Southern Cross Outreach Observatory Project in Smithfield, South Australia, Australia | Community

Southern Cross Outreach Observatory Project

Locality: Smithfield, South Australia, Australia

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25.01.2022 What do you think?

25.01.2022 Our new exciting project...restoration of an abandoned observatory near Quorn in Flinders Ranges. This hand-made observatory was essentially a galvanised water tank with a rotating tin roof with wooden wheels. Located on Mathew Britza's property, a local Quorn resident, he recalls it was built by Mr Murray Hull, some forty-odd years ago. Mervyn Rabig, another Quorn resident, who participated in erecting this structure, remembers the dobsonian telescope that was hand-crafted b...y Mr Hull was housed in this observatory, and was used for stargazing for a number of years. This observatory hasn't been used in decades and is now crumbling to the elements. Our restoration project will include a fund-raising drive through our mobile observatory astronomy outreach in communities in Quorn, Jamestown, Whyalla, Beltana and Marree in mid till late September this year. Mr Ashley Parkinson of Quorn has a plan to clear the area and to try grading a track from local dirt road nearby to the observatory, and help in the restoration plan that will include reinforcement of the observatory structure without much altering its original form, and installation of solar panels and a shed near the observatory for equipment. We plan to install a computerized telescope (10-12 inch diameter) for visual astronomy for local community and visitors, and possibly upgrading it for astrophotography and even remote operations. Kindly provide your suggestions to help us restore this gem to the glory it deserves. Here is a link to the coverage by 7News about the observatory broadcasted yesterday. https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSAdelaide/videos/938292449984130/ See more

24.01.2022 Witnessing history Jupiter- Saturn conjunction 19 Dec 2020 The conjunction will peak on 21st Dec but we didn't take a chance in case it is overcast on the 21st.

23.01.2022 Next day on 24th August, we travelled to Jamestown to conduct public outreach astronomy in Memorial Park Jamestown. Padraic Koen conducted day time solar astro...nomy through his Lunt 60mm H-Alpha telescope and amazed the public with the views of solar prominences streaming on the tablet screen. Seeing was a bit disappointing with nearly 50% cloud cover, which worsened to 100% cover in the evening and no viewing could be started. Trevor of Jamestown Lions Club and another local fellow kept people busy and warm with their donut and bbq trailers at the event. Public's enthusiasm was very encouraging as many people stayed around despite full cloud cover and drizzle, until 8:40pm when sky cleared up. We were able to point the telescope towards Jupiter and people were treated with good view of Jupiter and its Great Red Spot. Nearly 100 people attended the day time solar astronomy session and nearly 40 people who were still there by the time sky cleared up enjoyed the night time viewing. We are thankful to James of Jamestown Council and Trevor and the other mate with their food trailers for facilitating the activity and the public for their immense interest in the activity. We will definitely visit Jamestown again for astronomy outreach activities in future. See more

21.01.2022 Merry Christmas

21.01.2022 https://www.abc.net.au//handmade-outback-observa/12402888

20.01.2022 2020 has been a difficult year for us all. While we halted public outreach in face of the pandemic, we had been busy venturing into other areas of innovation. And that included designing a human settlement on Mars. Our design made it to the elite list of top ten finalists among over 175 teams of engineers, architects and innovators in the International Mars City State Design Competition. This has encouraged us to gather a carefully assembled core team consisting of a precisi...on engineer and astronomy enthusiast, and an IT specialist and businessman with special interest in astronomy innovation, to launch an engineering innovation start-up; MAREEKH (Mars) DESIGN. Mareekh Design will test the feasibility and parameters of our engineering concept of the human habitats designed for Mars and offer space agencies and private ventures embarking on human colonization on Mars to use our design to make humanity's next giant leap a reality. In future (hopefully from 2021), we will start raising public awareness about our engineering start-up through public outreach, and spread the word. See more

20.01.2022 Next day on 25th August, we drove the observatory to Whyalla and set up for astronomy outreach in Jubilee Park. Sky was clear and seeing was good. As usual, PK ...kept public busy with his views of solar prominences through H-Alpha telescope in the day time. Nearly 50-70 people viewed the Sun streamed on the screen. In the evening, over 100 people were treated with great views of Saturn, Omega Centauri, and Jupiter with Io casting its shadow on the planet. Public's enthusiasm for the astronomy outreach activity was very encouraging and Whyalla would definitely be one of our favourite destinations for astronomy outreach in future. We especially thank Gail Rostig of Whyalla Council and local astronomer Bert for bringing his Dobsonian to the event. See more

18.01.2022 Welcome to Murray Hull Observatory, named so to honour the man behind the construction of this observatory many decades ago in a bushland near Quorn in Flinders Ranges, South Australia. This observatory has stood against the elements for decades as an abandoned crumbling structure. We have embarked on the task of restoring it back to its former glory. Thanks to Ashley J. Parkinson and Matthew Britza whose support in its restoration will go a long way in bringing this observat...ory back to life for the benefit of the local community. At Southern Cross Outreach Observatory Project (SCOOP), we have taken up its restoration as our project for this year while our public outreach activities with the mobile observatory are on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic. We subjected the observatory to the test run for planetary viewing on 13th October 2020. We used Skywatcher 200mm Newtonian on Orion Atlas Pro Altaz/EQ-G mount. Seeing was optimal and we managed to do some decent astrophotography of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (posted below) using ZWO 120MC planetary imager. The roller dome worked relatively well despite having one wheel missing. We now intend to carry out further restoration including reinforcement of the dome aperture, installation of roller shutter, installation of missing wheel and door, and paint the interior and exterior. We noted that the slightly irregular shape of the dome is inherent to the design and we will leave it as such. Later, with public and council's support, we may be able to construct equipment shade, public toilet, a pergola, and restoration of the dirt road leading up to the observatory. See more

16.01.2022 As we are hoping for COVID-19 restriction to be eased gradually, we can now plan for our next public outreach run in regional South Australia in September 2020. Our destinations this year are intended to be Jamestown, Quorn, Beltana, Marree, and possibly Port Pirie and Whyalla. This time our main aim would be to raise donation for restoration of an old, abandoned observatory near Quorn. We will start contacting local councils and key people to request help in facilitation of this donation run through public outreach astronomy. Further details and updates to follow.

13.01.2022 Our intended destinations for 2020 are Jamestown, Quorn, Beltana, Marree, Whyalla and Port Pirie, starting from May 2020. However, due to the developing situation of COVID-19 (Corona Virus) Pandemic and risk of spread of infection through social gatherings, we will be withholding any upcoming public excursions until deemed safe to do so.

12.01.2022 Another honourable mention. It is really time for governments to bump up the effort and find ways to implement our proposal or something similar. https://cosmosmagazine.com//expl/iss-struck-by-space-junk/

10.01.2022 Proud moment for SCOOP as Australian Parliament has published our proposal on developing Australia's space industry on their website. We proposed development of a network of mobile observatories throughout Australia digitally connected with each other creating a huge single instrument for the purpose of accurate tracking of space debris and gathering data of highest precision for the safety of space missions. This data will also help in effective deorbiting of the space debris using ground-based laser with high precision and confidence, eventually clearing the low and high Earth orbits of the swarm of space junk. Our submission (No. 6) can be downloaded from the official website of Australian Parliament through the following link. https://www.aph.gov.au//Industry/SpaceIndustry/Submissions

09.01.2022 https://www.newscientist.com//2218951-nobel-prize-in-phy/

08.01.2022 We are glad to see recognition of our concept of creating a network of mobile observatories for space situational awareness from other experts in the field :-) https://cosmosmagazine.com//astr/space-debris-scoop-it-up/

05.01.2022 https://www.abc.net.au//telescope-appears-at-defe/12050094

04.01.2022 23rd Aug 2019: We conducted public outreach astronomy in the grounds of Loxton High School. Padraic Koen conducted day time solar astronomy through his Lunt 60mm H-Alpha telescope and amazed the public with the views of solar prominences streaming on the tablet screen. Seeing was very good. The activity was mainly attended by school students and few families. Public was treated with views of Saturn, Jupiter, Omega Centauri and few other star clusters through our Celestron C-11 telescope on Skywatcher EQ8 mount inside the observatory. Nearly 50 people attended the day time solar astronomy session and nearly 40 attended the night time viewing. We are thankful to Sue Schultz of Loxton Council and Shannon Tootell of Loxton High School for facilitating the activity and helping to make it possible.

04.01.2022 The pandemic has affected us all. For public safety, we halted our public outreach for 2020 and 2021. We hope that once the restrictions are eased off, we will plan to resume our public outreach in the year 2022. During this time, were busy in doing something truly out of this world...designed a city on Mars and grabbed a place in the book "Mars City States; New Societies for a New World" by The Mars Society. This book is a compilation of top twenty ideas out of hundreds of s...ubmissions from all over the world for designing a human city on Mars. Our engineering design based on our patent pending Craterhab Technology even made it to the cover of the book. In February 2020, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced his ambitious plan for establishing a city of one million people on Mars. Mars Society's founder Dr Robert Zubrin after a meeting with Elon Musk, announced an international competition for designing such a city on Mars, from its engineering design to its logistic and economic perspectives. Among hundreds of submissions from all over the world, our design for a million strong civilization on Mars; MAREEKH, made it to the elite list of top ten finalists. Our patent pending Craterhab Technology is more than a mere architectural design. It is a comprehensive and multimodal engineering solution to the challenges a human settlement on Mars will have to endure; from small bases to the establishment of a modern human civilization there, based on the currently available technology. Our technology can be harnessed by any present day venture like SpaceX or NASA embarking on making humans an interplanetary race, for the safety and success of establishing a permanent human presence on the red planet. We are immensely thankful to Dr Robert Zubrin and Elon Musk for their vision of the next age of human civilization; the interplanetary age, and giving us an opportunity to be a part of this equation. - Dr Muhammad Akbar Hussain Co-founder and CEO, Mareekh Design www.mareekh.com

03.01.2022 We are keeping a very close eye on the developing COVID-19 situation in Victoria, and it might only be a matter of time when new social restriction may come in force in South Australia as a matter of precaution. This may mean cancellation of any upcoming outreach activities this year altogether. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

02.01.2022 We are thankful to the House Standing Committee for this recognition and an opportunity to comment on the inquiry.

01.01.2022 Completed astronomy outreach run for National Science Week 2019. The observatory clocked 7000 km today on Australian roads since its launch in 2016 and is going strong.

01.01.2022 We are thankful to the Australian Parliament's Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources for giving us an opportunity to forward our proposal of establishing a network of mobile observatories for Space Situational Awareness for Australian Space Agency.