About NACAA XXVI (Melbourne 2014) – NACAA – National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers

The Astronomical Society of Victoria hosted the 26th NACAA over the Easter 2014 weekend. It was an outstanding success, with over four days of the event featuring more than 60 presentations covering the diverse range of amateur astronomy activities in Australia and beyond.

Activities

Richard Gillespie’s keynote address on the past and future of the Great Melbourne Telescope
Padma Yanamandra-Fisher talking about the role of amateur astronomers in planetary science
An entertaining after-dinner talk by Andrew Prentice on the formation of the solar system
The Perdrix Address, delivered by Barry Adcock
The 8th Trans-Tasman Symposium on Occultations, broadcast to the world
Workshops on occultation timing, spectroscopy, and robotic telescopes
A tour of the workshops where the Great Melbourne Telescope is being restored by Museum Victoria and the ASV
A tour of the Old Melbourne Observatory
An excursion to the Great Melbourne Telescope workshops at Museum Victoria, and the Farewell Function at the Herbarium in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens (Sunday afternoon/evening)

The 2014 Page Medal was presented at the convention dinner to Tim Napier-Munn for his work to model the factors that affect the resolving of double stars by visual observers. The Astral Award for best presentation went to Saeed Salimpour who spoke on the exciting life of Captain Henry Evans Baker.

Venue

[To be completed — venue details for NACAA XXVI, Melbourne 2014.]

Accommodation

[To be completed — accommodation details for NACAA XXVI, Melbourne 2014.]

Transport

Two NACAA XXVI activities were held off-site on the Sunday afternoon and evening: the excursion to the Great Melbourne Telescope workshops at Museum Victoria, and the Farewell Function at the Herbarium in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. A questionnaire was used to coordinate transport between Rydges Bell City (the conference hotel) and these venues.