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The Astronomical Society of New South Wales (ASNSW) is an amateur astronomy club in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1954 and it has over 400 members, making it one of the oldest and largest such clubs in the country. Its members have a record of significant research accomplishments and public outreach activities. The Society's objectives are stated in its constitution as follows: "The ASNSW exists to bring together people interested in Astronomy and related sciences, and to promote public interest and education in Astronomy. The ASNSW provides members and the general public access to Astronomical observing facilities, educational lectures, and assistance in selecting, using and even building telescopes and related instruments."〔 The Society has sections dedicated to providing support for members interested in specific aspects of astronomy, including astrophotography, computing, solar observing, the Solar System, double and variable star observing, deep sky observing and telescope making. It also runs two dedicated observing sites, one at Mount Bowen near Sydney and the other near the country town of Ilford, far from the city lights. ==History== The Society was founded in 1954 as the "Sydney Amateur Astronomers" by Gordon Patston, an aerospace engineer lecturing at Sydney Technical College. The club started with about fifteen members, and Patston was the president. The first meetings were held in the garage behind Patston's house in the suburb of Belfield. As the group attracted new members, it soon out-grew the garage, and the Patston family allowed their backyard to be used to build a permanent clubhouse. Nearly all the work was done by club volunteers, and on 18 September 1959 the new facility was officially opened by the internationally famous astronomer Bart Bok, then Director of Mount Stromlo Observatory. This gave the club a sense of purpose and importance, and the club grew rapidly to become a leading amateur astronomy organisation. The club was very active through the late 1950s and 1960s, with general-interest events such as public open nights, and sections for special purposes such as a very active junior section. It also worked with professional observers on a number of research projects, including a flare star observing program at the request of the CSIRO, and measuring transits of artificial satellites across the moon as part of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's "Project Moonwatch". After the first Sputnik launch on 4 October 1957, a program for observing artificial satellites was set up at very short notice, and it succeeded in being the first group in the world to see the first satellite, Sputnik I, in October 1957〔 and they went on to record three of the first four Sputnik observations.〔〔Campbell, Leon from the Optical Satellite Tracking Program of the ''International Geophysical Year'', cited in 〕 In 1964, the society's name was changed to the "Astronomical Society of New South Wales", to better reflect the scope of its membership. In 1969/70, the Society suffered two major setbacks. First, the Society lost its headquarters when the Council re-zoned and subdivided the Patstons' block of land, and it was sold. Second, the Society lost its president when Gordon Patston moved to England to take up a Churchill Fellowship studying aeronautical engineering. That combination of events caused severe financial hardship for the club, and the lack of a permanent venue initially made it difficult to attract and retain members; at its lowest point in the mid-1970s, membership numbers dropped to less than fifty.〔 It took nearly ten years to build membership back up to previous levels.〔 In 1973 the Society acquired a long-term lease from the government for the Crago Observatory site on Bowen mountain, but in spite of being used regularly the official inauguration was not held until 20 years later, in 1993. Then in 1987, the society purchased the ''Wiruna'' property near Ilford, to get away from the increasing glare of the city lights which interfered with observing.〔 Meanwhile, in 1985, the Society was incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act. The Society was an early adopter of computer and communications technology, establishing their Web site in April 1995.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Astronomical Society of New South Wales」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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