General Meeting: July 2025

ASSA monthly meetings are held in-person and are open to the general public.

Come see this live as we can't live stream this one.

Attend In-Person: This is a free public event. A theatre ticket is NOT required for this meeting. Just roll up.

Finding the Venue: The Horace Lamb Lecture Theatre, University of Adelaide and is located at G11 on the map.

Meeting Agenda:

• General Meeting
• Seestar Astronomy and Variable Stars
• Update on T Corona Borealis
• Announcements & Upcoming Events
• Close at 9:30pm

Speaker: Andrew Murphy

Abstract: The Seestar S50 is an entry-level 'smart' telescope originally targeted at novice observers, but now with an enthusiastic group of experienced devotees who have realised that it is capable of much more than the original designers envisaged. In this talk we will hear about the basic capabilities of the Seestar and how, with a relatively simple workflow and some free third-party software, that it's possible to make extraordinarily accurate measurements of variable stars. The talk will be illustrated with material from Andrew's Masters research project, showing several light curves from eclipsing binaries, and Cepheid and SX Phe variables, and briefly discussing the mechanisms responsible for their variations in brightness.

Bio: Andrew Murphy graduated from the University of Adelaide in Electronics Engineering and has spent the majority of his professional life working in telecommunications, and information technology which is incidentally where he first met tonight's other presenter David Benn. His journey into astronomy and astrophysics started later in life when he found himself at a loose end during the COVID lockdown and enrolled in the Masters in Astronomy course offered by Swinburne University of Technology. Andrew recently graduated from that course and lists his interests as Solar System architecture - particularly the Kuiper belt, n-body simulations, and observing variable stars. In his spare time he is now collaborating with researchers at Swinburne on a project to precisely determine the orbit of the pulsar PSR J2108+451 around its massive OBe companion star using very long baseline interferometry. Tonight however, Andrew will be taking us through one of the major projects from his recent Master's course - observing variable stars using the entry-level smart telescope - the Seestar S50.

 

Speaker: David Benn

Abstract: T Corona Borealis (T CrB) is expected to become briefly visible to the unaided eye, even from suburban Adelaide. The recurrent nova, T CrB - which could be ancient Greek for “to look but not see” (but isn’t) - is one of the most observed star systems of recent times. Since the last recurrence in 1946, its eruption has been eagerly anticipated. In September last year (David's last update to ASSA), the nova outburst was considered imminent, but we’re still waiting. This talk will cover the sort of things nova addicts, and theorists, come up with when starved of sudden changes in brightness due to the lack of a thermonuclear runway. For example, a late 2024 paper speculating about a link between the binary pair’s orbital period and the eruption, changes to T CrB’s spectrum suggesting an increased accretion rate (or not), and the joys of getting out every clear-ish night for at least a quick look at the constellation of Corona Borealis, currently visible in the NE evening sky.

Bio: David Benn has been an ASSA member since 1984, active since 1997 after a decade in Tassie where he was stunned to witness SN 1987a and comets SL9 and Hyakutake. For many years he enjoyed general observing and sharing the sky at ASSA and AST (Astronomical Society of Tasmania) events. David’s interest in variable stars was rekindled after hearing a talk by the AAVSO Director at NACAA in 2008. He has been observing variable stars ever since, and is the lead developer of VStar, a multi-platform variable star visualisation and analysis software. As a self-confessed nova addict, he wants another bright one dammit! David has enjoyed talking with Andrew about variable stars over a beer or two in recent times, having caught up with him again after a long hiatus.

 

#science #astronomy #space #Adelaide #southaustralia

 

 

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