2011 VASTROC (Weekend of Friday April 29th to Sunday May 1st)

[7thcrewmember (Brett)]

2011 VASTROC (Weekend of Friday April 29th to Sunday May 1st)

For more than twenty years now astronomical societies around Victoria have been getting together every two years at an event called VASTROC [Victorian Astronomy Convention].

The VASTROC is an opportunity to get to know the other Victorian societies and meet like-minded amateurs from across the state to share stories, experiences and hopefully come away with new ideas about amateur astronomy. The convention is a mixture of social get-togethers, special topic discussions and in some cases How-To Workshops. VASTROC events are hosted by Victorian Societies and each event moves from society to society. Interstate attendees are also always welcome.

The Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society will host the 2011 VASTROC over the weekend of April 29th to May 1st, and we hope to attract participation from all the Victorian societies.

While the detailed activities programme for the 2011 VASTROC is still coming together, we hope to have workshops on instrument making, astrophotography, projects for amateurs plus how-to observing programmes, public education activities and the ever popular open forums.

The venue for the 2011 VASTROC will be the Briars Camp and our nearby MPAS ‘Briars Astronomy Centre’, Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula.

The ‘Call for Presentations’ information form is now on the society webpage, for downloading. Registration information will be uploaded by the end of January. For all VASTROC information, please visit our website at: http://www.mpas.asn.au/vastroc_2011.htm

We look forward to seeing you at the 2011 VASTROC.

[Dave47tuc (David)]

This is a great event held over many years.

People from all Victorian societies are welcome to participate and I'm sure the MPAS would love to see new people come along.

[Big Dave (Dave)]

I'm in!

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

I will be there too. What else are you going to do, stay at home and eat those left over Easter eggs!

[7thcrewmember (Brett)]

Just an update:

The registration form is now available on the website.

http://www.mpas.asn.au/vastroc_2011.htm

A map and general information is available on the registration form.

And for any out-of-town attendees, some limited bunkhouse style accommodation is available, too.

[7thcrewmember (Brett)]

Sorry for the break between news about VASTROC 2011

A timely reminder that the VASTROC 2011 is just over a week away, on the weekend of Friday 29th of April, to Sunday 1st of May. The venue for the VASTROC 2011 will be the Briars Camp and our nearby MPAS ‘Briars Astronomy Centre’, Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula.

We are getting the program of speakers and time slots together, hence we haven't got a published program available yet.

However the confirmed presentations at VASTROC 2011 will include:

• Keynote speaker Prof. Jeremy Mould (Melb. Uni.) speaking about the 'Square Kilometre Array'.

• Dr. MacEwan Wright speaking about 'When will the Human Race find evidence of life elsewhere?'

• Judith Bailey speaking about 'Plate Tectonics and Tides'

• Treavor Hand's presentation on "Building Astronomical Models'

• Dr. John Wilkinson speaking about his new book 'The Moon in Close-Up'.

• Darren Bellingham's workshop on 'Eclipse 2012'.

• My presentation on 'Pods, Pads, Tabs and Phones'

• Greg Walton on "ATM and Telescope Restoration"

• Barry Adcock's talk on "The Thermal Properties of Glasses"

• Ian Sullivan speaking about the "The Prague Astronomical Clock"

• John Morieson's and Alex Cherney's presentation on 'Aboriginal Astronomy of North West Victoria'

• Perry Vlahos, Barry Cleland, Ray Schmidt, and Ken Beard presentation on 'Mt Burnett Observatory – Past and Future'

• Clint Jeffrey's presentation about 'A.S.V. - Radio Astronomy Section'

• Paul Albers' talk on 'Communication Using Meteor Showers'

• Peter Lowe speaking about 'Is Technology Killing Amateur Science'

Registration information is still available on our website at: http://www.mpas.asn.au/vastroc_2011.htm

We look forward to seeing you at the VASTROC 2011.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

That's a great looking program Brett!

[7thcrewmember (Brett)]

Yeah, VASTROC is finally here!

For anyone still thinking of attending this weekend, here is the link to the program for the weekend.

http://www.mpas.asn.au/vastroc/Vastroc_Program2011.pdf

The first page is Stream 1, which will see presentations held up at the Briars Camp.

The second page is Stream 2 which will see presentations, discussions, or workshops held in the Main Observing Facility shed - sometimes in parallel to Stream 1.

Details about the event can also be found on our VASTROC 2011 webpage:

http://www.mpas.asn.au/vastroc_2011.htm

We hope to see you at VASTROC 2011