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For The Media

If you are interested, an interview with astronomer, writer, educator and public lecturer representing Australasian Science Magazine and Editor of Astro Space News, Dave Reneke(Astro-Dave) can be arranged by contacting Dave by Phone/Fax(02) 65 85 2260 Mobile: 0400 636 363 or email Dave for an instant reply to davereneke@gmail.com. David is well experienced talking to the media and presents information in an easy to understand, up to date and informative manner. Interviews can be on any subject, tailored to your requirements.

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Letters To Dave 

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MORE ASTRO-SPACE NEWS    

Teamwork Brings About Successful Ares I-X Launch

The stars and stripes on the American flag reflect NASA’s commitment to teamwork as the Constellation Program’s Ares I-X test rocket roars off Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Jim GrossmannTeamwork Brings About Successful Ares I-X LaunchOutstanding teamwork was the theme of the Ares I-X postlaunch news conference as the successful flight test was discussed.

"I can’t say enough about this team," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "They’ve been together probably a little over three years now, and they went from a concept to flying this vehicle in that period of time, which is the first time this has been done by a human spaceflight team in a long time."

Referring to the weather, which was the only issue of the day, Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley said, "We were ready when Mother Nature was ready, and we took our opportunity and what a great outcome. We’re very proud of the result."

"It was a spectacular day," said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. "The vehicle flew even better than we expected."

"It is just a fantastic day," said Launch Director Ed Mango. "The team really excelled. I can’t say enough about the folks who worked together to go make this thing happen. It was a great team, and as you can tell, it was a great vehicle."

NASA’s Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-minute powered flight. The flight test lasted about six minutes from its launch from the newly modified Launch Pad 39B until splashdown of the rocket’s booster stage nearly 150 miles downrange.

 Sir Richard Branson, Mom Headed for Outer Space?  

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson even injures himself like a billionaire from a ‘Batman’ movie. The dashing Brit was sporting a blue sling over his black-tie outfit while hosting The Rock the Kasbah event benefiting Virgin Unite and the Eve Branson Foundation.

"I was pretending to be a teenager and I was on a quad bike going over the Pyrenees mountains and, well, I tipped it over," Branson tells PopEater. "Actually the injury was a couple of years ago and I just had an operation to fix it." After the jump, he talks about his new adventure: outer space. The 59-year-old vows he will not stop with the teenage stunts. "I don’t think that will be much fun."

In fact, next stop: space. On December 7, Virgin Galactic will unveil its spaceship "and hopefully in the next 12 months or so, we’re going to take a trip into space. I’ll be floating so no worry about bum limbs," he laughs.

As far as taking it easy, he shouldn’t look to his mother, Eve Branson. "I don’t want him to slow down until I slow down," she says. Her next mission, going to space alongside her son…at age 88. "I hope to be going into space on the mother ship."

And will she bungee jump in space? "I suppose if it’s possible, I would."

PopEater

The Biggest Black Hole in the Universe (So Far!)

Scientists have determined the mass of the largest things that could possibly exist in our universe. New results have placed an upper limit on the current size of black holes – and at fifty billion suns it’s pretty damn big. That’s a hundred thousand tredagrams, and you’ll never get the chance to use that word in relation to anything else.

Black holes are regions of space where matter is so dense that regular physics just breaks down. You might think physical laws are immutable – you can’t get out of gravitational attraction the same way you can get out of a speeding ticket – but beyond a certain level laws which determine how matter is regulated are simply overloaded and material is crushed down into something that’s less an object and more a region of altered space.

While there’s theoretically no upper limit on how big a black hole can be, there are hard limits on how big they could have become by now. The universe has only existed for a finite amount of time, and even the most voracious black hole can only suck in matter at a certain rate. The bigger the black hole, the bigger the gravitational field and the faster it can pull in matter – but that same huge gravitational gradient means that the same matter can release huge amounts of radiation as it falls, blasting other matter further away.

Based on this self-regulating maximum rate, scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Massachusetts, and the European Southern Observatory, Chile, have calculated an upper limit for these mega-mammoth masses. Fifty billion suns, that’s 100 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 kg, otherwise known as "ridiculously stupidly big" and triple the size of the largest observed black hole, OJ 287.

There are potential problems with this calculation. Based as it is on the radiation outflow from a black hole, new discoveries could change this estimate – though only from "insanely massive" to "ridiculously ginormous."

Daily Galaxy 

Kangaroos On The Moon

When Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon, they found it wasn’t easy to walk around. The low gravity, uneven ground and bulky spacesuits hindered their movement. To move long distances quickly, the astronauts found it was easier to make small "kangaroo hops" with both legs. They would literally propel themselves above the surface before they made gentle falls to the ground.

Machines that travel around on the Moon use a different approach. They have wheels, and travel steadily across the surface. But even driving on the Moon has its problems. Astronauts who drove the Apollo lunar rovers would sometimes send their vehicles skyward, and the rides were often bumpy.

More rovers are destined to land on the surface of the Moon in the years ahead. China and India have both outlined plans for robot landers that will deploy them. Other nations and private entities are also expected to follow. These will be interesting missions, and they will certainly be productive. But it’s also worth considering other ways of moving around to different places on the Moon.

A new type of surface rover could use rockets to propel itself off the surface, making short kangaroo hops to different locations. The "hopper" rover could avoid obstacles, move quickly, and also cover larger distances than a slow-moving surface crawler. Rovers can cover a small area in great detail, but even over long periods of time, their range is somewhat limited. A hopper rover could be sent to explore several different locations, separated by tens or even hundreds of kilometres.

It would be a cost-effective strategy for exploration, as a single vehicle could explore several different "landing sites". By contrast, static landers or short-range rovers would require one mission launched for each landing site. The lander would need a reliable, re-startable engine system, and an ample fuel supply. The landing gear would need to be strong, with shock-absorbers capable of supporting multiple descents. It could be possible to store the energy of the landing inside a shock absorber with a spring, then release this energy during the next launch to help kick-start the ascent.

The "kangaroo hop" concept has already been tried on one mission. In 1967, the US Surveyor 6 lander made a short ascent from the Moon by firing its thrusters. It landed only two and a half metres from its original landing site. This was still useful. The Surveyor’s camera was able to photograph the same terrain from a different angle, and produced stereoscopic images.

One useful area for a kangaroo hop mission would be the polar regions of the Moon. The presence of water ice in these regions has made them a priority target for current and future missions. But as the recent impact of the LCROSS mission demonstrated, conditions at one location could be unexpectedly different from others. A strategy of visiting multiple sites is the only way to properly understand the ice deposits there.

It will take orbiters, landers, impactors and penetrators of various types to carry out a proper survey. A kangaroo hop could be made between various craters that are considered to be ice-laden. Kangaroos in Australia sometimes inhabit the hottest and driest parts of the country. It would be ironic to see their mechanical cousins exploring the coldest and most water-rich regions of the Moon!

Dr Morris Jones is an Australian space analyst and writer. His latest book, "The New Moon Race", is available from Rosenberg Publishing (www.rosenbergpub.com.au).

Moon Daily

Russian space chief proposes nuclear spaceship

Russia’s space agency is planning to build a new spaceship with a nuclear engine, its chief said Wednesday. Anatoly Perminov told a government meeting Wednesday that the preliminary design could be ready by 2012.  He said it will then take nine more years and 17 billion rubles ($600 million, 400 million euros) to build the ship.

"The implementation of this project will allow us to reach a new technological level surpassing foreign developments," Perminov told a meeting which focused on communications and space technologies.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged the Cabinet to consider providing the necessary funding. "It’s a very serious project," Medvedev said.  "We need to find the money." Perminov’s ambitious statement contrasted with the current state of the Russian space program, and sounded more like a plea for extra government funds than a detailed proposal.

Russia is using 40-year old Soyuz booster rockets and capsules to send crews to the International Space Station.  Development of a replacement rocket and a prospective spaceship with a conventional propellant has dragged on with no end in sight.

Perminov described the proposed spaceship as a "unique breakthrough project," but offered few details. He said that the ship will have a megawatt-class nuclear reactor, as opposed to small nuclear reactors that powered Soviet satellites. 

The Cold -War era Soviet spy satellites had reactors which produced just a few kilowatts of power and had a lifespan of just about a year. Perminov didn’t say what the new spaceship will be used for. He and other officials have said that Russia needs a new spaceship to replace the old Soyuz for missions in Earth orbit, but they only have talked about a ship powered by a conventional rocket fuel so far.

Russian space agency also has mulled over prospective future missions to the moon and Mars, but hasn’t yet set a specific time frame yet.

AAP

Declassified UFO Files Reveal Canada Feared Alien Arrival

Few know that the Canadian government chose to release its UFO files in 2005 and 2007. Over 9500 files were released with no public consultation or notification. Amidst these thousands of highly tedious sighting reports and rambling administrative memoranda, the Canadian government hid sensitive documents that clearly demonstrate officials took the UFO matter very seriously.

Measures were discussed to play-down reports of UFOs by using similar tactics employed by the United States Air Force. The ultimate indictment – a Canadian Director of Scientific Intelligence suggested that Canada put in place a plan in the event of a landing of a UFO.

In making available 9500 files on its web site entitled ‘Canada’s UFOs – Search for the Unknown’, the Canadian government has opened an international controversy on unidentified flying objects.

This controversy is fueled by the clear admission that Canadian officials in the Ministry of National Defense regularly discussed tactics and policies on how to ‘play-down’ the UFO phenomenon as far back as 1950. It is even more instructive that Canada, in 2005 and 2007, chose to resurrect these controversial policy letters and hide them among thousands of mundane UFO sighting reports.

A brilliant young physicist João Magueijo asks the heretical question: What if the speed of light—now accepted as one of the unchanging foundations of modern physics—were not constant?

Magueijo, a 40-year old native of Portugal, puts forth the heretical idea that in the very early days of the universe light traveled faster—an idea that if proven could dethrone Einstein and forever change our understanding of the universe. 

He is a pioneer of the varying speed of light (VSL) theory of cosmology -an alternative to the more mainstream theory of cosmic inflation- which proposes that the speed of light in the early universe was of 60 orders of magnitude faster than its present value.

Solving the most intractable problems of cosmology in one brilliant leap, Magueijo’s varying-speed-of-light theory (VSL) would have stunning implications for space travel, black holes, time dilation, and string theory—and could help uncover the grand unified theory that ultimately eluded Einstein.

Joao Magueijo’s radical ideas intend to turn that Einsteinian dogma on its head.  Marueijo is trying to pick apart one of Einstein’s most impenetrable tenets, the constancy of the speed of light.  This idea of a constant speed (about 3×106 meters/second) -is known as the universal speed limit.  Nothing can, has, or ever will travel faster than light.

Magueijo -who received his doctorate from Cambridge, has been a faculty member at Princeton and Cambridge, and is currently a professor at Imperial College, London- says: not so.  His VSL theory presupposes a speed of light that can be energy or time-space dependent.

In his fist book, Faster than the Speed of Light, Magueijo leads laymen readers into the abstract realm of theoretical physics, based on several well known, as well as obscure, thinkers.  The VSL model was first proposed by John Moffat, a Canadian scientist, in 1992.  Magueijo carefully builds the foundations for a discussion of Big Bang cosmology, and then segues into the second half of the book, which is devoted to VSL theory.

Like most radical, potentially seminal thinkers, Magueijo shakes the foundations of the physics community, while irritating off many of his fellow scientists.  VSL purposes to solve the problems at which all cosmologists are forever scratching: those inscrutable conceptual puzzles that surround the Big Bang.  Currently many of these problems have no widely accepted solutions.

Could Einstein be wrong and Magueijo right?  Is he a gadfly or a true, seminal genius?  Time will tell.

Daily Galaxy

NASA iPhone App Puts the Cosmos in Your Pocket

NASA is aiding your Daily Galaxy "Space Image of the Day" addiction by putting its huge collection of mind-blowing space photos on our mobile phones -the world’s true personal device..

The new NASA iPhone app means that even when you are away from your favorite observatory or desktop, you can check out your favorite galaxy or asteroid.  NASA’s image-of-the-day and astronomy-photo-of-the-day collections are displayed searchable thumbnail grids. 

It’s hard to think of a better way to keep your ego is perspective that a quick tour of the daily cosmos events and phenomena from the hottest new exo- planet discovery to supernova explosion, it’s all here.

You can also watch videos from NASA TV of science updates, mission activity, rocket launches and other events as well as checking in on NASA’s various missions with status updates and live countdowns clocks.  And if you need to know exactly where the International Space Station or space shuttle is right now, NASA has you covered with their orbit tracks overlain on Google Earth or a map with political boundaries, or both.

The software makes extensive use of built-in iPhone features and usability to offer NASA information in a clear and intuitive way. The NASA App is available free of charge on the App Store from Apple directly to the iPhone and iPod Touch or within iTunes.

NASA

Panel says NASA should skip moon, fly elsewhere

NASA needs to make a major detour on its grand plans to return astronauts to the moon, a special independent panel told the White House last Thursday. Under current plans, NASA has picked the wrong destination with the wrong rocket, the panel’s chairman said.  A test-flight version of the rocket, the new Ares I, is on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, awaiting liftoff later this month for its first experimental flight.

Instead, NASA should be concentrating on bigger rockets and new places to explore, the panel members said, as they issued their final 155- page report.  The committee, created by the White House in May to look at NASA’s troubled exploration, shuttle and space station programs, issued a summary of their findings last month, mostly urging more spending on space.

On Thursday in a news conference, panel Chairman Norman Augustine focused on fresh destinations for NASA, saying that it makes more sense to put astronauts on a nearby asteroid or one of the moons of Mars.  He said that could be done sooner than returning to the moon in 15 years as NASA has outlined.

The exploration plans now under fire were pushed by then-President George W.  Bush after the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster.  The moon-Mars plan lacks enough money, thanks to budget diversions, the panel said in a 155-page report.  Starting in 2014, NASA needs an extra $3 billion a year if astronauts are going to travel beyond Earth’s orbit, the panel said.

The Augustine commission wants NASA to extend the life of the space shuttle program and the International Space Station.  Space shuttles are due to retire Oct.  1, 2010, but should keep flying until sometime in 2011 because they won’t get all their flights to the space station done by that date.  And the space station itself – only now nearing completion – should operate until at least 2020, allowing for more scientific experiments, part of its reason for existence.  NASA’s timetable calls for plunging it into the ocean in 2015.

However, the overall focus of the panel’s report is on where U.S.  space exploration should be headed.  The White House will review the panel’s analysis "and then ultimately the president will be making the final decision," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said in an e-mail comment. The committee outlines eight options.  Three of those involve a "flexible path" to explore someplace other than the moon, eventually heading to a Mars landing far in the future.  The flexible path suggests no-landing flights around the moon and Mars.

Landing on the moon and then launching back to Earth would require a lot of fuel because of the moon’s gravity.  Hauling fuel from Earth to the moon and then back costs money. It would take less fuel to land and return from asteroids or comets that swing by Earth or even the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, Augustine said. Eventually, Augustine said NASA could return to the moon, but as a training stepping stone, not a major destination, as the Bush plan envisioned.

Panel member Ed Crawley, a professor at MIT, said NASA should explore the inner solar system "to interest the American public in new destinations." He noted that so many new asteroids and comets are being discovered each year that the potential first landing spot "is probably one we don’t know about yet."  Augustine said landing astronauts on such a near-Earth object could occur in the early 2020s.

In a news conference to discuss their report, Crawley and Augustine said the current NASA plans were well conceived at the time, in 2005.  But when money got diverted and launch dates delayed, NASA’s new Ares I rocket began to look like it lost one of its major purposes: ferrying astronauts to the space station.

Crawley said the panel liked the idea of a commercially operated, more basic rocket-taxi to get astronauts into the low-Earth orbit of the space station.  If NASA spent about $5 billion to help kick-start the embryonic commercial space business to do the people-carrying, then the space agency could concentrate on heavier rockets that do the real far-off exploring, he said.

Those commercial rockets should be ready in about six years, Crawley said.  NASA is slowly delaying some parts of the old moon program.  It’s rethinking its future annual $10 million spending on a still-unbuilt lunar lander as it awaits Obama’s decision on the Augustine panel recommendations, said NASA spokesman Grey Hautaluoma.  George Washington University space scholar John Logsdon praised the report as "more comprehensive" than NASA’s current program.

Syracuse University public policy professor Henry Lambright said he worries about changes that will cause a loss in momentum in NASA’s exploration plans.  "You’ve got to make a decision and you’ve got to stick to it if you are ever going to get to Mars." Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala., criticized the idea of using unproven commercial carriers instead of the Ares, which was designed in his state. He said the report was "unsatisfactory and disappointing."

Volunteers Still Needed for Simulated Mars Mission 

Need to get away from it all?  If you have a background in medicine, computers or engineering and can speak a little Russian and English, this might be just what you are looking for.  The European Space Agency and the Russian Institute of Medical and Biological Problems are still looking for volunteers to participate in a 520-day simulation of an expedition to Mars.  The institute announced last week the opening of registration, but haven’t yet gotten enough applicants.

 Pic: A warm-up 105-day mission took place in 2009, with participants from Germany and France and four Russians living together in cramped conditions.  Credit: ESA

The nearly two-year experiment will simulate all aspects of a journey to the Red Planet, with a 250-day outward trip, a 30-day stay on its surface, and a 240-day return flight. Basic requirements: age 25-50, higher education, knowledge of the Russian and English languages ensuring professional and household communication, and a citizen of Russia or ESA member countries.

This full-up simulation follows an earlier 14-day experiment in November 2007, and a 105-day simulation of a mission to Mars this year that ended in July.  That mission involved four Russians and two members of the European Space Agency, who spent over three months hunkered down together in a lab that simulated life on board a spaceship.

But now comes the real test.  The mission is slated to begin mid-2010 and the participants will live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia, to investigate the psychological and medical aspects of a long-duration space mission, focusing on the effect that isolation has on the human subjects.  Similar to reality TV, the six participants will be filmed throughout their stay.

Scientists will also test various life-support, communications and scientific equipment.
The crew will grow their own vegetables in a special lab, sleep in capsule-sized rooms and will only leave the facility during their 30-day trip to Mars "surface." They will stick to a rigid daily regime of work, rest and exercise, and follow the same diet as crews aboard the International Space Station.

The participants will be paid, although the amount isn’t specified.  For the 105-day mission, each participant was paid 15,500 Euros ($20,000). For more information or to sign up go to this website from ESA.

ASTRONOMY – SPACE PODCASTS 

 == IN THE SKY THIS WEEK ==  

The full Moon is Tuesday November 3. Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. Jupiter’s moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope. In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. 

Red Mars is in the constellation of Cancer and starts the week near the Beehive cluster. On Sunday November 1 and Monday November 2, Mars crosses the Beehive cluster. This will be readily visible to the unaided eye under dark skies, and will look magnificent in binoculars. Saturn is low in the morning sky this week.

Bright white Venus is very close to the horizon, and disappears into the twilight glow this week. 

Credit: ABC http://abcmail.net.au/t/593330/682450/11560/0/ * Details given are for the Southern Hemisphere  

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  Download The Evening Sky Map:

The Evening Sky Map (PDF) is a 2-page monthly guide to the night sky suitable for all sky watchers including newcomers to Astronomy. AND its entirely FREE. Designed to print clearly on all printers.

The Evening Sky Map is ready-to-use and will help you to: Identify planets, stars and major constellations – Find sparkling star clusters, wispy nebulae & distant galaxies – Locate and follow bright comets across the sky – Learn about the night sky and Astronomy. 

The Evening Sky Map is free for personal non-commercial educational use. Receive news of updated sky maps, reminders of Sky Calendar events, and other noteworthy news for sky watchers. And it’s FREE! Sky Map Download

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 Southern Galactic and Northern Galactic International

Northern Galactic and Southern Galactic are an International Astronomy Community. A global membership of professional and advanced astronomers, scientists, astrophotographers and science writers. I am proud to be one of their members.

This organisation was established to commemorate the United Nations International Year of Astronomy in 2009 and was officially launched in November 2008.

In partnership with scientists, professional and advanced astronomers and science writers from many countries, Southern Galactic and Northern Galactic International aims to gather together research and discoveries in the areas of optical and radio astronomy, astrophotography, planetary studies, and space atmospheric sciences as a service to the interested public. We achieve this by providing a globally themed internet presence with data storage and logistical support to astronomers both professional and amateur working in either hemispheres.

Founder and administrator Bert Candusio (right)  said their service is available to all astronomers and scientists throughout the world so they may freely share their findings, news, images and discoveries in all areas of astronomy and their related sciences. Southern Galactic and Northern Galactic International also supports and contributes to the general understanding and appreciation of astronomy by initiating and participating in public education and outreach programs. This may include live broadcasts or video feeds of special or unusual astronomical events, or interactive live conferences between high profile members and the general public.

Both sites contain up-to-date weather data pertaining to either hemisphere as a service to Members and Users as well as other helpful astronomy based content.

News RSS Feeds from numerous Official Government sources on all aspects of astronomy are also made available to both NG and SG sites and are updated 4 times per day. This assists the reader in keeping up to date with the latest Astronomy News and Developments all from the one internet location.

 Winners for For each Month Have Been Announced

 Please visit our NEWS Page here: http://www.northerngalactic.com/forum/news.php to view the winning entries. As usual, you will need to Log On in order to see the Full Res Version.   If you are not Registered at Northerngalactic, you will need to register order to view the Winning Entry in Full Resoloution. (Please use First Name – Surname Format)

Northern Galactic is now the home to many of the worlds most capable astrophotographers and this can be clearly seen in the quality of the imaging projects submitted each day. Although this makes it more challenging each month for our judges, they are always excited at seeing all submitted works… so keep them coming… More added Features and Content will be comming On-Line each day as we continue to develop the Southern Galactic and Northern Galactic Sites.    Go to website:                     

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  THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009

INVITING THE WORLD TO DISCOVER OUR UNIVERSE

 Opening: From Earth to the Universe

The international IYA exhibition, From Earth to the Universe, has opened at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. For an eye-witness account of the launch, see the blog entry by Nick Lomb on the Sydney Observatory website. Nick modestly fails to mention that he was the co-curator for this exhibition, the other co-curator being astrophotographer David Malinhttp://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/blog/?p=2500. .

In her opening remarks, CSIRO astronomer Ilana Feain, in talking about the beauty and meaning of these images, quoted the poet John Keats: "Beauty is truth, and truth beauty". As Keats also said, "a thing of beauty is a joy forever" – or, in the case of this exhibition, until it closes in July next year. See it if you can. 

 "Stargazing the Southern Skies" stamp and coin cover

Perth Mint and Australia Post have joined forces to offer sets of stamp and coin covers for IYA.  They feature a $1 coin struck by the mint and three stamps featuring astronomical images chosen by astrophotographer David Malin.

The stamp and coin cover is available for $14.95 from the Perth Mint: http://www.perthmint.com.au/catalogue/stargazing-the-southern-skies-stamp-and-coin-cover-pnc.aspx.  Australia Post is offering the same set; a set of stamps alone under another cover; and other related products: http://www.stamps.com.au/shop/stamps/stargazing

                 Uni Galactic 

                                                                  Space Travel Magazine   

 UniGalactic Space Travel Magazine was launched with the first issue published on May 29, 2009. You’ll find articles on a variety of topics including but not limited to SpaceX’s and Virgin Galactic’s NEW space tourism developments, international space station, Mars missions, future space launches, as well as outer space news. Amazon will ship ANYWHERE in the Globe.

Footnote from Dave: I’m so impressed with this magazine and it’s contents that I’ve asked to write for them and have been accepted. I highly recommend this publication for it’s different slant and content we don’t normally get a chance to hear about in Oz.

Subscribe to UniGalactic Space Travel Magazine Website: Click here

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What is Amateur Astronomy Magazine About?

Amateur Astronomy Magazine is a printed forum of the activities relating to Amateur Astronomers around the world. Our magazine is written by amateur astronomers, for amateur astronomers.

Over the course of the past 15 years, we have covered telescopes, large and small, amateur telescope making, mirror grinding, collimating tips, observing techniques, astronomical equipment reviews, home observatories, professional observatories, observing lists, profiles of amateur astronomers, star parties, dark sites, imaging tips and techniques, observing logs, astronomical travel logs, astronomy businesses and their owners, DIY astronomical projects, cosmology, science and astronomy outreach. In short,we are about all the things and people that make this hobby special. www.amateurastronomy.com/

Southern Cross Observatory – Tasmania, Australia.

If you are interested in Astro-Photography, at any level, then this is the site for you. Take note and learn from the experts!

Shevill Mathers is recognized as one of the world’se leading amateur astronomers and is a specialist in his field. His regular columns and newspaper articles are now augmented by a wide range of articles including ATM articles, Astro News items and Activities from Tasmania as well as reviewing a wide range of astronomical equipment.

Shevill is a regular contributor to many various magazines including the Tasmania 40 Degrees South magazine, Leatherwood On-Line, Discover Tasmania, Quasar Publishing ‘Astronomy Yearbook’, Universe Today and various overseas scientific forums. He is a local media source for TV, radio and the print media.

Shevill Mathers has been a keen amateur astronomer / telescope and camera builder in the UK since the early 60’s, with a special interest in astrophotography. A member of the BAA, London (Lunar Section), his photographic expertise was greatly encouraged by Patrick Moore, with whom he has maintained a lasting friendship. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1968. During the IYA 2009, in recognition of his contributions to Astronomy; public outreach, teaching & research, Shevill was appointed an Honorary Associate, Dept. Maths & Physics UTAS – (University of Tasmania), with all rights & privileges of full time academic staff. Congratulations Shevill!!

Southern Cross Observatory – IYA – Two special sites have been established at the International ’Macedon Ranges Observatory’, in Victoria, to coordinate and share images, experiences and events around the world, the links are:http://www.southerngalactic.com/andhttp://www.northerngalactic.com/

Contact details:shevill.mathers@southernphone.com.au Shevillm@gmail.com Web:www.shevillmathers.id.au

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