By Gill Cooper
The wonders of the night sky have fascinated humanity since time began but members of the Astronomical Society of Geelong take a closer interest than most.
President Dave Murton said the Society included “an interesting and eclectic group of people from all walks of life who were inspired by moon launches, the stuff of science fiction and a love of night skies”.
“We are essentially a group of like-minded people but with different areas of special interest. Some are visual observers, do deep sky photography or even radio astronomy,” he said.
He said the group has about 30 core members with 15-20 members attending most Friday nights.
“We are slowly building our equipment up and modernising cameras and telescopes,” he said.
“If it’s a clear night we’ll get out the telescopes and provide a bit of guidance to newer members. “
“The age range is from early 20s to people in their 80s and we can have some lively discussions.”
He said one of the younger members, Leigh Westerland, has been the “Curator of Instruments” on the Society’s Committee for the past two years.
Leigh cares for the Society’s equipment and checks collimation of the lens which aligns a telescopes mirrors to improve the focus of images seen through the eyepiece.
“I’m an upholsterer by trade and this lets me get hands-on with high tech. It was a gap in my life and I enjoy the challenge,” he said.
Society volunteers will hold open day information sessions on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Royal Geelong Show.
