BAS Observer July 2017

8 BAS OBSERVER Star Stuff – Festival of the Cosmos by Mike Lewis T he inaugural Star Stuff festival was held at the Elements resort at Byron Bay on 24th–25th June. The headline speaker was Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, who was supported by Dr Fred Watson, Dr David Malin, Dr Alan Duffy and numerous other speakers on astronomy, space technology, astrophotography and cosmology. The festival was attended by 400 people and was a sellout! Speakers gave short presentations over the two days, and a VIP Gala Dinner was held on the Saturday evening. Solar and night-sky viewing (from the headland at the most eastern point in Australia) were conducted on both days, and a Vendor Pavilion was set up adjacent to the main pavilion. Celestron, Bintel, Australian Geographic and Gilmour Space Technologies were the main sponsors. The conference was the brainwave of Dylan O’Donnell from the Southern Astronomical Club Inc. (SAS), and SAS club members led by President Noeleen Lowndes provided assistance with the solar and night-time telescope viewing sessions, registration, organising of Q&A sessions after each speaker, etc.