Amateur contributions to professional Astronomy

Presenter(s): Renato Langersek

Affiliation(s): Astronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ), Trans Tasman Occultation Alliance (TTOA)

Session details: Sunday, 2026-04-05 04:30:00

Abstract

Renato Langersek will be discussing his work on occultations, including:

• His participation in a NASA–tasked South West Research Institute expedition to the Northern Territory to observe a stellar light curve during Pluto’s occultation.
• Expeditions to Western Australia and the central United States to measure light curves of stellar occultations by the asteroids Patroclus and Menoetius.

As a highlight, he will also cover the groundbreaking discovery of the Q1R ring system around the minor planet Quaoar—an observation made by a group of Queensland amateurs during a Lucky Star Occultation event. This discovery has had a significant impact on planetary physics.

Biography

Renato Langersek has been interested in astronomy from a young age and was a member of an astronomical work group in his hometown in Austria. He also volunteered at a public observatory. Trained as a Radiocommunications and Electronics Engineer, he aspired to move from his homeland in Austria to distant Australia. While waiting for his migration visa, he used the time to study specialized astronomy subjects at the University of Vienna. After migrating to Australia, Renato provided opto-electronic repair services for many years to several Australian distributors of electronically controlled telescopes. More recently, as a highly motivated citizen astronomer, he built a backyard observatory in suburban Brisbane, which he equipped with high-speed optical instruments. His main research interests include asteroidal occultation timings and high-speed photometry of bright stars during lunar occultations (at frame rates up to 1,000 frames per second), as well as asteroidal occultations of stars down to 16th magnitude. Renato has contributed data from numerous celestial occultation events to both amateur and professional astronomical institutions. He has also participated in NASA-funded South West Research Institute occultation campaigns in the Northern Territory to measure Pluto’s atmosphere and has taken part in reconnaissance missions for NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, observing the Trojan asteroids Patroclus and Menoetius in Western Australia, Queensland, and the central United States. Renato is an active member of the Astronomical Association of Queensland and contributes to its Education Section.