 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous Meetings and Activities
April 2011 Newsletter
The mystery of the first stars / Mysteries of Jupiter's and Saturn's rings / April guest speaker - John Drummond / About the Webb / Around the observatory / AGM 24 May / Back page Read more ...
April Meeting 2011
 |
| John Drummond |
Well-known astrophotographer John Drummond was our guest speaker at our April meeting. John Drummond has been obsessed with the stars ever since his mother pointed the 'pot' in Orion out to him when he was 12. He also began to develop an interest in photography about the same time and later combined the two to become an amateur astrophotographer. His other astronomical passions are comet and meteor observing and also searching for exoplanets using gravitational microlensing. John is currently the director of two Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand sections: the Comet and Meteor section, and the Astrophotography section. He is a contributing photographer for the Australian Sky and Telescope magazine. John is the vice-president of the Gisborne Astronomical Society and is frequently asked to speak throughout New Zealand. He lives on a small farm with a dark sky 15 kilometres to the west of Gisborne, New Zealand and is imaging and observing on most fine nights. John is a school teacher by day and enjoys surfing the fantastic waves of Gisborne and also practicing martial arts. His website is: www.possumobservatory.co.nz
March Meeting
 |
| Grant Christie |
In March it was a delight once again to host our Patron, Dr. Grant Christie (left) to the March “public invited” meeting, at the Fergusson Park observatory. Grant opened his talk by complimenting the Tauranga Society for its up-to-date facilities, as being as good as any observatory in New Zealand. He said “It just gets better every time I pay you a visit." Grant gave an interesting lecture on the birth of the universe and the formation of the first stars. Our 2011 meetings resumed on 25 January at the observatory. Stuart Murray presented information about the Orion nebula and then showed a BBC video of the sun and it's influence on the solar system, presented by Professor Brian Cox.
2010 Activities and Meetings
 |
| Stuart Murray |