- Astrofest, Australia's largest astronomy festival, in Perth this weekend
- Run by Astronomy WA, the event features telescopes and talks on the universe
- Free event at Curtin Stadium on Saturday, 18 November
Thousands of stargazers are expected to attend the Astrofest festival this weekend to learn more about the universe and use some of Western Australia's biggest telescopes.
Science Minister Stephen Dawson encouraged everyone with an interest in astronomy to take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy a different view of Perth's night sky.
Highlights for this year's event include seeing radio telescopes work, listening to real-life astronomers talk about their discoveries, live science shows, exploring the astrophotography exhibition and gazing into the stars with giant professional telescopes.
Talks by the experts will also give insights into careers working on the giant SKA telescope and in the space industry.
Astrofest, which is the biggest astronomy festival in the country, started as an annual event in 2007 and is a free, fun celebration of Australian science and learning about the universe.
The festival is supported by Astronomy WA, a collective made up of more than 30 of WA's astronomy and STEM outreach organisations, including Curtin University, University of Western Australia, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Scitech and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Perth Observatory and the Gravity Discovery Centre.
Astrofest will be held at Curtin Stadium on 18 November between 5:30pm to 9:30pm.
For more information visit https://www.astronomywa.net.au/astrofest.html
As stated by Science Minister Stephen Dawson:
"Astrofest is a wonderful opportunity to get up close and personal with Perth's night sky.
"Events such as Astrofest highlight just how important space and astronomy are to WA, and it's an industry that the Cook Government is keen to explore a lot further.
"Astrofest is a great event to showcase the STEM culture and skills pathways, which are establishing WA as a Southern Hemisphere global hub for radio astronomy and space science.
"I want to commend Astronomy WA and their collective of more than 30 organisations who make Astrofest a possibility."
