40 Years Behind the Telescope; how a starry-eyed school kid turned into a “real” astronomer

Affiliation(s): MSSSO

Session details: Saturday, 2012-04-07 10:00:00, TBA

Abstract

The talk covers my progression from a high-school lad paying 6d to see the Moon at a school fete, through 42 years of astronomical research during what I class as the Heroic Age of Australian Astronomy. From 1965 to the mid1990s I was fortunate to be able to use (and in many cases help commission) many telescopes and instruments, as well as being involved in major research programs. The emphasis will be on the way that programs and instrumentation changed during that time – from the photographic plate of the 1960s to the CCDs and multi-object integral field instruments of today. there will be many tales of mayhem and mishap during the testing of new telescopes and instruments, and some stories of offbeat characters met along the way.

Biography

Vince was a research astronomer at Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring observatories for 41 years. He has published over 30 research papers and used every major optical and radio telescope in Australia. For 30 years he has lectured to, and run stargazing sessions for, audiences from preschoolers to university students and the general public. He had regular slots with many radio stations, and was media contact at times of newsworthy astronomical events. Vince was staff astronomer at Stromlo Observatory Visitors Centre, responsible for exhibit design, educational programmes and training explainers. In 1998 he was awarded the Michael Daley Eureka Prize for the Promotion of Science, and in 2008 was awarded a Rotary International Vocational Excellence Award.