight, he will also cover the groundbreaking discovery of the Q1R ring system around the minor planet Quaoar—an observation made by a group of Queensland amateurs during a Lucky Star Occultation event. This discovery has had a significant impact on planetary physics.

Keeping the Dream Alive

Clare Williams

President, Canberra Astronomical Society

This is not a technical presentation, but rather a lookback at what has happened to the interest in astronomy and space exploration since the heady days of the Apollo Program in the 20th century. It focusses on the importance of outreach to keep the dream of man in space alive in the 21st century.

But I'm Not Dead Yet! - the Surprisingly Short History of the Barn Door Tracker

Neville Fraser

WSAAG

Intended as a means of allowing long(er) duration astrophotography, the barn door tracker is cheap and easily made. It belongs firmly in the "I could have thought of that!" category of inventions. There are several variations on the original design, and they have evolved much over time.

This presentation explores the history and development of the tracker, comparing them to more modern methods of achieving the same goal- glorious images of the night sky. It raises the question of whether devices like the barn door tracker are in fact a dying area of amateur astronomy.

Several examples will be made available for examination.

Posters Take-5

Various

This is an opportunity for the creators of poster papers to say a few words about their work, and for the audience to ask them questions.

The stability of the Solar system

Warwick Kissling

RASNZ

The stability of the Solar system is one of the 'classical' problems in Celestial mechanics.
In this talk I'll outline the historical development of the subject, after first explaining the
concepts of chaos and stability, and how they apply in everyday life and in physics. The
subject continues to develop to this day, and the most recent results may surprise people!

Southern eclipsing binary light curves from TESS: a collaboration between the AAQ and VSS

Roy A Axelsen, Peter N Culshaw, and Brent A Joyce

Astronomical Association of Queensland; Variable Stars South; American Association of Variable Star Observers

This presentation describes a collaboration established in early 2023 between Variable Stars South (VSS) and three members of the Astronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ). The scientific aim was to survey the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) database for light curves of 192 southern eclipsing binary systems in the VSS database. Most of the stars are close eclipsing systems with periods of less than one day. The proposal was initiated by one of us (RAA) as a possible avenue for members of the AAQ who are not skilled in photometry to become involved in variable star research. At the time of writing, 167 of 192 VSS stars had been surveyed, light curve files had been identified and downloaded for many of them, and times of primary and secondary minima had been determined and uploaded to the VSS database. Future VSS publications will include the relevant TESS data. The presentation describes the Internet resources and software employed, the methods of analysis used, and some examples of interest. Amateur astronomers not versed in the knowledge and skills required to perform photometry can make valuable contributions to variable star research.

Double star project for amateur sized telescopes and equipment

Mike Chapman, Blake Cooper, Matthew James, Spyridon Samios, and Michael Williams

University of New England, and Northern Tablelands Astronomical Society

In the current age of research in astronomy there is an emphasis on deep space phenomena. The origins of astronomy are far more basic. Amongst the basic research areas of astronomy is the study of double stars. Many double and multiple star systems have not been updated for many years, as large observatories have taken over funding and steering research objectives. Many multiple star systems have been ignored, some for a hundred years. In this talk, a small research group of mainly amateur astronomers present a novel approach to updating the observations of some of these stellar systems.

Our work has been conducted by a group of amateur astronomers from the University of New England and the Northern Tablelands Astronomical Society (UNENTAS) using a Celestron Orange tube C14 which is owned by the University of New England (UNE) based in Armidale, New South Wales,. The observatory is named "The Bill Webster Observatory".

Our approach is based on using open source software and large amateur (except elderly) telescope of 35.5 cm objective and approximately 2000 mm focal length. The open source software used is Stellarium, image capture software for a basic ZWO B/W astronomical camera, PIPP, and REDUC. The star systems were identified using the Washington Double Star Catalogue, based on the time of year and location in the sky for Armidale.

Our results show that it is possible to study double star orbits using very basic astronomical equipment that is within the grasp of many amateur astronomers and we would encourage other amateur astronomers to attempt the same to add to the astronomical research community.

The Eyepieces for the Great Melbourne Telescope

Barry Adcock

Astronomical Society of Victoria, Ballaarat Astronomical Society

The Great Melbourne Telescope (GMT) was commissioned in mid 1869. The instrument was mounted in a roll-off roof observatory in the grounds of Melbourne Observatory, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra. The telescope was supplied with seven Huygenian eyepieces providing magnifications from 234x to 1000x.

We know a lot about the history and construction of the GMT, but at this point of time we do not know who made the eyepieces, or when or where they were made. We believe that the lower power eyepieces are the largest ever made. Rather than handle these precious eyepieces we decided to make a new set of three with focal lengths of 211mm, 149mm and 105mm.

The new set were made in the author's workshop and this presentation details the design and manufacture of the new set of replacement eyepieces.