Macarthur Astronomy Forum


Macarthur Astronomy Forum is a monthly public forum organised by Macarthur Astronomical Society, providing leading national and international professional astronomers with a platform to address the Forum on topics of astronomical interest; also providing members of the Society and the general public with opportunities to learn and ask questions.
The Forums have been held at the Western Sydney University, NSW, Australia since the second meeting of the Society in 1996.
The first Macarthur Astronomy Forum was held on 21 February 2011, with a presentation by Professor Fred Watson A.M., Astronomer-In-Charge of the Australian Astronomical Observatory, Siding Springs, NSW, Australia. The talk was entitled: "Poles Apart - The environment near a planet's poles"
The Forums are open to the general public and are held on the third Monday of each month and on the second Monday of December.

Aims

List of International guest speakers

International speakers who have addressed the Society:
Professional astronomers who have recently addressed the Society include:
These astronomers are users of the world's most sophisticated optical, radio, gamma-ray orbital and ground-based telescopes, including the Hubble, Keck, Parkes and the ATNF telescopes. In Lisa Harvey-Smith's case, she was also Project Scientist responsible for Australia's participation in the design of the world's largest ever radio telescope, the SKA and the commissioning of its precursor, ASKAP.
The Forum is also addressed by other experts in astronomy, such as manufacturers and retailers of leading telescope equipment; and leading amateur astronomers, such as Anthony Wesley and leading members of Macarthur Astronomical Society and other Societies, to foster the science of astronomy within the community.

Students Night

The Forum holds Annual Students Nights on the second Monday of December, when students are invited to present their latest astronomy research projects. The inaugural Student's Night was held in December 2015, with students Vina Hing & Linh Thuy Nguyen from Prairiewood High School presenting their research, using iTelescope, into eclipsing binary stars.

Space Rocks

In July, 2018, Macarthur Astronomy Forum and The Australian Botanic Garden collaborated to hold "", bringing two international figures, Geoffrey Notkin a meteorite hunter and television presenter from Tucson, Arizona, United States and Amy Shira Teital, a space historian and YouTube from Canada, to Macarthur. This sellout event was the first Forum at which an entry fee was charged.