Wellington Astronomical Society is an incorporated society and registered charity for promoting astronomy in and around the Wellington region.
Upcoming Events
Our latest events are always in the Events section of our Facebook Page. (It’s public, so you don’t need to be a Facebook user to see it)
July 2026 Monthly Meeting
When: Wednesday 1st July at 7:30 pm
Where: Space Place, Carter Observatory, 40 Salamanca Road, Kelburn
Meeting will also be on Zoom: Meeting ID 868 3785 7650, Passcode: 155311
Speakers: Chris Murphy
Subject: A journey in astrophotography or how to spend a lot of money and end up alone in the dark
Chris will cover all formats of astrophotography in this talk and how they relate to each other, but he will emphasise the challenges of time lapse in particular. He will also speak about building his own roll-off roof observatory at home.
About our speaker: Chris Murphy has been fascinated by astronomy since he was six years old, when his dad kept him up late to see Halley’s comet through binoculars.
His obsession with astrophotography started in 2012. He started with landscapes around the Wellington region. Chris won a Best Newcomer award in the Greenwich Observatory’s Astronomer of the Year competition 2014.
In 2014, Chris moved to Lake Tekapo to work for Earth & Sky as an astrophotographer. This role involved taking cameras from guests on observatory tours and setting them up for astrophotography on an equatorial mount that could hold five cameras simultaneously. This was a fast way to learn the strengths and weaknesses of different cameras and navigate the menu systems of almost every DSLR and lens combination on the market.
In his own time he compiled around four years’ worth of weekend and overnight trips shooting timelapse sequences around Aoraki-Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve.
After moving to Martinborough in 2021, Chris built a home observatory that houses a 14″ telescope allowing remote deep-sky imaging. He currently runs “Under the Stars” mobile stargazing experiences in the Wairarapa region.
(Note that although our monthly meetings are open to all, only members of the Wellington Astronomy Society may submit targets for selection. You can join here – and it’s half price until the new financial year starts on 1 September.)
Dark sky observing
WAS Astrophotography Group / Dark Sky Observing
When: Saturday the 4th and 11th of July from 6:00 pm onwards. Weather permitting.
Where: Star Field, John Whitby’s dark sky site in the southern Wairarapa.
New Moon is on 14 July. Matariki is 11 July.
‘Star Field is at the heart of the newly accredited Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, the second dark sky reserve in Aotearoa NZ. (The first is the Aoraki/Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve in the South Island.)
If you’ve never seen the night sky from a dark-sky site before, this will be unforgettable. Antony will give you a tour of the sky with his laser pointer before we get on the telescopes. There is also a lot of expertise available for anyone wanting to photograph the night sky.
This is a free members-only Society event. (To join Wellington Astronomical Society: here’s the link.) Members are most welcome to bring friends but please let us know in advance. Non-members pay $20 each to attend; children $5.
How to register: Contacting us through Facebook Messenger or by emailing events@was.org.nz if you are planning to go. Please include your email address and mobile number in the message text if using Facebook Messenger. Directions to the site and any updates will be emailed out. You are welcome to spend the night on-site (in your tent or in your car), but please tell us if you intend to do so.
What to bring:
Warm clothes, as it gets pretty cold at night, beanie, gloves etc.
Snacks if you want.
Warm drinks are provided.
A warm room is available if you need warming up.
A flush toilet is available on-site.
For astrophotography, bring:
A DSLR or mirrorless camera,
A wide angle lens (preferably),
A tripod to fix the camera to.
Be careful with car headlights when you arrive. With people taking photos, please keep lights to a minimum (use red lights if you can), especially car headlights (use parking lights).
This event will be updated on the WAS Facebook page by the afternoon of the day of the event if the weather forecast is not looking good.
For those just interested in Deep Sky observing, telescopes will be provided unless you want to bring your own.
Star Field is a dark sky site made available to members of the Wellington Astronomical Society through the generosity of John Whitby.
Outreach News
Holly writes: The WAS Outreach Team is a group of volunteers who bring astronomy to schools, community groups, and public events.
A special thank you to the new volunteers who joined us this month!
Upcoming Events
Free Public Events
Matariki Waterfront Stargazing – 10 July (backup day 11 July), 5:00 am–7:30 am.
We will set the telescopes up next to the lagoon on the Wellington waterfront.
Dark Sky Trek, Wainuiomata – 6:00 pm, 22 August.
In conjunction with Greater Wellington. For details and booking go to here. Ticket sales open 10:00 am on 14 July and usually sell out quickly.
Private Events
Shooting the Stars, Wainuiomata Redwood School visit Wellington Family Court Association talk Plus several tentative bookings
Interested in helping? No telescope experience is needed.
Our events rely on volunteers, and everyone is welcome to join the team. If you can help, please contact Jeremy
Recent events June Outreach Highlights
In June, we partnered with Wellington City Council for a bike ride and stargazing event at Cummings Park, Ngaio. We also visited Northland School, where breaks in the clouds allowed views of the Moon, Venus, Alpha Centauri, and the Jewel Box Cluster.
Unfortunately, poor weather led to the cancellation of the first Wainuiomata Dark Sky event, but we have plenty more events planned in the months ahead.
Interested in attending ad hoc viewing events?
We have set up a WhatsApp group for the Outreach team and any WAS members who are interested in hearing about events. Please send me your phone number and I can add you to the group.
For information on WhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com/
– Holly McClelland, Outreach
Cretney Observatory News
Holly’s icebreaker question at a recent workshop was, ‘Tell the other people in your group what three things you would take with you to the ISS.’ Randy Pollock, who leads the Space team at the Robinson Research Institute in Gracefield, was attending online. ‘My answer is OCO-3 (2019), EMIT (2022), and Hēki (2025).’ As you can see from the dates, his three things have all gone to the ISS!
Professor Randy Pollock will be speaking to us at our meeting on 5 August about the Hēki Mission, how the magnet performed during its extended time on the ISS, and next steps for high-temperature superconductors in space.