NT Dark Skies

NT Dark Skies

The final event for Science week by Gove Amateur Astronomers was held at Yirrkala on Thursday the 19th of August, at the invitation of Raymattja Marika. A viewing was conducted at the Yolngu special place "Nuwal" on the coast north of Yirrkala.

After arriving in a procession of 4x4's & pushbikes, 60+ Yolngu kids were given science week handouts, with many eager eyes then waiting for the telescope to be set up. A group of three buffaloes wandering onto the nearby grassy plain saw the kids racing off over the sand-dunes, whistling and shouting as they went. With so many vocal kids about there was no chance the buffaloes were going to be coming anywhere near us or our equipment!

A first look was had of the thin crescent moon as soon as we had the telescope on its mount. All then present were very enthusiastic to look at our nearest star "Alfa Centauri" as soon as the sky was dark enough to align our telescope. Jupiter, with its 4 visible moons (Io, Callisto, Ganymede & Europa), was an even bigger hit with a line 20 deep at the telescope (as you can see in the photo).

Handing out red glowsticks to the kids was eagerly accepted with the subsequent procession of spinning light sticks being quite a sight. As the night fully set in we began a laser guided tour of the bright constellations including Sagittarius (the Teapot), Scorpius, Lyra (the Harp), Aquila (the Eagle) & Cygnus (the Swan) to name but a few.

The reaction of the kids to the laser was one of overwhelming excitement and we had their avid attention for the full tour, till we ran out of constellations to show them! A few more deep sky treasures were seen through the telescope before it was time for home to bed for our newest young mob of eager star gazers.

Throughout the night Gaymala Yunupingu told the children Yolngu stories of the Wirrmu (moon), and ganyu (stars) whilst seated around the campfire. We look forward to more nights where we can share some stories and mythology, of the wonderful place that is our ever changing night sky with our Yolngu friends.