The 10th Annual Messier Star Party is on again at our unique dark sky site, the LMDSS. The night is a must for all budding deep sky observers with or without a telescope. Come along and enjoy the afternoon discussions of what the night sky will have on offer. Plan your nights viewing with the many experienced observers on hand. Then tick off your conquests as the night unfolds. Basic observing sheets will be available onsite or download your own and bring it along.

There will be the society's own and many members' telescopes to look through, if you do not have your own. So enjoy Perry's Messier inspired "sky for the night" before returning to start your observing marathon. Later enjoy a free hot chocolate and compare notes with other keen observers. ** Charles Messier was an 18th Century French astronomer who was an avid comet hunter. He catalogued objects that looked similar to comets for others to avoid. These "M" objects are amongst the best deep sky objects seen in the night sky. They include star clusters, galaxies and various nebulae.

Full Program details are available from HERE (requires "Adobe Acrobat Reader" installed on your system). 

There is also a valuable Astrophotography prize to be won on the night. The prize is a complete and packaged version of Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended.

To enter, all you need to do is attend the Messier Star Party on Saturday 13th March 2010 and submit an A4 print of your own astronomical image,  plus written details about the image to Phil Hart,  Director Astrophotography Section,  before 4pm on the day. The winner will be selected at random (ie. there is no judging of technical or aesthetic merit) as we simply want to encourage you to try your hand at astrophotography and share the results. Full description of the rules and requirements are available from HERE.

Location: Dark Sky Site
When:  Saturday 13March 2010

March Monthly Meeting Date: Wed. 10th March, 8pm Venue: National Herbarium, Birdwood Ave., Melbourne Guest Speaker: Shane Carmody (State Library of Victoria) Topic: The Great Books of Astronomy?- The State Library of Victoria has a remarkable collection of key works in the history of Astronomy. Beginning with a manuscript copy of Ptolemy's Almagest from the first quarter of the thirteenth century, and now considered by leading scholars to be the oldest surviving copy of the Latin translation, through to a first edition of John Flamsteed's posthumous Celestial Atlas, a copy with an extraordinary provenance, these books show the development of the western science of Astronomy. In this talk, Shane Carmody, Director of Collections and Access will take us on an intellectual journey spanning over 500 years spiced with some stories that the journeys these books have had in finding their way into the collection, for as fascinating as their authors and contents might be, the people that have owned them or used them reflect an extraordinary range of scientists, collectors and explorers. All are welcome, there is no cost and supper is provided. Looking forward to seeing you there. Special Reminder: The ASV Library is now open following the meeting, as well as the usual opening prior to the meeting.  Perry Vlahos, President