Meetings

General Meetings

General Meetings are held at 8 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month (except January) in the Kerr Grant Theatre, Physics Building, University of Adelaide (North Terrace Campus). General meetings usually feature a guest speaker and often include the presentation of astronomical photographs and/or observation reports. There's usually something of interest for everyone. Our general meetings are open to the public and visitors are most welcome to attend.

Next Meeting: Supernovae Type 1a: Standard Candles - 1 February, 8:00pm

Presented by Kevin Davey
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 was awarded to three people, including Brian Schmidt of the ANU, "for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae". As soon as supernovae were identified as far more luminous events than the much less powerful classical novae, methods have been sought to use them to measure large distances in the universe. Rare Type Ia supernovae have been accepted as supreme distance indicators of the galaxies in which they occur. Kevin will outline how SN Ia became established as standard candles, leading to Professor Schmidt's determination that the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, and the award of his prize.

Tea and coffee is available after the main General Meeting as well as a light supper.

Please note that for security reasons, the entrance to the Physics building is locked at 8pm sharp - ensure you arrive before the meeting commences.

Astronomy Education Sessions

The Society also holds Astronomy Education sessions starting at 7 p.m. on the same night as the General Meeting. These sessions are designed to assist newcomers and others to become familiar with some aspect of Astronomy.

February's meeting topic will be The Moon

Visitors are most welcome to attend any of the above sessions.