Upcoming Speakers

Expand Your Universe

The Universe is expanding and so is our scientific knowledge of it. Macarthur Astronomical Society spreads this knowledge to our members and the public through the Macarthur Astronomy Forum.

The Forum is a platform for notable Australian and international astronomers to share their discoveries about the Universe with the Macarthur community – in a non-technical format which is understandable to non-scientists. 

The monthly Forums are held 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm on a Monday. Details can be found on our News & Events page. Go to our Forum Map page for details of how to get there.

Guest Speaker Lists

Speaker List 2020-2024: below.
Speaker List 1997-2019: > here <

Guest Speaker List 2024

DATE	VENUE	SPEAKER	TOPIC
15th Jan	WSU	Dr Ciaran O’Hare (USYD)	The Biggest Objects are Influenced by the Tiniest.
19th Feb	WSU	Dr Stefania Barsanti (ANU)	The Spinning of Galaxies in the Web of Our Universe.
18th Mar	WSU	Prof Ray Norris (WSU) (Zoom)	Odd Radio Circles: Explosions in distant galaxies.
15th Apr	WSU	AGM + Phil Kidd (MAS)	Smart Telescopes. The new thing in Astronomy.
20th May	WSU	Dr Laura Driessen (USYD)	tba
17th Jun	WSU	Prof Roberto Soria INAF (Zoom)	tba
15th July	WSU	Dr Brad Tucker (ANU)	tba
19th Aug	WSU	Prof Jonti Horner (USEQ) (ZOOM)	tba
16th Sep	WSU	Frank Alvaro (MAS Member)	tba
21st Oct	WSU	Prof Richard de Grijs (Macquarie Uni)	tba
18th Nov	WSU	Dr Tayyaba Zafar (Macq Uni)	tba
2nd Dec	WSU	Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD)	tba

Guest Speaker List 2023

DATE	VENUE	SPEAKER	TOPIC
16 Jan	Zoom	David Nelson (MAS member)	Meteorites 101
21 Feb	Zoom	Dr Jonty Marshall	Spilling The Secrets Of Exoplanets
20 Mar	Zoom	Sarah Caddy (Macq Uni)	The Huntsman Telescope at the AAO
17 Apr	Zoom	AGM then Prof Charley Lineweaver (ANU)	The Galactic Habitable Zone
15 May	Zoom	Prof Jonti Horner (USQ)	The Search for Alien Worlds
19 Jun	Zoom	Dr Brad Tucker (ANU)	Exploding Stars and Dark Energy
17 Jul	Zoom	Prof Matthew Bailes (Swinburne)	Postponed
14 Aug	WSU	Prof Joss Bland-Hawthorn (USYD)|(Zoom)	Daily Life of Supermassive Black Holes
4 Sep	WSU	Prof Matthew Bailes (Swinburne)	Exploring Einstein’s Universe
18 Sep	WSU	Dr Doris Grosse (ANU) (Zoom)	Twinkle, Twinkle Little Junk
16 Oct	WSU	Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD) (Zoom)	Black Holes, Time & the Early Universe
20 Nov	WSU	Dr Luke Barnes (WSU)	Is there life out there in the Universe?
04 Dec	WSU	Dr Lucyna Chudczer	The European Southern Observatory

Guest Speaker List 2022

DATE	VENUE	SPEAKER	TOPIC
17 Jan	Zoom	Dr Devika Kamath (MaqU)	Unravelling Chemical Diversity Shaping our Universe.
21 Feb	Zoom	Dr Brad Tucker (ANU)	Shocking Supernova & discovering progenitors.
21 Mar	Zoom	Prof Roberto Soria (UCAS)	Revisiting the expansion of the universe.
18 Apr	Zoom	Dr Tayyaba Zafar (Macq Uni)+AGM	Distant faint galaxies, like an Easter Egg hunt
16 May	Zoom	Prof Charley Lineweaver (ANU)	The Origin of the Universe from ‘Nothing’.
20 Jun	Zoom	Prof Roberto Soria (UCAS)	Sagittarius A* Black Hole.
18 Jul	Zoom	Dr Simon Ellis (Macq Uni)	MAVIS, for the Very Large Telescope in Chile.
29 Aug	Zoom	Prof Joss Bland-Hawthorn (USYD)	Giant waves across the Milky Way.
22 Sep	Zoom	Dr Luke Barnes (WSU)	Aristotle, Newton, Einstein.
17 Oct	Zoom	Dr Emil Lenc (ATNF)	ASKAP.
21 Nov	Zoom	Malcolm Ellis (MAS member)	Neutrino Telescopes.
05 Dec	Zoom	Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD)	Dark Matter & Dark Energy.

Guest Speaker List 2021

DATE	VENUE	SPEAKER	TOPIC
18 Jan	Zoom	Dr Devika Kamath (Maq Uni)	Cosmic Alchemy: Origin of elements in the Universe.
15 Feb	Zoom	Dr Tayyaba Zafar (AAO)	Dust: Wipe It Or Keep It, It’s Ubiquitous
15 Mar	Zoom	Dr Brett Addison (USQ)	Exoplanets, TESS & Minerva-Australis Telescope.
20 Apr	Zoom	Dr Angel Lopez Sanchez	Observing with The AAT – LIVE!
17 May	Zoom	Dr Ashley Ruiter (UNSW Can)	White dwarfs in close binaries: Type 1a supernovae to LISA
21 Jun	Zoom	Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD)	Do I expand with the universe? Understanding cosmology
19 Jul	Zoom	Dr Jonty Marshall (ASIAA)	Rocks fall, everything fries: the fate of comets around stars.
16 Aug	Zoom	Dr Emil Lenc (CSIRO)	An ASKAP update – Episode II – Attack of the Pilots.
20 Sep	Zoom	Dr Kirsten Banks (UNSW)	Diving deep inside stars.
18 Oct	Zoom	Prof Tim Bedding (USYD)	Planets & starquakes: NASA’s Kepler & TESS Missions.
15 Nov	Cancelled	Dr Devika Kamath (Maq U)	Unravelling the Chemical Diversity Shaping our Universe.
06 Dec	Zoom	Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD)	From the quantum to the cosmos.

Guest Speaker List 2020

DATE	VENUE	SPEAKER	TOPIC
20 Jan	WSU	Ric Forster (MAS)	How radio telescopes create an image.
17 Feb	WSU	Prof Fred Watson	Cosmic chronicles.
16 Mar	Cancelled	Prof Tim Bedding	Planets & Starquakes: NASA’s Keppler/TESS Missions.
20 Apr	Cancelled	Les Dalrymple	AGM held on Zoom.
18 May	Zoom	Dr Luke Barnes (UWS)	Cosmic Revolutionary’s Handbook.
15 Jun	Zoom	Dr Lucyna Chudczer	Infrastructure for Australian Astronomers.
20 Jul	Zoom	Prof Roberto Soria	Galaxies, Galaxy Clusters, Mass & Dark Matter.
17 Aug	Zoom	Dr Emil Lenc (ASKAP)	ASKAP Update – Let the Science Begin!
21 Sep	Zoom	Prof Michael Wheatland (USYD)	Solar Activity.
19 Oct	Zoom	Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD)	The Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S5).
16 Nov	Zoom	Prof Charley Lineweaver (ANU)	Progress in the Search for Life Beyond Earth.
07 Dec	Zoom	Dr Brad Tucker (ANU)	Ultraviolet Astronomy from High-Altitude Balloons.

A Historical Guest Speaker List for 1997-2019 is available > here <

Credit

Macarthur Astronomy Forum and other outreach initiatives are made possible by collaboration with Western Sydney University and Campbelltown Rotary Observatory.