Macarthur Astronomy Forum
Expand Your Universe
We created Macarthur Astronomy Forum as a platform for notable Australian and international astronomers to share their discoveries about the Universe with the Macarthur community. Our speakers will present their findings in a format understandable to non-scientists.
Organised by Macarthur Astronomical Society. Held at Western Sydney University **(Campbelltown Campus), the Macarthur Astronomy Forum is held 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm on the 3rd Monday of each month (Jan to Nov) and 1st or 2nd Monday in December.
Details of our next Forum can be found on our News & Events page.
** We hope to be returning to WSU sometime soon but in the meantime Macarthur Astronomy Forums will continue to be held online for members only.
Guest Speaker List 2022
| DATE | LOC | SPEAKER | TOPIC |
| 17 Jan | Zoom | Dr Devika Kamath (MaqU) | “Unravelling the Chemical Diversity that Shapes our Universe.” |
| 21 Feb | Zoom | Dr Brad Tucker (ANU) | “Shocking Supernova and discovering their progenitors of exploding stars” |
| 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) | TBA |
| 21 Nov | tba | Malcolm Ellis (MAS member) | TBA |
| 05 Dec | tba | Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD) | TBA |
Guest Speaker List 2021
| DATE | LOC | SPEAKER | TOPIC |
| 18 Jan | Zoom | Dr Devika Kamath (Maq Uni) | Cosmic Alchemy: Origin of chemical 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 Observations. |
| 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: from Type 1a supernovae to LISA |
| 21 Jun | Zoom | Prof Geraint Lewis (USYD) | Do I expand with the universe? Understanding modern cosmology |
| 19 Jul | Zoom | Dr Jonty Marshall (ASIAA) | Rocks fall, everything fries: the fate of comets around other 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. |
| The Guest Speaker List for previous years 2003-2019 is now available > here < |
Credit
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Macarthur Astronomy Forum and other outreach initiatives are made possible by collaboration with Western Sydney University and Campbelltown Rotary Observatory.