Maleny District Sport & Recreation Club Community Newsletter
Monday, 5 July 2021
Maleny District Sport & Recreation Club Community Newsletter The It’s of cial! The Astronomical Society of Australia, Australia's peak professional astronomy organisation, has recognised the Brisbane Astronomical Society's operations at Maleny Golf Club as a designated observatory. (An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed). Now to be known as The Maleny Observatory, this formal recognition acknowledges the educational and community contribution made by BAS members through their events and excellent facilities.
Maleny Observatory members show visitors any visible planets, as well as many deep-sky objects such as galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. The Standards Association of Australia and New Zealand also recognises the need for restrictions on outdoor lighting in the vicinity of designated observatories, so this recognition will also assist in preserving the Maleny Precinct’s night skies. The effects of light pollution impacts on astronomers more severely because of the way it diminishes the view of the
night sky. In most major cities, the night sky is now almost invisible to the naked eye apart from a few of the brighter stars. Light pollution, while not as well known as some of the more toxic pollutants such as oil, chemicals and plastic bags etc, is nevertheless still a major concern. Light pollution has a detrimental effect not only on professional and amateur astronomy, but it also impacts on those parts of the ecosystem, such as nocturnal animals, that are reliant on dark night skies. Light pollution has become a recognised menace. However it can
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The astronomers are seeking to preserve the night sky from light pollution and share the wonders of the stars with the Sunshine Coast community, with their public star gazing events growing rapidly in popularity since they started developing events at the Maleny Golf Club in 2017. Maleny Golf Club unof cially become the "local" dark sky observing site, and at their informative evenings, the BAS
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Maleny District Sport and Recreation Club Inc
https://malenysportandrec.org.au/