Welcome to the Astronomical Society of South Australia

In 1961, a satellite was the first to detect gamma rays from space. At about the same time, the Cherenkov radiation was discovered - a radiation that is emitted when charged particles move through a medium at the speed of light. This led to a new technique, capable of measuring gamma rays from Earth, and paving the way for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. However, it took 30 years until an appropriate experiment discovered the first gamma-ray emitting astrophysical source. Since then, hundreds of sources of Galactic and extragalactic origin have been discovered, and higher energies and sensitivities have been reached. The Cherenkov Telescope Array will exceed current experiments in a multitude of aspects: With more than 100 telescopes in 3 sizes at 2 locations equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, it will cover an area of 10 square kilometres on the ground, and it will provide a new view of the sky at energies of up to 300 TeV - more than a 1000 billion times the energy of visible light. With its unprecedented capabilities, it will refine our knowledge tremendously and will mark the beginning of a new era of gamma-ray astronomy.

As a conclusion to the series on Stellar Evolution, we will take a look at Variable Stars. This will include exploring such objects as cepheid variables, long period variables like Mira, eclipsing binaries and cataclysmic variables like Eta Carina.

After exploring our own galaxy, The Milky Way, we will look at the Local Group of Galaxies and beyond. The various types of galaxies will be discussed and how they are classified using Hubble’s Tuning Fork diagram.