INTRODUCTION TO ASTRONOMY
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I wonder what you are?
Have you ever looked up into the dark night sky in the country and seen the
millions of points of light up there? Well, most of these twinkles of light are
of course, stars. Some of the lights which seem to change position from night to
night are Planets in our Solar System and one of course, is the Moon.
Would you like to know more about these celestial bodies? Would you like to know
how they came to be in the sky?
Do you want to find out what the stars and the planets are made of?
Do you think it would be nice if you could astound your grandchildren with the
fact that you could identify some of these stars and planets and locate them?
You could learn about the origin of our wonderful Universe, how to find and identify constellations such as Scorpious the Scorpion, Orion the Hunter, Taurus the Bull and even identify the Southern Cross and the two stars called the Pointers. You will even be able to find Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
The Astronomy Class can answer questions such as “What are supernovas? What is a nebula? What is a galaxy?”, and many more. It is proposed to form an Astronomy Group to meet for about one hour each week at Croydon U3A.
No knowledge of Astronomy is needed to enjoy this activity. Not even a
telescope.
Of course, Astronomy is not only for men! There are many lady Astronomers in the
world and quite a lot have made significant discoveries. So the ladies would be
very welcome in the Astronomy Group.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
Evening Sky Map
If you would like to download the Evening Sky Map that will help you to:
• identify planets, stars and major constellations
• find sparkling star clusters, wispy nebulae & distant galaxies
• locate and follow bright comets across the sky
• learn about the night sky and astronomy
It is available at this website:
http://skymaps.com/downloads.html
Links to websites about Astronomy.
http://www.astronomyonline.com.au/
Research and Visitor Centres
http://www.astromelb.i.net.au/
http://www.mpas.websyte.com.au/
http://asa.astronomy.org.au/
Space Program
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/



