Lake Tyrrell Star Party
9th – 11th of March 2013
Lake Tyrrell - Sea Lake, Victoria (45-min drive from Swan Hill)
Lake Tyrrell has excellent clear and very dark skies. The salt-encrusted Lake Tyrrell is approximately 180 square kilometres in size, making it the largest salt lake in the state of Victoria. In addition, it is located 382 km north west of Melbourne, 7km out of the township of Sea Lake on the Calder Highway, and is about 45-minutes drive from Swan Hill.
Speakers
Asteroids, Meteorites and the early Earth
Dr Victor Gostin (University of Adelaide)
Order and disorder in planetary systems. Origins and nature of asteroids and meteorites leads to a better understanding of our Earth history with its water and life.
Assoc. Prof. Victor Gostin, M.Sc. (Melb), PhD (ANU). Victor Gostin is a retired Associate Professor and an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Adelaide, Australia. A graduate of Melbourne University with a PhD from the ANU, Canberra, Victor lectured in earth sciences at Adelaide University from 1970 to 2001. His scientific interests include the origins and evolution of the solar system and of life, meteorite impacts, earth history, environmental geoscience and the effects of natural phenomena on the course of human history. His other interests include sketching the Australian outback. Victor is keen to popularise earth and planetary sciences to the community through lectures and radio. As a result of recognising and proving that a unique rock layer in the ancient rocks of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, was derived from a giant meteorite impact, he has been honoured by having an asteroid named after him (3640GOSTIN).
The Tektite Enigma
Dr Olga Gostin (University of South Australia)
Black glassy lumps, "buttons" and "dumbells" found scattered over southeast Asia and south to Australia (=Australites) are believed to have originated from a large asteroidal impact probably into the tropical Laos-Cambodia region. Although some dating suggests this event occurred 780,000 years ago, controversies remain for a possible younger age. Aboriginals have used these objects and have stories of their origin.
Dr Olga Gostin, BA Hons (Wits), M.Env.St. (Adelaide), PhD (ANU). Of Belgian-Russian parentage, Olga Gostin graduated as a social anthropologist from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. She obtained her PhD from the Australian National University in 1968 after completing research on the impact of Catholicism and cash-cropping on the Kuni of Papua. In 1993 she completed a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies at Adelaide University. For the past 40 years she has been connected with Australia’s first program offering tertiary education to Indigenous Australians at the University of South Australia. Olga is passionately interested in the dynamics of culture change, environmental issues and matters of social justice.
Tour of the Night Sky
Paul Curnow, B.ED. (University of South Australia)
The night sky has fascinated people since the dawn of humankind. Australia is still fortunate in that it has relatively low levels of light pollution, which allows us some of the best night sky views in the world. We will take a guided tour of the brightest stars, the constellations, their mythology, and the way that other cultures like Aboriginal Australians perceive the celestial dance of stars above.
Bio: Paul Curnow (B.ED) is a council member of the Astronomical Society of South Australia and a former council member of the Field Geology Club of South Australia. He has been a lecturer at the Adelaide Planetarium since 1992 and was the recipient of the ASSA editor’s award for 2000, and then again in 2010. In 2002, he served as a southern sky specialist for visiting U.S. and British astronomers who were in Australia for the total solar eclipse. He is regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on Australian Aboriginal night sky knowledge; and in 2004, he worked in conjunction with the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center Planetarium in Ohio, on the creation of a show that features Indigenous Australian stories of the night sky. In addition, Paul runs a number of popular courses for the general public that focus on the constellations, planetary astronomy, historical astronomy and ethnoastronomy, which primarily deals with how the night sky is seen by non-western cultures. He appeared as the keynote speaker at the inaugural 2010 Lake Tyrrell Star Party in Sea Lake, Victoria and recently returned from New Zealand after being a special guest speaker at the Carter Observatory in Wellington. Since 2012 - Paul has taken the role of lecturer for the Astronomy & Universe course (EDUC 1036) for the School of Education at the University of South Australia. Paul appears regularly in the media and has authored over 40 articles on astronomy.
Registration
Registration costs are $10 per person, or $30 for a family.
Accommodation Options
- Thisledome Motel, Sea Lake - 03 5070 1252 - 14 rooms - Very comfortable!
- Sea Lake Hotel - 03 5070 1167 - 21 beds
- Nandaly Hotel - 03 5078 1220 - 3 motel-style rooms. Good host! 20 miles north of Sea Lake on Calder Highway
- Kaneira Hotel, Culgoa - 03 5077 2330 - 6 twin rooms - Unknown standard. 20 miles south of Sea Lake on Calder Highway
- Sea Lake Recreation Reserve Caravan Park - 03 5070 2242 - 9 powered sites. Centre of town!
- Green Lake Caravan Park - no bookings required, fees collected daily or honesty box - 68 powered sites. 10 kilometres south of Sea Lake off Birchip Road
- Green Lake Lions Camp - Ron Allan 03 5070 2090 - up to 72 beds, BYO bedding - beds and mattresses only. No eating/cooking facilities.
More Information
For further information, contact Keva Lloyd or Pat Amos