Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy Matariki course

An #astronomy and #astrotourism course for the public with a special emphasis on #Matariki is coming to Napier in June. The dates will be the afternoon of Friday June 20 to 5 pm on Sunday June 22.

The course is being offered by the #Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy (AAA), a non-profit organization founded in 2021 by Professor John Hearnshaw, Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Canterbury University, and Nalayini Davies, who was until recently President of the #Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. She is now the president of DarkSky International, based in Tucson Arizona.

The #AAA website at https://aaanz.org gives more details and accepts on-line registrations.
AAA gives immersive courses over 2½ days for anyone who wants to be inspired by the beauty of the night sky and wants to learn more about the stars and how to observe them using binoculars or a small telescope.

The course will offer an intensive programme of talks and practical workshops, including night-time observing, and will have seven instructors from New Zealand’s most knowledgeable astronomy and astrotourism experts. Practical advice on astrophotography and on Māori astronomy and Matariki will be part of the AAA course. The course is for anyone wanting to learn how to appreciate the beauty of the night sky and learn more about the stars. No previous astronomy knowledge was required.

The main course venue will be the #Holt Planetarium in Chambers St, Napier.
Bruce Ngataierua, the Holt Planetarium director, will give a talk on Matariki and Te Arorangi Māori at the course. In addition, Dr Steve Chadwick, whose book Imaging the Southern Sky has been much acclaimed, will also be a course instructor. He is from #Massey University in Palmerston North. John Drummond from Gisborne's Possum Observatory will also offer a workshop on practical astrophotography. Alan Gilmore from Mt John Observatory will discuss the best objects to look at in the southern sky. Prof John Hearnshaw will talk about coordinates and time in astronomy, naming systems for stars and the fundamentals of stellar astrophysics. Nalayini Davies will give a practical workshop on establishing an astrotourism business. Gareth Davies will discuss practical tips for astrotourism guides and present the Unistellar EVscope.

Rebecca Stone from Stonesthrow Consulting, will be the manager of the Napier AAA course.

More details and on-line registrations are at https://aaanz.org; enquiries to info@aaanz.org.

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