Martin Lewicki
Adelaide Planetarium
University of South Australia
Abstract: Since the earliest times humans have learned how to find directions and navigate by sighting celestial bodies in the night sky. These skills enabled us to navigate around the globe for exploration and aid survival. Even some species of animals are now known to find their directions from celestial clues that too, aid in their survival. In this one-night course, we will cover the basics of finding directions using the constellations, the Sun, Moon and planets with simple tools and rules you can recreationally use yourself. You will learn to find your directions whether in rural or cities. In this day of ubiquitous GPS navigation at our fingertips we will learn why modern navies around the world are re-introducing old fashion sextants on board their ships and now even on board the International Space Station to complement their GPS systems.
Bio: Martin Lewicki is an astronomy educator and lecturer at the Adelaide Planetarium. His early school days interest in rock collecting shifted to astronomy inspired by a library book on the stars in grade 7 primary. After which his cheeky fellow students quipped the “rocks fell on his head and now he sees stars!” Building several telescopes, he became an avid observer in particular fascinated by the development of celestial coordinate systems. A member of the ASSA since 1989 he served on the committee for several years.
Martin began running regular planetarium sessions in 2004 serving school groups, presenting public sessions, and recently the reintroduction of the planetarium teaching space running periodic lectures for UniSA geodesy and engineering students. Martin is also one of the founding members of the River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve which was accredited by the Dark Sky International in 2019.
Moreover, his specialty is the workings of the celestial coordinate systems and how they are used for positional astronomy. He has given talks on astronomy as far away as in the Planetario de Bogota in Colombia. Also, Martin follows developments in astrophysics and optics, and he still uses his home-made 6-inch reflecting telescope, which he made in 1974 to observe the night sky and uses his camera to capture starry skyscapes at night. In addition to being an accomplished astrophotographer, he also a renowned astronomical observations artist.
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Contact Name: Allison Price
Company Name: University of South Australia
Telephone: (08) 8302 3138
Email:
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