National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers

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The National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers (NACAA) is a biennial national forum for amateur astronomy in Australia.

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In 1966 two enthusiastic amateur astronomical groups, the James Cook Astronomers Club (now called the Sutherland Astronomical Society) and the Canberra Astronomical Society met in Katoomba to discuss holding an astronomy convention in Australia. The first national Australian astronomy convention was subsequently held over Easter in Canberra in 1967, jointly hosted by the James Cook Astronomers Club and the Pacific Astronomical Society (both Sydney-based organisations). Subsequent conventions were held in Port Macquarie (1968), Ballarat (1969), and Wollongong (1970). After four initial annual conventions, it was agreed to hold the event biennially.

The first convention using the title NACAA was held in Melbourne in 1972, hosted by the Astronomical Society of Victoria. The title was devised by John Perdrix by arranging pieces of cardboard, each with the letter of a suitable word, until an appropriate acronym was found. [1] The pronunciation rhymes with "backer".

The choice of Easter as the date to hold the conventions has been problematical. In the early years, the four-day holiday provided sufficient time for attendees to travel the long distances involved, mostly by car or train. The convention usually began with a welcome reception on the Friday evening and ended on Monday morning with two days of technical sessions in between. Faster transport in later years lead to suggestions to move the event to a three-day holiday weekend instead. The absence of a common holiday weekend shared by all Australian states has prevented this from happening. Instead, the event has expanded in recent years to include additional workshops and symposia, and to encompass most of the four-day holiday.

An interesting aspect of NACAA is that for nearly forty years there was no national steering committee to co-ordinate the event. The organisation of each NACAA was left entirely to the hosting group or society. This arrangement worked surprisingly well for many years, due mainly to the dedication of a small number of regular attendees from the various amateur societies. However, it suffered from problems such as the financial capacity of the hosting society, the level of understanding of the requirements of hosting the event, etc.

A group of regular attendees decided at the 2006 NACAA, following slowly dwindling attendances over the preceding ten years, to create a body to ensure that the tradition of NACAA would continue. NACAA Inc was incorporated in December 2006, only a few months short of forty years after the first national convention. The new body consists of a Secretariat of seven members, assisted by a local organising and a programme committee.

To date, there have been 24 national astronomy conventions in Australia, as detailed below (from Perdix, 2004. [2] )

YearCityHost(s)
1967CanberraJames Cook Astronomers Club (now called the Sutherland Astronomical Society), Pacific Astronomical Society
1968Port MacquariePort Macquarie Astronomical Association
1969BallaratBallaarat Astronomical Society
1970WollongongIllawarra Astronomical Society
1972Melbourne Astronomical Society of Victoria
1974Adelaide Astronomical Society of South Australia
1976Sydney Astronomical Society of New South Wales
1978CanberraCanberra Astronomical Society
1980GeelongAstronomical Society of Geelong
1982BrisbaneAstronomical Association of Queensland
1984PerthAstronomical Society of Western Australia
1986HobartAstronomical Society of Tasmania
1988Sydney Astronomical Society of New South Wales, British Astronomical Association (NSW Branch), Sutherland Astronomical Society
1990FrankstonAstronomical Society of Frankston (now called the Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society), Astronomical Society of Victoria
1992Adelaide Astronomical Society of South Australia
1994CanberraCanberra Astronomical Society
1996BrisbaneAstronomical Association of Queensland, Southern Astronomical Society, Brisbane Astronomical Society, Southeast Queensland Astronomical Society
1998Sutherland Sutherland Astronomical Society
2000PerthAstronomy WA
2002Adelaide Astronomical Society of South Australia
2004HobartAstronomical Society of Tasmania
2006Frankston Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society
2008PenrithDMR and NACAA Inc
2010CanberraCanberra Astronomical Society
2012BrisbaneAstronomical Association of Queensland
2014Melbourne Astronomical Society of Victoria
2016Sydney Sutherland Astronomical Society

The Astronomical Society of Australia has since 1973 presented the Berenice and Arthur Page Medal (known as the Berenice Page Medal until 2011) to recognise the contributions to astronomical science by Australian amateur astronomers. The Medal has been presented at the NACAA convention dinner since 1986. The recipients to date are: [3]

YearRecipientFor
1973Mr Sid ElwinPhotometric observations of the occultation of Beta' Scorpii by Jupiter
1975Mr Dave HeraldObservations of Baily Beads in the solar eclipse of 20 June 1974
1981 Mr Bill Bradfield The discovery, up to that time, of 11 comets
1983Mr Byron SoulsbyWork on the oblateness of the umbral shadow
1986 Rev'd Robert Evans Visual discoveries of supernovae
1988 Mr Robert McNaught Photographic nova and supernova observations and discoveries
1990Mr Barry AdcockTelescope design work and planetary observations
1992Dr Mal WilkinsonThe design and construction of a radio-telescope and subsequent observations of the Io-Jupiter system and for his development of a model for the emissions
1994Mr Paul CamilleriDiscoveries of novae and Mira variables and the development of simple photographic techniques for nova searches
1996Mr Peter WilliamsExtensive on-going visual observations of variable stars, especially the R Coronae Borealis variables
1998 Mr Gordon Garradd Significant contributions in the observation of asteroids, comets, novae and supernovae
2000Mr Andrew PearceHigh quality visual observations of comets, variable stars and novae
2002The Reynolds Amateur Photometry TeamWork in association with professional astronomers to provide data on objects such as supernovae, blazars and gamma ray bursts, using the Reynolds 30" telescope at Mount Stromlo Observatory
2004Mr Colin BembrickSignificant contributions to astronomy from photometric observations of minor planets
2006Dr Tom RichardsBroad ranging CCD photometry lightcurve observations, particularly of minor planets, variable stars and exoplanet searches
2008Mr John BroughtonSystematic survey for southern declination Near Earth Objects, and numerous occultation timings
2010Mr David GaultSignificant observations of Pluto occultations
2012Mr Anthony WesleyHigh quality observations of the Jovian and Saturnian atmospheres and the discovery of an impact cloud and atmospheric flash on Jupiter.
2014Tim Napier-MunnModelling the factors that affect the resolving of double stars by visual observers.

As well, the Astral Award, originally sponsored by John Perdrix's Astral Press, has been presented for the best presentation at the convention. The recipients of the Astral Award to date are:

YearRecipientTitle of paper
1986Tom CraggCV Aquarii
1988Peter JonesComputer star maps [5] [4]
1990Peter Nelson, JL Blanksby, and AW KruijshoopRecent planetary and lunar occultations by the Occultation Section of the ASV
1992Peter Nelson and Jim ParkObserving mutual phenomena of Jupiter's moons 1991
1994Fraser FarrellThe recruitment and supervision of amateur variable star observers
1996Zac PujicThe Cookbook CB245 CCD camera: evaluation of performance
1998Vello TaburComputer-aided comet hunting
2000Stephen RussellChasing shadows: photographing solar eclipses
2002Colin BembrickMinor planet light curve determination
2004Tom RichardsAmateurs getting violent: black holes, synchrotrons and magnetic flares
2006Jeff ByronItokawa, YORP and the Cecil Sayers Observatory
2008Surjit WadhwaLight Curve Analysis of Contact Binary Stars
2010David O'DriscollRobotic Research for the Amateur Astronomer
2012Tony Dutton, Greg Bond and Julian WestSpectrography and Variable Star Research
2014Saeed SalimpourThe exciting life of Captain Henry Evans Baker

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Perdrix, John L. (April 2000). "Australian amateur astronomical conventions: a history of NACAA". Proceedings of the XIX National Convention of Amateur Astronomers. Perth, WA: Astral Press. pp. 61 ff.
  2. ↑ Perdrix, John L. (April 2004). "Australian amateur astronomical conventions III: Approaching maturity". Proceedings of the XXI National Convention of Amateur Astronomers. Hobart, Tasmania: Astral Press. pp. 100 ff.
  3. ↑ "The Berenice and Arthur Page Medal". asa.astronomy.org.au. The Astronomical Society of Australia Inc. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 Adcock, Barry S. (April 1988). "Measurement of Mars' Pole Cap and Associated Atmospheric Haze". Proceedings of the XIII National Convention of Amateur Astronomers. Sydney, NSW. pp. 111 ff.
  5. ↑ An award for best paper was presented by the host societies to Barry Adcock. [4] The presentation of two awards was probably due to the antagonism of the Convenor towards Perdrix's establishment of the Australian Journal of Astronomy, as evidenced at the delegates meeting (SMR, personal communication)
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