Night Skies of Ancient Egypt
Date: Saturday, 3 November, 2012
Time: 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Venue: Adelaide Planetarium
Location: Mawson Lakes Campus, University of South Australia
How did the Egyptians understand their world? What realms made up their cosmos? In this talk we will explore their stories about how the world came to be - their cosmogonies and how these reflect their cosmology; how this cosmology was linked to their geography and politics, and how they imagined the cosmos of the afterlife. We will also introduce you to some of the names given to the planets and stars by these early stargazers. Join lecturers Paul Curnow (B.ED) & Michael O'Donoghue (M.ED, B.ED) for a relaxing evening at the Adelaide Planetarium where they will take you on a journey into the minds of the Ancient Egyptians. Learn about their beliefs and their view of the heavens, and how this compares to the modern interpretation used by astronomers today. This session is aimed at the beginning adult and no prior knowledge of the night sky is assumed.
To be held at the Adelaide Planetarium (upstairs), Building P, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus. Mawson Lakes Boulevard, Mawson Lakes SA 5095.
Cost $30.00 per person.
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL! Enrolments are subject to the seating capacity of the planetarium, so book early to avoid disappointment. To make a booking or for further information phone 8302 3138 or email the planetarium at adelaide.planetarium@unisa.edu.au. To make general course content enquiries only, contact Paul Curnow at starmanzone@adam.com.au or on 0402079578.
Presenters
Michael O'Donoghue (M.ED, B.ED) is a senior lecturer in Religion Studies and Education at the University of South Australia. He is also Honorary Research Associate in Egyptology at the South Australian Museum. As well as teaching about ancient Egyptian religion he has taken ten study tours to Egypt for the WEA. He has published articles on the Egyptian Column at the South Australian Museum and the Egyptian letters to the dead. He is one of South Australia's leading authorities on Ancient Egypt.
Paul Curnow (B.ED) is a former council member of the Astronomical Society of South Australia and 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 recently appeared as the keynote speaker at the inaugural 2010 Lake Tyrrell Star Party in Sea Lake, Victoria and has just returned from New Zealand after being a special guest speaker at the Carter Observatory in Wellington. Since 2012 Paul has also 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.