Astronomical Society of South Australia

For most people the stars and planets are simply lights that shine in the night sky, but for others they are a source of endless fascination. One South Australian who knows the heavens better than most is Bill Bradfield. Postcards asked Bill, "where's the best place to go looking for stars?" "The first thing of course is to get away from the city lights."

Even on a freezing night, Bill spends hours in his backyard at Yankalilla scanning the far reaches of outer space. Bill got into astronomy in 1972, when a friend offered him this telescope for four hundred dollars and opened up a whole new world. We didn't even know where the Southern Cross was, but Bill pointed us in the right direction. "Its up over there, usually the way to find it is to look for the two bright stars called the Pointers. There is one thing rather special about Alpha Centuri, that's the brightest star of the two Pointers, because its the closest star to us - the other stars are much further away- hundreds of light years, but through the telescope actually you see it's two stars." But Bill's favorite pastime is discovering comets - spectacular luminous objects with a tail that orbit the sun. Comets are named after the person who first spots them and probably the most famous is "Haley's Comet." But there are now 17 "Bradfield Comets" named after Bill. The number is a world record. Bill got the bug in 1972, and he was successful, and he has kept at it ever since. According to Bill, finding a comet isn't hard, you just scan the sky looking for little "Fuzz Balls" among the stars. " When I realize its not on the star charts and looks like a comet then I start getting rather excited and gee whiz this might be a comet.. then I've got to keep cool calm and collected and watch it for ten minutes maybe, half an hour, just to see if it's moving, that will tell me right, yes it's definitely a comet, it's moving." "What do you do then?". " Oh well then I rush off home, pack up my telescope and rush off so I can work up a message, so I can inform the authorities in the United States that I've discovered a comet in a certain part of the sky and give them the information that I've gleaned." That information is often used for scientific research, Bill's outstanding efforts were recognized a few years ago when a planet was named after him, what he humbly calls "just a point of light." " I haven't even looked at it yet it's probably too faint for this telescope.

Bill is part of the Astronomical Society of South Australia, one of the oldest organizations of it's type in Australia, having started last century. They meet the first Wednesday of every month, except in January, and the next meeting is October 1st. They also organize regular sessions at nearby observatories to view the skies. For more information call +61 8 8338 1231 or 8272 7352 or email: info@postcards.sa.com.au