The Cairns Astronomy Group Web Page

History and philosophy of the Group.

The Cairns Astronomy Group was established in August of 1989, following a TAFE course where Richard Free held an observing night. Tropical Cairns is not an ideal location for astronomy, with many a cloudy night, especially from November to May (the "Wet Season") and a fair amount of light pollution with the city now a major regional center.

The group has always been small in number, we send E-mails to about 20 members, and would have about 8 people at an average meeting. Because of the poor observing opportunities during the "Wet Season", we only hold meetings from June to November.(Latest Newsletter)

Although the Group goes into recess during the wet season, I (James Bak) am always happy to hear from fellow amateur astronomers, and anyone wanting to attend a meeting. Please feel free to contact me at any time of the year.( Contact Details)

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held in June, 2010, at James Bak’s, 18 Whitton Street, White Rock . All are welcome, non-members please contact me before attending.

A Typical Meeting.

The meetings mainly consist of observing from my backyard with my 300mm scope. People start arriving at about 7:30 pm., and providing the weather is clear we go outside and start observing. Depending on the number of people, observing conditions, and the wishes of those present, we stop for a break at about 9:00 pm.

During the break the astronomy group provides a choice of either coke, lemonade, tea or coffee and members usually bring along snacks, which almost always end up being shared amongst everybody. Newsletters and other information from other astronomy groups and astronomy organizations are put on the table for people to peruse and perhaps discuss. On cloudy nights especially, the discussions vary over a large range of topics, not necessarily about astronomy.

After the break we go outside to do some more observing if possible. The Earth rotates a fair bit during the break and new objects are available for observation for those members who are keen to get in more observing. People arrive and depart at all times during the meetings, and are welcome to do so. I would say that most members would arrive at about 7:45 pm and leave about 10:00 pm.

Links to information sent to the Cairns Astronomy Group

Tsutomu Seki's Web Page