About Us

Where Are We

Our Club resides at the Old Laravale School, just 10 minutes South of Beaudesert. The site is ideally located just far away enough from Brisbane and the Gold Coast to avoid light pollution and sits in a Bortle 3 Zone, making seeing very good for both Visual and Imaging Observers. The site is fully powered and has Tea and Coffee making facilities. As a warning, it can get very cold in Winter, so make sure to be prepared for when a cold snap comes through.

Meetings

We host at least 1 Meeting each Month and Meeting Nights are on either the Last or First Quarter Moon. The dates for each year are published on our Website and Facebook Page and will rarely change. Meeting Nights are also used for Guest Speakers or Members to conduct presentations for the Club and are always announced prior on Facebook. Each Meeting Night has a BYO BBQ before Dusk (usually around 5pm) with the Meeting to follow.

Social Viewing Nights

We host at least 1 Social Night each Month and Social Nights are always around a New Moon. This allows us to focus on observing. The dates for each year are published on our Website and Facebook Page and depending on other astronomical events, additional dates may be added. Each Viewing Night has a BYO BBQ before Dusk (usually around 5pm). The Social Viewing is weather dependent, so keep an eye on Facebook or call ahead to check.

Members

Our Members have a wide range of telescopes that are often used and each have a special interest in some aspect of astronomy. Telescopes that are used by our Members range anywhere between Binoculars all the way through to 22” Dobs and Radio Dishes. Special Interests of our Members also include;

  • Deep Sky Observing
  • Telescope Building
  • Astrophotography and Landscape Astrophotography
  • Star Hopping, Chart Reading and finding Deep Sky Objects
  • Radio Astronomy
  • Building Interactive Displays of Astronomy Theories and Principals
  • Meteorites
  • Outreach to Young and Old
  • Socialising for when the clouds roll in

This is what we believe makes our club so diverse.

Other Information

If you require any further information or want to get involved, you can contact us by email at secretary@sraa.org.au or phone on 0431 436 500.