Mt Stromlo’s World Record Attempt

In collaboration with National Science Week, Mt Stromlo Observatory is aiming to beat two Guinness World Records this year.

With help from the Australian population, they will attempt the Most People Stargazing at a Single Site and Most People Stargazing Across Multiple Sites in a Country on August 21st.

Brad Tucker is an Astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University, who is helping to plan this event.

He said that this has been an idea for a couple of years due to the popularity of their Public Astronomy Nights.

“On a clear night we’ve been getting crowds of 1500 people. Even on the bad nights we’re really busy, so we thought this has to be some sort of record.”

The current record for the Most People Stargazing Across Multiple Sites in a Country is held by Mexico with 3007 people, but the record for Most People Stargazing at a Single Site has not yet been attempted.

“We are hoping for 10,000 [people] in Canberra and another 10,000 nationally. We are hoping to crush the record” Tucker said.

There are already 60 locations in Australia that have expressed interest in hosting their own event, with an astronomy group in Broken Hill already having 150 people signed up.

However, Tucker points out that “the record states that everyone must be looking through a telescope.”

This required the team, with sponsorship from universities and astronomy departments, to order a cargo load of telescopes for a public cost of only $2.

“They’re not very big telescopes… but they are still good enough that you can see the craters of the moon and the moons of Jupiter. It’s the same size as Galileo used to discover the moons around Jupiter, so if it’s good enough for Galileo it’s good enough for everyone!” He said.

Telescopes will be available to buy beforehand and on the day and are yours to keep as a souvenir for joining in.

If you want to get involved, check the Facebook event page for details and updates.

Written by Anja Kokkonen