Sydney Science Festival 2017 - Penrith Observatory Public Astronomy Night - 19 August

What the shape of galaxies reveals about their upbringing With Dr Caroline Foster The nature of astronomical distances is such that even our nearest neighboring galaxy is too far to explore by probe. So, much like shadow puppetry, astronomers can only see galaxies in projection on the celestial sphere. Since distinct shapes project identically in 2D, measuring the true 3D (or intrinsic) shape of galaxies is an easy problem to pose, but a challenging one to solve. Includes presentation, short 3D movie, tour of the dome area and viewing of the night sky through a range of telescopes (weather permitting).