The Macquarie Centre for Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics has had its official launch last week, kick starting a closer collaboration between the AAO, the ATNF, Warawara, the Macquarie Department of Indigenous studies and us. In the meantime we are in the final phases of selecting the new planetarium which I am hoping to receive before the next Astronomy Open Night on November 5th (mark your calendars!).

In this edition, we have started incorporating the information on the sky this month from the Sydney Observatory. Enjoy this thorough account of what is happening above our heads and check out their website for a selection of their latest activities.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Macquarie University takes great pleasure in inviting you to a joint lecture by two internationally-renowned laser scientists Professor Brian Orr and Associate Professor Michael Withford.

Since their discovery fifty years ago, lasers have developed from being a scientific curiosity, declared at the time to be “a solution looking for a problem”, to something that has important applications in many areas such as engineering, surveying, communications, computers, medicine and even rock concerts!

If the weather is clear, the morning of May 13th will provide a view of a lovely and rare planetary gathering low in the east from 5am onwards. Venus, Jupiter and Mercury will be within 2 degrees of each other. As twilight approaches the dim and difficult to see Mars will join the group while Uranus and Neptune look down on all four.

In 2009 we celebrated the 400th anniversary of Galileo's use of the telescope to usher in the era of modern astronomy. The second major revolution in the way we understand the nature of the Universe came with the invention of photography in 1839. This enabled us to see the unseen and allowed astrophysics to flourish. Eventually it also allowed us to photograph the Universe in colour, revealing cosmic landscapes of surprising beauty and variety.

What happens when machines become more intelligent than humans? Some have proposed that a "singularity" will ensue: there will be a rapid spiral to super intelligence. Professor David Chalmers analyzes the argument for an intelligence explosion and asks if systems in a post-singularity world will be conscious? Can we be among them? More...

On clear nights, we offer a "starfinder" session to demonstrate how to identify bright stars, constellations and planets. This is followed by observing with the telescopes. Even with the light pollution of the city, we can easily see double and multiple stars, open and globular star clusters, and the brighter nebulae. The Moon and planets, when in suitable positions, are easily viewed with any of our instruments. On dark, moonless nights with good seeing, we may also observe the brightest galaxies. More...

Sydney Observatory is open every night (session times vary) and day (10am to 5pm) except Christmas Day and Good Friday. The links at left have all the information you need to plan your visit. Charges apply to night and day telescope viewing sessions which include visits to the telescope domes, telescope viewing* and 3D space theatre experience - guided and explained by one of the Observatory's astronomy educators. More...

The Southern Cross is high in the sky towards the south and is easily located using the two nearby Pointer stars. The Pointer star Alpha Centauri is the nearest star to the Sun and Earth. Nearby is the False Cross which can be mistaken for the Southern Cross. Saturn is located towards the north-east, appearing as a faint star-like object in the constellation of Virgo. The best time to view the Moon with a small telescope or binoculars is on the 11th (first quarter Moon). On the 14th the Moon is located next to Saturn in the north-east.