2018UnderStars

UNDER THE STARS TO LUNCH SUNDAY 19 AUGUST 2018
We met at Park Way car park Mawson Lakes in typical August weather, while it was cold, it was not raining, nor was it windy for a change. No matter, soon we would be inside, with both of our venues today being air conditioned. Barry and Brian were the second to arrive in Barry’s Ford wagon, he was all smiles sporting his new V8 car engine, Dennis and Rosalie in the Mitsubishi Colt, Michael, Alan and Janet in 66 Camaro, Phillip and Tracy in the Sunbeam, Dick and Inez in their delightful Austin Lancer, John and Robyn were being directed by their new young Guide Dog.

This morning we had great company as 41 of us in our group, would lay back in arm chairs and sample a visit to our stars and beyond, while simply on our way to lunch. I was told, that the hour and a half voyage into Space in pitch black and only a starlit sky, saw some struggling to keep their eyes open at times.

The Adelaide Planetarium is a speciality Auditorium, it’s a real gem located right here in Mawson Lakes. It’s different and unlike other planetariums that simply project a movie onto a dome. Last year, 2017 was the 45th anniversary of the Planetarium, and where you go to see the Southern Hemisphere night sky brilliantly recreated. This is done with a Zeiss Jena ZPK1 star projector that displays an artificial night projected onto the eight metre diameter dome ceiling. It shows the position of constellations, stars and planets. The projector displays the relative position and brightness of about an impressive 5,000 stars that are visible from our Southern Hemisphere.

Not that many seem to know about it the university facility is visited by many people each year.

Resident lecturer Martin Lewicki has a great relaxed style of interacting, he held our interest as he explained about our universe. Surprisingly how little we know let alone understand about that world. After getting started we were to be taken back and kept up all night from sun set to sun rise, while our planet and stars travelled through space.

Oh what a difference a moment can make for us, but in an hour or so how far our mind can take us to visit these places, yet some of those we can see are so many light years away. They would take us years to thousands of years, and more to travel to them. Martin did a brilliant job he spoke the whole time telling us about our milky way, and the sky we look at every day.

Our movie Cosmic Collisions showed us how celestial objects are spectacularly crashing into one another, yet how rapid was the formation of our Moon, like in one month. What killed the dinosaurs along with nearly 75% of other life on earth. Talking about how species evolve, how our Earth changes, as does our Milky Way Galaxy, and how collisions cause change on all scales. There was so much more about all around us, including the objects spectacularly crashing with each another. For ages of human history, the sky is viewed as gentle, majestic,
and eternal, It is not that way at all, they recently discovered. Sudden events happen fast in the Cosmos, but it’s the results that we see for eons after. We did learn in this show, just how fast the formation of our Moon was.

For Carly, and I, and several said the show was spectacular, but response from almost all of our group who went, the visit to the planetarium was a unique experience, one most certainly won’t forget.

Our lunch at the Eureka was only 10 minutes away, so we were soon to be seated in our private function room. The open log fire added that extra comfort to our dining space. Our group appreciated again, being together with no other noise around us except our own. Most all went well, however the Manager came and apologised for the disruption, and the slowness of some meals.

Today showed, no matter how long you plan something, or how many times you check that everything is right, things happen. Just before our planetarium visit the lift failed, making it really hard for Kay and Peter had he come could not have used the stairs. Peter was able to join us after for lunch.

The Eureka Tavern lost it’s computer programs, effecting their money, all bookings, and more, this very nearly shut the Tavern down. The News was advertising that Coles stores lost their computer programs too, causing chaos.

Cheers Malcolm and Carly.
Run Attendees:-
Barry Scrimshaw & Brian Collins Ford Falcon 1982
Larry Clarke Mitsubishi Triton 2014
Dennis Fordham & Rosalie Elsworth Mitsubishi Colt 1969
Annette & Peter Tonissen Fiat 2013
Ian, Judith & Wendy Matthews Hyundai Tucson 2017
Michael Reddy & Mum & Dad Chevrolet Camaro 1969
Rob & Maureen Green Commodore 2004
James & Kaye Borgas Holden Barina 2008
Brenton & Keryn Watkins Navarra 2006
Robyn & John Sommers Toyota Rav 4 2017
John & Jenny Badcock Mazda 2007
Graham & Vanda Banks Suzuki 2014
Charlotte & Isabella Riggs Suzuki 2014
Carol Williams & Karen Turner Mitsubishi Outlander 2017
Shane Conry Nissan 2017
Kay & Roger Keane Commodore 2000
Dick & Inez Johnson Austin Lancer 1958
Philip & Tracy Sunbeam Alpine 1967
Malcolm & Carly Goldsworthy