2009 has been designated the International Year of Astronomy by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO. I think I can speak for most astronomers when I say that we think astronomy is too much fun to keep to ourselves! There is a lot going on throughout the year, and a group here at Monash have been planning a bunch of fun and interesting activities. Check out the website iya09.monash.edu.au to find out more

2006 Transit of Mercury

On November 9^th we had a fun morning following the progress of the transit of Mercury. We climbed up onto the roof of the Physics building before dawn, but sadly missed first and second contact. Later on we moved down to the court east of the Student Union, where we had a steady stream of onlookers curious about what we were doing with a large telescope and an assortment of whiteboards. My own photos of the projected image didn't come out too well, but Ivy's were much better, and she put together this composite image illustrating Mercury's progress across the disk of the sun.

See also the writeup in the School of Physics Alumni Newsletter issue 5, Dec 2006