EVENTS OF INTEREST

2009 * INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY
IYA2009 logo The 62nd United Nations General Assembly declared 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. For more details from the Australian node see IYA2009.

2008 Dec 3 - 4 * ATNF ASTROFEST
CSIRO logo The Australia Telescope National Facility will hold the 2008 Astrofest at their Marsfield headquarters in Sydney. This is a two day symposium showcasing the research being carried out at the ATNF. For more details see ATNF.

2008 Nov 30 - Dec 05 * AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS CONFERENCE
AIPC logo The Australian Institute of Physics annual conference will be held at the University of Adelaide. Several sessions will be devoted to space physics. For more details see AIPC 2008.

2008 Nov 28 * STROMLO STUDENT SEMINARS
ANU logo The Mount Stromlo Observatory will hold their 6th end of year student seminars in Canberra. Registration, snacks and dinner are free for students. For more details see MSO.

2008 Oct 1 * NASA 50TH ANNIVERSARY
NASA logo Following the launch of the first Soviet satellite on 4 October 1957, a proposal was submitted to the US Congress for a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Agency to oversee a coordinated US space effort. The administrator of this agency was to be chosen by the President and confirmed by the Senate. And so on 1 October 2008, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was born, and T Keith Glennan was appointed as its first Administrator. NASA took over many of the projects and facilities of the previous National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). For more details see NASA at 50.

2008 Sep 29 - Oct 03 * 54th INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUTICAL CONGRESS
IAC2008 logo The International Astronautical Federation will hold the 59th International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland. This year's congress is organised by the British Interplanetary Society and has the theme "From Imagination to Reality". For more details see IAC 2008.

2008 Sep 29 - Oct 2 * 8th AUSTRALIAN SPACE SCIENCE CONFERENCE
ASSC logo The 8th Australian Space Science Conference will be held in Canberra. Jointly sponsored by the National Committee for Space Science and the National Space Society of Australia, it will cover the areas of space science, space engineering, space industry, government space and space education and outreach. More details can be found at:
Australian Space Science Conference

2008 Sep 12 * INTEGRATED CIRCUITS 50 YEARS OLD
USPS stamp shows IC On 12 September 1958 Jack Kilby created the first integrated circuit at a Texas Instruments laboratory. Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor was also working on integrated circuits around the same time. The image at left is a stamp from the US Postal Service commemorating the IC. Without integrated circuits, many of today's space ventures would simply not be possible.

2008 Jul 21 - 23 * 10th AUSTRALIAN SPACE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
ASDC logo The 10th Australian Space Development Conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide. The conference is organised by the National Space Society of Australia in conjunction with the Australian Space Industry Chamber of Commerce and Asia-Pacific Aerospace Consultants. For more details see ASDC.

2008 Jul 7 - 15 * SPACEWARD BOUND AUSTRALIA - ONE
MSA logo
NASA logo
This is an expedition supported by the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (NASA Ames) and the Mars Society of Australia. It is an educational outreach program, aimed at teachers and students, to explore remote and extreme environments. This first expedition will explore space facilities, past and present, and Mars analog sites in outback South Australia. More details can be found at SBA.

2008 Jul 6 - 10 * ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA ANNUAL MEETING
Astron Soc Austral logo The 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting and General Meeting of the Astronomical Society of Australia will be held at the University of Western Australia. For more details see ASA2008.

2008 Jul 4 - 6 * 8th AUSTRALIAN MARS EXPLORATION CONFERENCE
AMEC 2008 The 8th Australian Space Science Conference will be held in Adelaide at the University of South Australia. Presentations will concentrate on issues of forging, nurturing and developing the pioneering culture and methods required to explore Mars. More details can be found at AMEC 2008.

2008 May 25 - 31 * NEUTRINO 2008
Neutrino 2008 logo The 23rd International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand. The conference will cover the status of current and future research in neutrino physics and its relation to astrophysics. For more details see NEUTRINO 2008.

2008 May 9 - 11 * AUSTRALASIAN PLANETARIUM SOCIETY CONFERENCE
APS logo The 2008 Australasian Planetarium Society meeting will be held in the Horizon Planetarium, Perth, Western Australia. The first day will comprise workshops for Digital Sky users and those interested in vertical domes. The following day will be the annual general meeting of the APS followed by guest speakers and presentations which will continue on the final day. For more details see APS 2008.

2008 Mar 31 - Apr 4 * SKA PATHFINDERS CONFERENCE
SKA logo A conference relating to the Square Kilometre Array pathfinder radiotelescopes - to be located in the Murchison region of Western Australia - will be held at the University of Western Australia. Titled "Deep Surveys of the Radio Universe with SKA Pathfinders", it will describe the science to be done with the new radio telescopes leading toward the SKA. For more details see SKA 2008.

2008 Feb 25 - Mar 8 * GLOBE AT NIGHT 2008
Constellation of Orion Globe at Night is an educational effort to raise awareness of the loss of a dark night sky around the world. It aims to heighten awareness of light pollution as a global problem with a local solution. Australia is one of the countries subscribing to the Globe program, and anyone in Australia is invited to submit simple visual observations of the night sky. For more details see GLOBE AT NIGHT.

2008 Feb 10 - 12 * WORKSHOP ON APPLICATIONS OF RADIO SCIENCE
NCRS-WARS The National Committee on Radio Science will hold the 7th Workshop on Applications of Radio Science at the Sofitel Hotel on the Gold Coast. This will include a special session on the Australian SKA (Square Kilometre Array) Pathfinder radiotelescopes. For more details see WARS 2008 .

2008 Feb 7 * PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OVER SE AUSTRALIA
Partial Solar Eclipse An annular eclipse will occur over Antartica. Over south-eastern Australia, New Zealand and some south-eastern Pacific Islands it will be visible as a partial eclipse. Times of eclipse visibility will range from 03:30 to 06:10 Universal Time (UT) depending upon location (AEDT = UT + 11 hr). The amount of the Sun that is obscured will range from only about 0.5% in Adelaide to over 50% in Christchurch. [Note that this eclipse is the only one in 2008 - of four solar and lunar eclipses occurring worldwide - that will be visible from the Australasian region.] For more details see Solar Eclipse .

2008 Jan 17-20 * NSW SCHOOL OF SPACE SCIENCE
NSW Space Science School A summer residential school of space science will be held in January 2008 at the University of Newcastle. The school is open to students entering school years 10 and 11 in 2008. The course fee is $350 which includes accommodation. Application for admission must be made by 7 December 2007. For more details see New South Wales School of Space Science.

2008 Jan 13-24 * SUMMER SCHOOL ON RELATIVISTIC ASTROPHYSICS
anita logo The Astronomical Society of Australia and the Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics will hold the inaugural Summer School on Theoretical Astrophysics at the Cradle Coast Campus (Burnie) of the University of Tasmania. For more details see ANITA Summer School.