The astrodome is inflated and open for visits at Central Library. I went in yesterday for a visit and it was very cool – well worth a look. Five stars from me, I reckon. It’s open to the public from 4pm to 8pm (last entry is at 7.30pm) for the rest of this week only, and each visit takes half an hour. There’s an article in today’s Dom Post with more information.
If you’ve ever seen the sky at night – the moon rising over Lake Taupo, say, or maybe you can see what might be Venus – and thought to yourself, “that looks awesome, I should take a photo of it”, and you do, but the photo just looks like toothpaste on your best black top and you can’t understand why, then hurry to the Central Library tonight. Hurry!
Would you like to take photographs of the night sky? Not sure what to use or where to begin? John Field from the Wellington Astronomical Society will explore and explain how to use your Digital SLR camera and software to produce images that were previously beyond the scope of amateur photographers. Topics include what you need, how DSLR cameras work, what settings to use, how to polar align your mount using a DSLR, taking unguided images using a tripod, piggy-back and prime focus imaging through using a telescope, and image processing using freely available software. John will also include both the good, the bad and the ugly images he has taken to show what can go wrong and what you get when it all goes right
That’s happening tonight (May the 13th) at 7pm on the second level of the Central Library.
NASA has released some amazing photos taken by the Cassini spaceship, which has just flown by Saturn and its moons.
You can see these massive photos here. Don’t forget that it’s the International Year of Astronomy, and there are events happening all year.
100 hours of Astronomy! Check out more details on another of the library’s blogs, the News Blog. Today’s events are;
Saturday 4 April, 10am-10pm – 100 Hours of Astronomy, 24hr Global Star Party – 12 hours of music in Civic Square with the global star party starting here in Wellington at 7pm (then it continues around the world). You can be one of a million people looking through telescopes during this worldwide event! Local astronomers share their knowledge and passion for discovery. And weather permitting you will see the rings of Saturn and moon craters along with other fascinating sights in the night sky. (organiser Paul Moss in association with Wellington Astronomical Society and WCL)
This has just begun. The weather’s lovely, so you’d better get down to the Civic Square.
Come along and explore, wonder and discover as we celebrate the International Year of Astronomy 2009!
If you are passing the Central Library, take a look at the telescope on display in the foyer. It’s massive, and was built in 1930 in Auckland by Robert Bruce. It’s the oldest refractor telescope made in NZ! I took some photos but, eh, they’re not too good – you can’t see how big it is.
See our other post about IYA2009, the International Year of Astronomy, here.
Some neat and interesting websites. For the weekend! Or week. Whatever.
These photos of the Earth taken from space are amazing. And so beautiful! More may be found at NASA’s Earth Observatory site.
Related: International Year of Astronomy ‘09.
Four-hundred years ago Galileo first looked through an astronomical telescope, and to mark the occasion 2009 has been declared the International Year of Astronomy (or IYA2009). There is an IYA2009 film trailer to watch, and a blog – a Cosmic Diary – to read. New Zealand’s own IYA2009 website has information about planned events for the year (and there’s also an art competition for secondary school students).
More information about Astronomy can be found at NASA’s very nice website; their daily images can be breath-taking. (So can these Astronomy daily pictures. Goodness, isn’t space large?)
Check out the Wellington Astronomical Society, Astronomy.net.nz, and the Carter Observatory (which is currently getting refurbished) for more.
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