NACAA Attendance by GAA

NACAA 2006 National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers

This Bi-annual convention held in Frankston Victoria, over the Easter W/E, was Attended by myself (Ian) as a representative for GAA.
As it turned out I was representing the whole of far northern Australia!
There were many great papers presented, showing the depth of involvement of the Australian Amateur Astronomical community in professional Astronomy, not just in Australia but worldwide.
Some of the Topics covered included:
The Earth Space Environment:
A great presentation by Professor Peter Dyson vividly described the effects of the earths magnetic field on the solar wind. The message is, if you want less radiation exposure, move to the tropics :-)
Occultation timing:
This showed how timings are made of the eclipsing of distant stars by planets & Asteroids within our solar system. With a number of amateurs making these observations at different locations, the shape of the object (imagine a potato shaped asteroid) can actually be mapped by plotting the times that the occultation started & finished!
Asteroid Itokawa Observations:
This Asteroid was observed by Amateur Jeff Byron to assist with the Japanese "Hayabusa" sample return mission to that distant celestial body!
Asteroid & Comet impacts:
A very interesting presentation "The lighter side of Asteroid & Comet impacts" by Dr Duncan Steel an internationally renowned speaker on astronomy science, highlighted the very real threat of a major asteroid impacts on the earth & some of the misconceptions about the level of the threat (yes, it is a real threat !)
The sad fact is that the Aust. Govt is not backing research to find & track these potential threats, while other countries work feverishly to discover them.
The Cranbourne Meteorite:
A great presentation by Dr Peter Skilton gave an insight into the "Cranbourne" meteorite, a nickel/Iron impactor that struck the Mornington Peninsular just a few hundred years prior to European settlement. Some great work has been done by Dr Skilton to map the entry angle & likely breakup locations of this Impactor, Pieces are still being found as recently as 10 Yrs Ago.
NE Arnhem Land Astronomy:
I was able to deliver my presentation "NE Arnhem Land - An Astronomical history" on the final day of proceedings. This highlighted the rich Astronomical history of the Yolgnu people, the Eldo tracking station & the recent history with the activities of our own Gove Amateur Astronomers (GAA).
There were many other great presentations showing the great scientific work being done by amateurs, or as was suggested "Unpaid" astronomers.
The conference was rounded off with an observing night & BBQ at the historic "Briars" site at Mt Martha, just south of Mornington.
I for one will be delighted to attend the next conference in Sydney in 2008.