Mar
12
7:30 pm19:30

Monthly Members Night (click for details)

Monthly Members’ Night - second Wednesday of each month except January.

Tonight - A presentation, followed by informal chat with tea and coffee.

Tonight’s Talk

My Journey from Astrophotography to Citizen Science

Speaker: Ian Transom (from Hamilton Astronomical Society)

Tonight, Ian will discuss what he has achieved and learned in astrophotography and as a citizen scientist. Defined on sciencelearn.org.nz, “Citizen scientists are volunteers who contribute to scientific projects, usually by collecting or analysing data. The number of opportunities to be involved as citizen scientists continues to grow, and teachers are increasingly using them to make science education more relevant and engaging and to develop students’ science capabilities.”

Weds 12 March 2025, 7:30 pm.

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Apr
9
7:30 pm19:30

Monthly Members Night (click for details)

Monthly Members’ Night - second Wednesday of each month except January.

Tonight - A presentation, followed by informal chat with tea and coffee.

Tonight’s Talk

The Cutting Edge of Chemical Rockets

Speaker: Charlie Cooper (from Hamilton Astronomical Society)

Get ready for a deep dive into the latest advances in chemical rocketry, with SpaceX's Raptor engine as the star example. We'll break down the extreme engineering challenges behind rocket engines, explore the fundamental physics that drive them, and uncover how cutting-edge manufacturing techniques are reshaping their design. If you’re curious about the future of high-performance rocketry, this talk is for you!

Weds 9 April 2025, 7:30 pm.

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Feb
25
8:30 pm20:30

Event for MEMBERS - Observing Night

  • Hamilton Astronomical Society (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

An additional night for members to view various objects through the HAS telescopes. Members are also welcome to bring their own telescopes. Whether you are an experienced observer or just getting started, there will be plenty of space to set up your equipment and take in the celestial sights.

On this night we are hoping to observe the following targets:

Planets:

  • Saturn

  • Venus

  • Jupiter

  • Mars

  • Uranus

  • Neptune

DSOs (deep sky objects, outside of our solar system):

  • The Great Orion Nebula (nebula in Orion)

  • Matariki (the Pleiades) (open star cluster in Taurus)

  • The Southern Pleiades (open star cluster in Carina)

  • Running Chicken Nebula (nebula in Centaurus)

  • Eta Carinae Nebula (nebula in Carina)

  • Omega Centauri (globular cluster in Centaurus)

If there is time, and if there are target requests, then we can explore those as well. We have tried to select DSOs which you may not have seen during our public nights.

Please see members email of 21  February for more information.

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Nov
13
7:30 pm19:30

Monthly Members Night (click for details)

  • Hamilton Astronomical Society (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Monthly Members’ Night - second Wednesday of each month except January.

Tonight - HAS speaker, followed by informal chat with tea and coffee.

Tonight’s Talk

The Moons of Jupiter

Speaker: Jonathan Park (from Hamilton Astronomical Society)

Continuing with this year’s themes of “moons” and “the solar system”, we take a look at the moons of Jupiter. As of November 2024, 95 Jovian moons have been officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union. You will learn much more about this tonight - where did they come from? how do we work out which are parts of larger objects that were shattered in the past? We also take a closer look at the four Galilean moons - three with subsurface saltwater oceans and one with hundreds of active volcanos and several lava lakes! I gave a version of this talk at the observatory back in 2021, when there were only 79 recognised moons orbiting Jupiter. For those who attended back then, this will be a great opportunity to refresh your knowledge! 

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