Amateur Astronomers in South Western Sydney, Australia
Macarthur Astronomical Society
Organisers of Macarthur Astronomy Forum
Macarthur Astronomical Society Incorporated. Founded in 1996
David Meiklejohn
Dr Simon Ellis (Macq Uni)
Is our speaker on June 15th.
FREE Entry. Public welcome. Check Notice Board for further information.
The Future of Astronomical Instruments: How Astrophotonics is Revolutionising Astronomy
The same fibre optic technology that brings broadband internet into your home is being used to transform the world’s most powerful telescopes. Astrophotonics is a new field that applies the tools of modern optics — hair-thin glass fibres, miniature light-splitting chips, and precision laser written components — to the challenges of observational astronomy. This field has already produced some significant advances. By distributing hundreds of optical fibres across the focal plane of a telescope, astronomers can capture the light of thousands of stars or galaxies simultaneously in a single night’s observing. Similarly, fibres and chips can combine the light from multiple telescopes to produce extremely high resolution images.
Current and future developments offer even greater advantages. Tiny spectrometers, the size of a coin, can now be etched onto photonic chips. Special fibres can strip out the interfering infrared glow of Earth’s own atmosphere, revealing faint objects that would otherwise be drowned out. And new sensors are helping telescopes correct in real time for the blurring caused by atmospheric turbulence. Looking further ahead, the most intriguing possibilities involve quantum optics — using the strange, entangled nature of individual photons to link telescopes separated by thousands of kilometres, creating an instrument of almost unimaginable resolving power.
This talk offers a guided tour of these developments: where we are now, what’s coming next, and why the future of big telescope science may well be built on a chip.
Activities
What We Do
Dark sky sessions, Field Workshops and Astro Imaging Group Meetings.
Macarthur Astronomy Forum, where professional astronomers reveal their latest research.
Our friendly amateur astronomers collaborate with local institutions to broaden public understanding of the Universe.
See Notice Board for further details.
Astro Imaging Group
Improving Your Photographic Technique
Bringing together members with a common interest interest in astrophotography to promote knowledge sharing, learning and camaraderie.
See AIG Page for further details.
Workshops
Improving Your Field Expertise
Learning how to find your way around the sky and get the most out of your telescope.
See Workshop page for further details.
Macarthur Astronomy Forum
Exciting Guest Speakers.
Australian and international guest speakers
Held monthly in collaboration with Western Sydney University (Campbelltown) and open to the public. Also available to members on Zoom.
See Notice Board for further details.
Partnership
Western Sydney University
WSU Provost Prof Sarah Lewis welcomed Astronomer Prof Fred Watson AM at our recent Macarthur Astronomy Forum.
L-R, MAS Vice President, Noel Sharpe, MAS President, John Rombi.
Visit the Notice Board.
We are proud community outreach partners with WSU.
Patron
Professor Geraint Lewis
Cosmologist, Astrophysicist, Teacher, Author, Public Speaker
Professor of Astrophysics at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy at the University of Sydney School of Physics. MAS Patron and an annual guest speaker at MAS since 2008.
Field Nights
Members Only
We schedule regular dark sky observing nights for members.
See Notice Board page.
Macastro Articles
Telescopes, Amateur Astronomy & More
A collection of articles written by our members, for our members.
Visit here to read about practical astronomy or contribute a new article.
See Articles Page
Public Outreach
Sharing our Universe
We visit schools and other local institutions to talk about our passion for astronomy and to show the night sky.
See Outreach page
Macastro Tours
Local and International
We have organised tours for members to visit astronomical facilities,
including observatories in NSW, Canberra, China, Peru and Chile.
See Tours Page
Recycling
Return and Earn
We encourage our members to support the NSW Government’s Return and Earn plastic & glass bottle recycling scheme. Select Macarthur Astronomical Society using your barcode card at a reverse vending centre near you to donate the proceeds to MAS.
See Return and Earn Page
Symptoms?
Please stay at home
If you or a family member are showing any symptoms of covid, influenza or the common cold etc., we thank you for not attending any of our events.