I don't know if this has already been publicised? I got the press release earlier today.
But this is taking place this Friday....April 3...as part of the IYA and 100 Hours of Astronomy.
5 Aussie telescopes are taking part in the webcast that allows members of the public to view the sky from professional observatories around the world and in space. Looks like a lot of fun:
Around the world in 80 telescopes
See stars from the comfort of home
The 100 Hours of Astronomy event, which will see literally millions of eyes around the world trained skyward this weekend, kicks off tomorrow (April 2). But people can take part in two of the major events of the 100 Hours from Friday night without leaving the comfort of home.
The online webcast Around the World in 80 Telescopes, will take viewers inside the most high-tech professional observatories both on and off the planet, while the 100 Hours of Remote Astronomy allows members of the public control of a telescope online.
Around the World in 80 Telescopes
You can put yourself into the shoes of an astronomer – unique scientists whose night-time escapades produce some of their greatest work – for a 24-hour period.
Around the World in 80 Telescopes starts at 8pm Australian Eastern Daylight time on Friday April 3. The webcast will begin with observatories on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and move west across New Zealand, Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, Antarctica and the Americas, finishing on the west coast of the US. All the details are posted at www.100hoursofastronomy.org.
The webcast will feature advanced astronomical observatories on earth and in space, using visible light, radio waves or other wavelengths. Observatories will be observing distant galaxies, searching for planets around other stars and studying our own solar system. You will be able to see images of the cosmos, send in questions and discover what astronomers are doing, on the spot.
Five Australian telescopes — the Anglo-Australian Telescope near Coonabarabran (webcasting from 11pm local time, April 3); CSIRO’s Parkes telescope (webcasting at 11.20am local time, April 4); the Mount Pleasant radio telescope of the University of Tasmania
(12 noon local time, April 4); the Australian International Gravitational Observatory in Gingin, WA (9.20am local time, April 4) and the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope near Queanbeyan (3.40pm local time, April 4) — are taking part.
Other observatories include the Kepler Mission, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the IceCube Neutrino Telescope at the South Pole. A timetable is at: http://100hoursofastronomy.org/progr...vatory-webcast