Astronomy Events in Coonabarabran October 1st – 2nd 2010.

Annual Science in the Pub

This entertaining event starts the weekend off on Friday October 1st, 2010 from 6.30pm.

This annual debate is definitely entertaining and can be thoroughly outrageous at times as a group of astronomers from various backgrounds debate a topic of astronomical interest at the Royal Hotel, John Street Coonabarabran. This event has an entry fee of $5 and provides entry into the drawer for a variety of prizes on the night. A buffet salad with steak meal will be available for $18 and bookings would be appreciated. Vegetarian meals are also available. The topic is “Climate Change: Can Astronomers shed any light?”

Siding Spring Open Day
On Saturday October 2nd, the Annual Siding Spring Open Day will be held here at Siding Spring Observatory - where we open a number of the telescopes during the day to the public - there will be a BBQ lunch available, a shuttle bus on site to help you move around and see all there is to see - solar viewing, a chance to talk to astronomers and learn about what we do here. Solar observing will also be available and there will be talks in the Exploratory lecture theatre throughout the day. The Exploratory cafe will be opened for a well deserved cuppa or Devonshire tea and entry to the event is free. The Open Day will start at 10 am and run until 4pm. Visit the various telescopes and listen to astronomers talk about the research they do.



Annual Bok Lecture
Saturday evening will culminate with the annual BOK lecture. This is a free lecture, held at the Coonabarabran Primary School in George Street, Coonabarabran. This year’s speaker is Professor Ray Norris, an astrophysicist at the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF). Educated at Cambridge and Manchester, he has been Head of Astrophysics and Deputy Director of the ATNF, before returning to full-time research to study the formation and evolution of galaxies. He also researches the astronomy of Aboriginal Australians, for which he has been appointed as Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University.He is a very entertaining speaker and will be sharing some of his knowledge on Indigenous Astronomy with us at this event. This night is open to everyone and is free. The event starts at 7pm.

For more information on all these events or to make a booking please contact Donna Burton at Siding Spring Observatory on 02 6842 6255 or by email donna@mso.anu.edu.au or check out http://sidingspring.blogspot.com.