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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · 5d

Stopping in to say hi to one of my fav telescopes on the way to Siding Spring Observatory!

Tonight, I'm on a panel in a pub in Coonabarabran. Siding Spring is an optical Observatory, but I'm a radio astronomer. So I had to stop in at the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) first! 🔭📡

A woman wearing black stands in the foreground. In the background are 4 radio telescopes. They look like large TV antennas. Each one is 22m in diameter.

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · 5d

2 out of 3 Aussies will be changing their clocks forward this weekend, but why do the days get longer? Find out in my article on daylight savings: theconversation.com/daylight-sav...

Daylight saving is about to start. But why do the days get longer?

Earth’s tilt means the Sun both rises earlier and sets later as we head towards summer.

theconversation.com

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 7

Woohoo! 🥳🌚

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 7

My eyes are much lower res than the pic so looks good to me! 🤓🌚

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 7

Did you even see the eclipse if you don't post a fuzzy phone camera photo of it? 🌚

A Black background with a small, red-ish dot in the middle. That dot is the Moon, trust me

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 7

That does make it tough! If it's any consolation, it is 3:15am here!

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 7

It's cleared up in Sydney and I can see the shadow creeping across the Moon! 🥳🌚🔭

Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

Lunar eclipse fans, there's a total lunar eclipse this weekend! All of Australia (and a bunch of other countries) will be able to see all the best bits. The eclipse will be in the evening of Sunday the 7th or the morning of Monday the 8th of September 🧪🔭🌝
www.abc.net.au/news/science...

When and where can I see Monday's total lunar eclipse from Australia?

A total lunar eclipse, also known as a "blood moon", will be visible across all of Australia next week. Here's what you need to know to get the best view and snap the best photo.

www.abc.net.au

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 7

I'm up in Sydney and it thankfully cleared up, hopefully you have a nice view too!

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 7

The BoM isn't looking too bad, fingers crossed! 🤞

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

Especially since totality lasts so long! And so do the clouds 😑

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

Omg I knooooowwww 🥲 I'm hoping to see the partial into totality, so might be OK to see that 🤞🤞🤞

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

Ooh i forgot about Saturn, great info Rami!

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

And then the next one after that for any place in the world is the 31st of December 2028! So If you don't get up for this one and then it's cloudy for the March one, then you have to wait more than two years for the next one! So I'll be crossing my fingers that it's clear in Sydney on Monday 🤞

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

The question I always get asked about these things is whether I'll be getting up to see it. I'm a terrible astronomer and I haven't seen a total lunar eclipse before, so I will be. The next lunar eclipse visible from Australia will be in March 2026, but it won't be as good for as much of Australia

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

The best part of a lunar eclipse is that you don't need any special equipment, just your eyes and a clear view of the sky. So fingers and toes crossed the the clouds stay away early in the morning on the 8th of September!

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

Are you in part of the world that gets to see this total lunar eclipse? Find out here: www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/luna... I love this website for lunar and solar eclipses, and also for converting time zones 🌝 🧪🔭

Total Lunar Eclipse on September 7–8, 2025 – Where and When to See

Total lunar eclipse on September 7–8, 2025: Where and when is the Blood Moon visible and what will it look like? Visibility map, animation, and local times.

www.timeanddate.com

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

Totality, when the Moon is completely inside the Earth's dark shadow (or umbra) starts at 3:30am AEST and lasts 82 minutes. This is when the Moon turns red and is called a "Blood Moon". Then at 4:52am the Moon starts heading out of the umbra again (partial eclipse)

A diagram of what an eclipse is. The Sun is on the left, the Earth in the middle, and the Moon is in the Earth's shadow on the right. The outer, fainter shadow of the Earth is called the Penumbra. The innder, darker shadow of the Earth is called the Umbra

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

If you're downunder like me and you want to see the best parts of the eclipse, it's going to be a very early morning (or very late night). The partial eclipse, when the darkest part of Earth's shadow starts crossing the Moon, begins at 2:28am on Monday the 8th of September

A table showing the start and end times of the eclipse for different states in Australia. This information as a table can be found in the article I linked in the first post in this thread

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 5

Lunar eclipse fans, there's a total lunar eclipse this weekend! All of Australia (and a bunch of other countries) will be able to see all the best bits. The eclipse will be in the evening of Sunday the 7th or the morning of Monday the 8th of September 🧪🔭🌝
www.abc.net.au/news/science...

When and where can I see Monday's total lunar eclipse from Australia?

A total lunar eclipse, also known as a "blood moon", will be visible across all of Australia next week. Here's what you need to know to get the best view and snap the best photo.

www.abc.net.au

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 3

Haha it looks like it, doesn't it! Maybe we should try that 🤔

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Sep 3

On my way to Adelaide to talk about radio astronomy and radio stars! 🌟 www.assa.org.au

A photo of a smiling woman in su glasses and a hat. She's standing on the red dirt of outback WA with two ASKAP antennas in the background. The antennas look like big TV dishes. There's info about the talk overlaid, that info can be found via the link in the post

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Aug 21

There's a black moon on Saturday! Sounds very cool, but is it actually cool? I wrote an article for @aunz.theconversation.com about this very recent term for a "special" new moon 🌚🧪🔭 theconversation.com/whats-a-blac...

What’s a ‘black moon’? Here’s why it’s worth looking up at the sky this week

The Moon will indeed be black, kind of. But that’s not why you should look up this weekend.

theconversation.com

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Aug 9

The next good meteor for us in the Southern Hemisphere is the Geminid meteor shower, which peaks around the 14th and 15th of December

Don't listen to the Northern Hemisphere propaganda 😆 the Geminids are better anyways 😎

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Aug 9

It's the first day of National Science Week in Australia, so here's a friendly astronomy PSA: the Perseid meteor shower is not for us

It's not a great meteor shower for those of us down under. For more info, check out this article by Prof Horner: theconversation.com/everyones-ta... 🧪📡

Everyone’s talking about the Perseid meteor shower – but don’t bother trying to see it in Australia or NZ

Use our interactive globe to see if you’re in the ‘zone of disappointment’ for the Perseids – then save these dates for better meteor showers to watch.

theconversation.com

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · Aug 8

Thanks Tara! Not quite sure I got basalt right, but obsidian I had down 😆

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