Astronomy Events

A Passion for the Cosmos: The Genteel Astronomers of Mosman - Sat 14th May 2022

In 1895 a passionate group of amateur astronomers, including John Tebbutt, formed the NSW Branch of the British Astronomical Society. Tebbutt, the Society’s first President and 61 men and women, from all over Sydney, were nominated as members. With a view to sharing and supporting each other the Society flourished.

Members included Mosman residents, John and Emily Macdonnell whose ‘Gardenol Observatory’ was in the backyard of their house in Shadforth Street. In 1906, Secretary of the Society, Ernest H. Beattie owed Madonnell’s Grubb Telescope installing it in his ‘West Point Observatory’, Mosman.
In 2021 their famous Grubb Telescope, now in the National Museum of Australia, was one of 18 items selected by Slava and Leonard Grigoryan as the subject of a new composition Southern Sky.

Join the presenters for a wonderful and insightful look into the importance of those referred to as amateur astronomers and their lasting legacy.

The evening will conclude with a Telescope viewing guided by Ann Cairns, President, Sydney City Skywatchers (weather depending).

Address:605 Military Road, Mosman, New South Wales

Barry O’Keefe Library (Mosman Library Service)

Times:

7pm – 8pm

Entry Fees:FreeB ooking required

https://events.mosman.nsw.gov.au/

Latest Event - Geminid Meteor Shower – Dec 4th to 17th

The Geminid meteor shower is an annual meteor shower that occurs in mid-December. It is called the Geminid meteor shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Gemini in the night sky. The Geminid meteor shower is usually one of the best meteor showers of the year, with up to 120 meteors visible per hour at its peak. The Geminids are caused by debris from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, which orbits the Sun once every 1.4 years.

The meteors are visible from around December 4th to 17th each year, with the peak of the shower occurring on the night of December 13th and the early morning of December 14th. To see the Geminids, you should go to a location with a clear, dark sky and look up towards the constellation Gemini. The best time to view the meteor shower is from around 10:00 p.m. to dawn.