Expand Your Universe

Macarthur Astronomical Society organises the Macarthur Astronomy Forum as a platform for notable Australian and international astronomers to share their discoveries about the Universe with the Macarthur community – in a format understandable to non-scientists. 

Held at Western Sydney University (Campbelltown Campus) 1996 to 2020, we hope to return to WSU in 2023 but in the meantime the Forums will be held online for members only.

The Forums are held 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm on the 3rd Monday of each month (Jan to Nov) and an earlier Monday in December. Details of our next Forum can be found on our News & Events page.

Guest Speakers 2020-2023

A Historical Guest Speaker List for 2003-2019 is available > here <

Guest Speaker List 2023

DATE	LOC	SPEAKER	TOPIC
16 Jan	Zoom	David Nelson (MAS member)	Meteorites 101
20 Feb	Zoom	Dr Jonty Marshall	TBA
20 Mar		Sarah Caddy (Macq Uni)	TBA
17 Apr		TBA	TBA
15 May		Prof Jonti Horner (USQ)	TBA
19 Jun		TBA	TBA
17 Jul		TBA	TBA
21 Aug		Prof Joss Bland-Hawthorn (USYD)	TBA
18 Sep		TBA	TBA
16 Oct		TBA	TBA
20 Nov		TBA	TBA
04 Dec		TBA	TBA

Guest Speaker List 2022

DATE	LOC	SPEAKER	TOPIC
17 Jan	Zoom	Dr Devika Kamath (MaqU)	Unravelling the Chemical Diversity Shaping our Universe.
21 Feb	Zoom	Dr Brad Tucker (ANU)	Shocking Supernova & discovering their 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 hunt, 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	LOC	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.
6 Dec	Zoom	Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD)	From the quantum to the cosmos.

Guest Speaker List 2020

DATE	LOC	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.
7 Dec*	Zoom	Dr Brad Tucker (ANU)	Ultraviolet Astronomy from High-Altitude Balloons.

A Historical Guest Speaker List for 2003-2019 is available > here <

Credit

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