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)
August 2026 Monthly Meeting
When: Wednesday 12th August at 7:30 pm – one week later than usual
Where: Space Place, Carter Observatory, 40 Salamanca Road, Kelburn
Meeting will also be on Zoom: Meeting ID 868 3785 7650, Passcode: 155311
Speakers: Randy Pollock and Betina Pavri
Subject: Hēki: back from the ISS
The Hēki technology demonstration experiment recently completed 5 months of operations on the International Space Station. Hēki was designed, built, and tested at Paihau-Robinson Research Institute – part of Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University of Wellington – and was developed in collaboration with contributors from across Aotearoa New Zealand. Hēki demonstrated operation of a high-temperature superconducting magnet in space and is part of a broader effort to increase the efficiency of spacecraft thrusters, making their operation more sustainable. Join us to hear about Hēki, its companion lab-based effort Kōkako, and what challenges the team will tackle next!
About our speaker: Professor Randy Pollock is Chief Engineer for Space at Paihau-Robinson Research Institute. Before joining the Robinson Research Institute in 2022, he worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he had engineering, science, and leadership roles in the development of several science instruments for NASA missions, including serving as the Chief Engineer for the SHERLOC instrument on the Mars Perseverance rover.
Betina Pavri is a Senior Principal Engineer at Paihau-Robinson Research Institute. She previously worked for several decades at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, supporting a diverse array of projects including the AVIRIS airborne spectrometer, the Dawn Mission to visit the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, and assembly, test, and operations for the Mars Curiosity Rover.
Dark sky observing
WAS Astrophotography Group / Dark Sky Observing
When: Saturday 8 August (backup 15 August) from 6:00 pm onwards. Weather permitting.
Where: Star Field, John Whitby’s dark sky site in the southern Wairarapa.
New Moon is on 13 August.
‘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
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
Kelburn Scouts
Redwood School
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
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
Curator of Instruments Matt Balkham has been having more fun with the Dwarf Labs telescopes, as you can see from the images below. He writes: ‘We’ve been continuing to test the DwarfLab Mini and Dwarf 3 smart telescopes. We’ve done solar, Milky Way, and deep sky targets. You’ll see these telescopes at upcoming observing events and will have the chance to try them out. We have brochures for each model for anyone considering buying them and there is a WAS discount. Please contact us for the discount code.
