Past Speakers
The Western Sydney Amateur Astronomy Group and its members are very grateful to all of the
following guest speakers who have attended our meetings.
2024
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| October 2024 |
Prof. Richard McDermid - Macquarie University |
MAVIS - An Australian-Led Next-Generation Facility Instrument for the European Southern Observatory |
| September 2024 |
Narayan Mukkavilli - WSAAG Member |
Brahe, Kepler and the Eight Minutes that changed Cosmology forever |
| August 2024 |
Kovi Rose - University of Sydney |
The Search for Dwarf Stars with Large Telescope Arrays |
| July 2024 |
Dr. Caroline Foster - University of New South Wales |
Why do Galaxies Slow Down as they Age? |
| June 2024 |
Dr Jakob van den Eijnden - University of Warwick UK |
Stellar cannibalism: the messy etiquette of the universe's most extreme stars |
| May 2024 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Supermassive black holes and time in the Early Universe |
| April 2024 |
Ian Bridges - Linden Observatory Trust |
Ken Beames - Telescope Maker and Engineer |
| March 2024 |
Lesa Moore - Astronomical Society of NSW |
Women in Astronomy - Apollo, a Great Wall and a Fat Gorilla |
| February 2024 |
Dr Shi Dai - Western Sydney University |
Magnetic field reversal in the turbulent environment around a repeating fast radio burst |
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2023
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2023 |
Professor Miroslav Filipovic – Western Sydney University |
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA |
| October 2023 |
Dr Ángel R. López-Sánchez - Macquarie University |
Dissecting nearby galaxies using optical and radio telescopes |
| September 2023 |
Dave Gault - WSAAG member |
A history of Asteroid Occultations observations |
| August 2023 |
Associate Professor Tony Travouillon - Australian National University |
Spectroscopy in the era of wide field surveys |
| July 2023 |
Sammy Yousef - WSAAG member |
Binocular Astronomy on a Budget |
| June 2023 |
Peter Nosworthy - WSAAG member |
Houston, We Have Some Problems! |
| May 2023 |
Dr Luke Barnes - Western Sydney University |
Aristotle, Newton, Einstein |
| April 2023 |
Dr Tayyaba Zafar - Macquarie University |
Dust: a building block of structures in the universe |
| March 2023 |
David Lloyd-Jones - WSAAG member |
Easy EAA Deep Sky Viewing using SharpCap |
| February 2023 |
Tony Barry - WSAAG member |
Southern EXTA - just another brick in the wall |
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2022
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2022 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
The History of the Evans 30-inch Telescope at Linden Observatory |
| October 2022 |
Dr Alex Cameron - University of Oxford |
The first data from JWST: providing answers or raising questions? |
| September 2022 |
Albany Asher - Western Sydney University |
Why does a ball fall?: Newton’s Gravity vs Einstein’s Gravity |
| August 2022 |
Peter Macgregor - Western Sydney University |
Odd Radio Circles - a new astronomical object? |
| July 2022 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Hickson Compact Groups |
| May 2022 |
Sarah Caddy - Macquarie University |
SkyHopper: Australia’s First Near-Infrared Space Telescope |
| April 2022 |
Tony Barry - WSAAG member |
Instant Galaxies - Real-time Electronically Assisted Astronomy |
| March 2022 |
Professor Jonti Horner - University of Southern Queensland |
Rocks From Space |
| February 2022 |
Dr Chris Matthew - Australian Catholic University |
A Past-time that is ‘Out of this World’: Hunting Exoplanets at Home
|
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2021
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2021 |
Alan Plummer – WSAAG member |
Variable Stars |
| October 2021 |
Professor Ray Norris - Western Sydney University |
ORCs live in giant cosmic bubbles |
| September 2021 |
Ted Dobosz – WSAAG member |
DIY Amateur Home Observatory - My Journey and Options to Consider |
| August 2021 |
Peter Nosworthy – WSAAG member |
The discovery of the moon of an asteroid by occultation methods |
| July 2021 |
Dr Belinda Nicholson - University of Oxford |
Finding earth: the triumphs and challenges of detecting planets around other stars |
| June 2021 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Do I expand with the Universe? Understanding modern cosmology |
| May 2021 |
Professor Richard de Grijs – Macquarie University |
Is bigger always better? |
| April 2021 |
Dr Luke Barnes – Western Sydney University |
The Cosmic Revolutionary's Handbook (Or: How to Beat the Big Bang) |
| March 2021 |
Dr Duncan Wright - University of Southern Queensland |
Exoplanetary Science: The Past and Future |
| February 2021 |
Dr Chris Matthew - Australian Catholic University |
Around, and Around, and Around: A Re-Examination of Eratosthenes’ Measurement of
the Circumference of the Earth
|
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2020
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2020 |
Professor Ray Norris - CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science and Western Sydney University
|
New discoveries from EMU: humankind's largest radio survey of the sky |
| October 2020 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Stellar Streams in the Southern Sky |
| September 2020 |
Peter Nosworthy – WSAAG member |
Building a Remote Controlled Home Observatory |
| August 2020 |
Dave Gault – WSAAG member |
ESOP XXXVIII, Paris and SEXTA |
| July 2020 |
Dr Chris Matthew - Australian Catholic University |
Special Relativity made (Relatively) Simple |
| June 2020 |
Dr Stuart Ryder - Macquarie University |
Where do Fast Radio Bursts come from? |
| February 2020 |
Marnie Ogg - Australasian Dark Sky Alliance |
Night |
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2019
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2019 |
Ted Dobosz – WSAAG member |
"Sky Catchers" - A Journey Through Time |
| October 2019 |
Dr Chris Matthew - Australian Catholic University |
The Riches of the Universe |
| September 2019 |
David Lloyd-Jones – WSAAG member |
How Big Is It? |
| August 2019 |
Dr Lee Spitler - Macquarie University |
The Huntsman Telescope |
| July 2019 |
Robert Brand - ThunderStruck Aerospace |
From Apollo to Mars |
| June 2019 |
Dr Chris Matthew - Australian Catholic University |
From Chaos to Cosmos: How the Ancient Greeks saw the Universe |
| May 2019 |
Dr Luke Bozzetto - La Trobe University |
From Dust to Destruction |
| April 2019 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
The end of time: the future history of the universe |
| March 2019 |
Ross Pogson – Australian Museum (Sydney) |
Meteorites |
| February 2019 |
Professor Miroslav Filipovic – Western Sydney University |
Fly with "SOFIA" |
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2018
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2018 |
Dr Luke Barnes – Western Sydney University |
How did the Universe make Order from Chaos? |
| October 2018 |
Dr Mireia Montes Quiles – University of New South Wales |
The ghost light that illuminates clusters of galaxies |
| September 2018 |
Phil Knight – WSAAG member |
Astronomy 2018 (Quasar Publishing). Astronomy Trivia Quiz. |
| August 2018 |
Tony Barry – WSAAG member |
Occultation Report |
| July 2018 |
Amy Shira Teitel – Space Historian |
The Not-Quite-Right Stuff |
| June 2018 |
Peter Nosworthy – WSAAG member |
Using Remote Observatories |
| May 2018 |
Dr Nick Tothill - Western Sydney University |
The Cherenkov Telescope Array - observing the highest-energy gamma-rays from the Universe |
| April 2018 |
Professor Fred Watson AM - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Science vs Fake News |
| March 2018 |
Dr Christene Lynch - University of Sydney |
Extreme space weather and the habitability of extrasolar planets |
| February 2018 |
Professor Ray Norris - CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science and Western Sydney University |
Did the Seven Sisters come out of Africa? |
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2017
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2017 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Cannibal Giants and Mighty Dwarfs: the story of how we got here |
| October 2017 |
Ted Dobosz – WSAAG member |
Total Solar Eclipse - Casper USA |
| September 2017 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Sourcing Astro Data |
| August 2017 |
Bob Evans – WSAAG member |
Supernova research, past and present |
| July 2017 |
David Lloyd-Jones – WSAAG member |
Polar Alignment - A New Approach |
| June 2017 |
Dr Stuart Ryder - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
A Night on SOFIA |
| May 2017 |
Dr Emil Lenc - University of Sydney |
Journey to the Edge of the Universe - 3 Years of Research with the MWA |
| April 2017 |
Dr Luke Barnes – Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
The Cosmic Cheat Sheet: Become an astrophysicist in 30 minutes! |
| March 2017 |
Alan Plummer – WSAAG member |
Amateur Astronomy Pays Well |
| February 2017 |
Dr Jordan Collier - Western Sydney University |
Infrared-Faint Radio Sources: a new population of high-redshift radio galaxies |
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2016
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2016 |
Professor Fred Watson AM - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Moon Mysteries - A Celebration Of Our Nearest Celestial Neighbour |
| October 2016 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Is The Universe Fine-tuned For Life? |
| September 2016 |
Dr Elaina Hyde - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
A Journey Through The Sagittarius Stream |
| August 2016 |
Dr Lee Spitler - Macquarie University |
A Night In The Life Of An Astronomer |
| July 2016 |
Dr Jonathan Marshall - University of New South Wales |
Linking Planets and Dust in Planetary Systems |
| June 2016 |
Dave Gault, Tony Barry and Hristov Pavlov – WSAAG members |
Pluto Occultation and the Lucky Star Program |
| May 2016 |
Ted Dobosz – WSAAG member |
Image Processing in Astrophotography |
| April 2016 |
Professor Ray Norris - CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
Planning For Unexpected Discoveries With EMU |
| March 2016 |
Dr Richard McDermid - Macquarie University |
What’s the Matter with Massive Galaxies? |
| February 2016 |
Hristo Pavlov – WSAAG member |
Spectroscopy for Amateur Astronomers |
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2015
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2015 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Milky Way Globular Clusters |
| October 2015 |
Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith - CSIRO |
Square Kilometre Array |
| September 2015 |
Raelene Sommer - Western Sydney University |
Space Junk |
| August 2015 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Einstein: Space-Time, Black Holes and Expanding Universes |
| July 2015 |
Dr Dennis Stello - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Updates from the NASA Kepler Mission |
| June 2015 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Observing the Night Sky |
| June 2015 |
Tony Barry – WSAAG member |
Video Astronomy and Deep-Sky Imaging |
| May 2015 |
Dr Nick Tothill - University of Western Sydney |
Antarctic Astronomy |
| April 2015 |
Gerry Aarts – WSAAG member |
Astrophotography Explained |
| March 2015 |
Alan Plummer – Project Leader, Variable Stars South (VSS) |
Working With What We Have - Astronomy Under Sydney's Skies |
| February 2015 |
Dave Gault - WSAAG Member |
Mutual Phenomena of the Satellites of Jupiter |
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2014
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2014 |
Professor Miroslav Filipovic - University of Western Sydney |
Supernova Remnants in the Magellanic Clouds |
| October 2014 |
Dr Emil Lenc - University of Sydney |
Leading a revolution in radio astronomy - ASKAP and the MWA |
| August 2014 |
Professor Fred Watson AM - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Good Morning Starshine |
| July 2014 |
Ted Dobosz – WSAAG member |
Camera Selection For Astrophotography |
| July 2014 |
Tony Barry and Dave Gault – WSAAG members |
Amateur Contributions In Astronomy |
| June 2014 |
Dr Ettore Carretti - CSIRO |
Giant "geysers" from the centre of the Milky Way |
| May 2014 |
Dr Caroline Foster - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Probing Faint Stellar Structures Using Bright Astronomical Tracers |
| April 2014 |
Professor Michael Burton - University of New South Wales |
The Life Cycle of the Interstellar Medium |
| March 2014 |
Bob Paton - WSAAG Member |
Solar Imaging |
| February 2014 |
Dr Nicholas Bate - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Galactic Cannibalism in the Local Group |
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2013
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2013 |
Associate Professor Miroslav Filipovic - University of Western Sydney |
Aliens |
| October 2013 |
Joe Callingham - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Murchison Widefield Array |
| September 2013 |
Andrew O’Brien - University of Western Sydney |
Seeing the Invisible |
| August 2013 |
Dave Gault and Hristo Pavlov - WSAAG Members |
Asteroid Occultations |
| July 2013 |
Dave Gault - WSAAG Member |
Visual Occultation Observations |
| June 2013 |
Dr Stuart Ryder - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Detecting Supernovae in Luminous Infrared Galaxies |
| May 2013 |
Dr Michael Ireland - Macquarie University |
Exoplanet Detection Methods |
| April 2013 |
Dr Jonathan Horner - University of New South Wales |
Rocks From Space |
| March 2013 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Eyepiece field of view |
| February 2013 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
An attempt at observing an occultation with the Linden 30 inch telescope |
| February 2013 |
Tony Barry – WSAAG member |
Visual observing with the Linden 30 inch telescope |
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2012
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2012 |
Tony Barry – WSAAG member |
Pluto occultation of 26th August 2012 |
| November 2012 |
Gerry Flanagan – WSAAG member |
The total solar eclipse at Cairns |
| November 2012 |
Bob Paton – WSAAG member |
The partial solar eclipse at Mt Canobolas |
| October 2012 |
Raelene Sommer - Astronomy and Science Education Officer (UWS) |
Cosmic Collisions |
| September 2012 |
Dr Ángel Rafael López-Sánchez - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Star Formation in Nearby Galaxies |
| August 2012 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Binary Stars |
| July 2012 |
Sammy Yousef – WSAAG member |
Binoculars |
| June 2012 |
Dr Amanda Bauer - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
A long time ago in galaxies far, far, away... |
| May 2012 |
Alan Plummer – Visual Research Coordinator, Variable Stars South (VSS) |
Observing the observers through the light curve of Eta Carinae |
| April 2012 |
Dr Maria Cunningham - University of New South Wales |
Organic Molecules in the Interstellar Medium |
| March 2012 |
Dr Nick Lomb - Curator of Astronomy at Sydney Observatory |
The Transit of Venus - 1631 to the Present |
| February 2012 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Visual observing and star hopping |
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2011
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2011 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Visual magnitude and surface brightness |
| September 2011 |
Tony Barry and Dave Gault – WSAAG members |
Video Astronomy |
| August 2011 |
Professor Mike Dopita - Australian National University |
Re-ionization of the Universe |
| June 2011 |
Rodney Moulder – WSAAG member |
Demonstration of the EQ6 mount and Meade LX 75 telescope |
| May 2011 |
Associate Professor Paul Francis - Australian National University |
Comets |
| April 2011 |
Hristo Pavlov – WSAAG member |
Near Earth Object 2011 GP59 |
| April 2011 |
Alex Boyd – WSAAG member |
Demonstration of Stellarium, Celestia and Mitaka |
| March 2011 |
Dr Tim Robishaw - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Radio Polarimetry |
| February 2011 |
Professor Simon O’Toole - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Exoplanets and the SPADES Project |
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2010
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| October 2010 |
Professor Fred Watson AM - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
An Alien Like You - Life on other Worlds |
| August 2010 |
Professor Mark Wardle - Macquarie University |
Sagittarius A* |
| May 2010 |
Fred Vanderhaven - Amateur Astrophotographer |
Astrophotography |
| April 2010 |
Dr David Malin - Australian Astronomical Observatory |
Galileo's Legacy |
| March 2010 |
Don Whiteman - Bintel |
Life as a Telescope Technician |
| February 2010 |
Dr Miroslav Filipovic - University of Western Sydney |
SETI program at UWS |
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2009
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
| November 2009 |
Professor Tim Bedding - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Asteroseismology |
| September 2009 |
Alex Boyd – WSAAG member |
Using Stellarium |
| September 2009 |
Rob Horvat – WSAAG member |
Night sky objects for southern observers |
| July 2009 |
Dr Graeme White |
Extrasolar Planet Searches |
| June 2009 |
Professor Geraint Lewis - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Influence of Dark Energy and Dark Matter on our Universe |
| May 2009 |
Alan Plummer – Visual Research Coordinator, Variable Stars South (VSS) |
Observing Variable Stars |
| April 2009 |
Donna Burton - Telescopes Systems Support Engineer at Siding Spring |
My Experiences at Siding Spring |
| |
Professor Dick Hunstead - Sydney Institute for Astronomy - University of Sydney |
Lyman Alpha Absorption |
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