Note that this meeting will be held as a video conference over Zoom

Members will be sent instructions on how to join the meeting in the week prior to the event.

Dark Skies Down Under - Australian Astronomy in the 2020s

I’ll describe the exciting new infrastructure that will be available to Australian astronomers over the next decade, with some insights into the areas of research that they’ll use it for. I’ll also highlight the important role that the amateur community can play in this venture - it depends on all of us!

Professor Fred Watson

Professor Fred Watson is Australia’s first Astronomer-at-Large, an outreach and advocacy role within the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. He is graduate of the universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and worked at both of Britain’s Royal Observatories before joining the Australian Astronomical Observatory as Astronomer-in-Charge in 1995. Fred is best known today for his award-winning radio and TV broadcasts, books, music, dark-sky advocacy and other outreach ventures. He holds adjunct professorships in several Australian universities, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2010. He has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Earth, it won't be his fault. His latest book, Cosmic Chronicles, was published by NewSouth Press in 2019.