Northern Sydney Astronomical Society

Welcome to the website of the Northern Sydney Astronomical Society.  We are a club based in the northern suburbs of Sydney (NSW, Australia), containing a number of streams to cater for astronomy related interests at all levels.  Our core streams/activities are:

Once a month (at 7:30pm on the third Tuesday of the month) we meet at the sports pavilion adjacent to the Riverview Observatory in the grounds of St Ignatius’ College, Tambourine Bay Road, Lane Cove (click here for a map).  This meeting focuses on the theoretical aspects of astronomy, each month featuring a guest lecturer, and touching on subjects such as cosmology and astrophysics.

The New Astronomers Group is focused towards those who have recently purchased (or plan to purchase) a telescope and would like to learn how to use it.  We meet once a month on the fourth Tuesday of the month at the sports pavilion adjacent to the Riverview Observatory in the grounds of St Ignatius’ College, Tambourine Bay Road, Lane Cove (click here for a map).  Topics cover learning the night sky, learning to use your telescope, astrophotography, and other practical areas of astronomy.

The Theory Group is focused on those who want to learn more about the universe.  Currently this group is viewing lectures on DVD from a university course, covering 2-3 lectures each meeting, with a discussion on the lecture following each one.  We meet once a month on the second Tuesday of the month at the sports pavilion adjacent to the Riverview Observatory in the grounds of St Ignatius’ College, Tambourine Bay Road, Lane Cove (click here for a map).  Topics cover the solar system, galaxies, black holes, comets, the stars, star formation, astronomy history, and much more.

Viewing nights (aka “star parties”) take place at the North Turramurra Golf Course (click here for a map), on the Fridays (with Saturdays as backup) around the time of the new moon – generally starting as the sun is hitting the horizon and continuing until everyone has had enough.  You don’t need to have your own telescope to come along to the viewing nights – members with scopes are usually more than happy to let new members and visitors look through theirs.  The club also has its own telescope (a 6″ dobsonian) that those without their own scope can use.

Visitors are always welcome at any of our events to find out more about us before becoming a member.