President’s Desk, July 2023
President’s Desk
The RASNZ Conference is a unique annual gathering of New Zealand’s diverse astronomical community that per capita is amongst the largest in the world. Participants at our 2023 conference once again demonstrated RASNZ’s diverse and inclusive nature, featuring amateur and professional astronomers, amateur and professional researchers, astrophotographers, astronomy outreach enthusiasts, historians, students and so many others with an interest in astronomy, from the length and breadth of the country. The talks were equally diverse ranging from ‘Seeing the Cosmic Web from Suburban New Zealand’ by Rolf Olsen to ‘Robots, Crowds and the Sky: Planning for Serendipity in Large Scale Surveys’ by Professor Chris Lintott. It is not overreaching to say there was something for everyone regardless of astronomic specialisation, interest and/or experience.
In terms of both attendees and talks, the conference had a record number of participants. This was the first RASNZ conference to have two streams, enabling us to fit-in about 40 talks. There were 2 specially invited international keynote speakers and it was our first ‘hybrid conference’ with virtual participation by attendees as well as 2 speakers delivering their talks from overseas.
The conference concluded on Sunday afternoon with a book launch of a festschrift, a collection of Essays on Astronomical History and Heritage published in honour of Professor Wayne Orchiston’s milestone birthday. On Monday there was a workshop for the recently established Historical Section. The main conference venue, the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre, which has accommodation together with a café/bar on site, was ideally suited to facilitate friends & collaborators meet ups, networking or simply socialising.
The centennial of Auckland Astronomical Society, the RASNZ affiliated society which hosted the event, was formally marked with opening remarks from Professor John Hosking, followed by a Mihi Whakatau from Harley Wade of the mana whenua, Ngāti Pāoa. It continued with a number of talks on their past and current activities as well as areas of research undertaken by members of the Auckland Astronomical Society.
The Annual General Meeting and the annual in-person Affiliated Societies meetings were successfully concluded with productive outcomes that are reported elsewhere in the July newsletter.
One of the highlights of the conference was the ‘Awards Ceremony’ at the banquet dinner on the Saturday night with the following honoured for their special contribution to astronomy: Professor Richard Easther, Professor Wayne Orchiston, Tom Love, Viv Napier, Sir Maarten Wevers and Erik Vermaat. These individuals and their respective awards are separately detailed in the July newsletter. Associate Professor Charlie Lineweaver gave an entertaining and energetic after dinner talk with newly elected Fellow, Professor Richard Easther, asked to provide expert opinion from the floor. Any lulls in the evening were musically filled by RASNZ Councillor Ewan Mason proving a virtuoso on the guitar.
The success of the conference event was the direct result of the concerted efforts of the conference team, namely the RASNZ Standing Conference Committee, the Local Organising Committee of the host society and a number of volunteers from RASNZ and the host society, all ably led and managed by our tireless RASNZ Immediate Past President, Steve Butler.
Beyond our conference event, forward momentum continues at RASNZ. Currently there are two lecture tours being supported by RASNZ’s Gifford-Eiby grants:
Professor Wayne Orchiston’s diverse astronomy talks at 7 affiliated societies viz. Whakatāne Astronomical Society, Gisborne Astronomical Society, Southland Astronomical Society, Hawkes Bay Astronomical Society, New Plymouth Astronomical Society, Nelson Astronomical Society and Canterbury Astronomical Society.
‘Aurora, the Science and the Splendour’ tour delivered by a group of expert speakers including two Gifford-Eiby lecturers, Dr. Ian Griffin and Steve Butler at 6 South Island venues including 4 affiliated societies viz. Southland Astronomical Society, Central Otago Dark Sky Society, Canterbury Astronomical Society and Dunedin Astronomical Society.
Also, RASNZ corporate member ASTRONZ has sponsored RASNZ Conference keynote speaker Professor Chris Lintott to present at an event organised by the Wairarapa Dark Sky Association in conjunction with the Wellington Astronomical Society.
In terms of astronomical happenings, while the ‘Aurora, the Science and the Splendour’ tour covers the peak period of the aurora season in areas of New Zealand where the Aurora Australis is best viewed, we move into a now iconic astronomical event that is visible around the country and one that is becoming hugely popular with viewers not deterred by it being a dawn phenomenon. Matariki (Pleaides) is already visible in the dawn sky but NZ’s official Matariki public holiday will be on 14 July this year. It is expected to be a busy time for our affiliated societies with many outreach events planned to meet the increasing demand from the public. A guide to viewing Matariki, prepared by RASNZ legend Alan Gilmore, is available on the RASNZ website: https://www.rasnz.org.nz/newsarticle/129530?newsfeedId=1501488
As a special treat, we have included a photo gallery of the conference in the July newsletter to give a flavour of the proceedings and interactions to those of you who were unable to join us, while for those of you who were able to participate it’s an opportunity to remind yourselves of what a great time was had by all.
With all this positive conference talk in mind, I’m already looking forward to our next RASNZ Conference, to be hosted by the Nelson Astronomical Society during the weekend of 24-26 May 2024, and seeing you all there!
Nalayini Davies, FRASNZ, MSc (Astronomy)
President – Royal Astronomical Society of NZ