Welcome to the Astronomical Society of South Australia

The ability to take stunning digital photographs of the heavens has revolutionised amateur astrophotography. In this session, learn how digital cameras work and how those wonderful images are created and processed.

In Stephen Hawking's seminal history of Cosmology aptly titled after a quote from Newton "On the shoulders of Giants", Johannes Kepler is portrayed as one of the five Giants, the supreme geniuses, Hawking credits with shaping our modern understanding of the universe. Today Kepler is mostly and rightly so remembered for the laws of planetary motion that he computed and put into a coherent theory. Less known than his work on celestial mechanics is his astrometrical work as a surveyor and assistant to exiled Danish Astronomer Tycho Brahe in Prague, whose records he secured after the Master's death and which allowed him his amazing discoveries on planetary motions. But he was also very much a child of his times, caught in the web of the outgoing middle ages and the brutal religious wars of the 17th century devastating central Europe. He tried in vain to avoid engagement in the struggle of modern science, against a traditional cosmology steeped in religious dogma, which to question was a mortal sin in the eyes of the holy inquisition. At one point Kepler had to defend his mother against another mortal danger, a very serious accusation of practicing witchcraft. Yet Kepler managed to defend his mother as well as his scientific findings and his belief in the venomous heresy of revolutionary Copernican and Galilean ideas. He corresponded with Galileo whose work he knew well and admired. Unlike Galileo though, he tried much harder to harmonise his findings with the "eternal truths" and teachings of the clergy as well as accepting and working around the fact, that superstition, alchemy and magic influenced "Science" much more than formal logic would be allowed to. He was the most sought after practitioner of astrology in his time and he supplied "scientific" horoscopes to the Kaiser's supreme commander, the mightiest warlord in the Holy Roman Empire. The Generalissimo trusted Kepler to the extent that he would not engage in battle without Kepler's astrological expertise. Kepler lived long enough to see his brilliant theories prevail and find recognition, and in doing so, he prepared the stage for Isaac Newton, another giant on Stephen Hawking's list. After Kepler explained how the cosmos worked, Newton could now explain why it worked the way it did and which forces were responsible for holding the World together.

We journey back to ancient times and take a look at the visionaries who developed our basic understandings of the universe. More recently we look at the discoveries made by Copernicus, Gallileo, Sir Issac Newton and many more.