{"id":635676,"date":"2026-04-28T06:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T06:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/635676\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T06:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T06:27:11","slug":"stargazing-from-churchill-backyard-latrobe-valley-express","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/635676\/","title":{"rendered":"Stargazing from Churchill backyard | Latrobe Valley Express"},"content":{"rendered":"

By PEACE IJIYERA<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

LOCAL amateur astronomer, Chris Stockdale, has sighted potential planets around distant stars all from his backyard observatory in Churchill.<\/p>\n

The sightings of more than 100 co-discovered exoplanets made Mr Stockdale recipient of the Berenice and Arthur Page Medal. The medal is awarded bi-yearly to amateur astronomers honouring their work and contributions to astronomy. Mr Stockdale received the medal at a ceremony in Tamworth.<\/p>\n

With a background in IT and cybersecurity, Mr Stockdale\u2019s love for astronomy is a hobby that has turned into a \u201cpassion\u201d. His love for the science began when he was young, and he has vivid memories of the Apollo missions.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I\u2019ve been] interested in astronomy since before the moon landings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dome: Chris Stockdale\u2019s backyard observatory. Photographs: Peace Ijiyera<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso around about the same time, there were a couple of bright comets in the sky that sparked my interest. My father got me up at about 4am to have a look at the comets and I actually sketched those each night, and I ended up getting up myself after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that sort of sparked my interest in astronomy. I bought a small telescope myself, it was only a little 50 millimetre refractor and I remember finding Saturn. Managing to find Saturn \u2026 I still remember that view today, that first view of Saturn, the bright glow and then the rings around it, it was small, but it was stunning and memorable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1972, Mr Stockdale joined the Latrobe Valley Astronomical Society (LVAS). He is still an active member more than 50 years later. He brought his \u201cfirst real\u201d telescope in 1985, just in time to sight Halley\u2019s Comet in 1986.<\/p>\n

Since 2018, Mr Stockdale has worked with NASA\u2019s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to validate sightings of planets. He gets \u201cpredictions\u201d from TESS, then uses his telescope to validate those predictions by looking for dips in light.<\/p>\n

\u201cI monitor the stars looking for this little dip in light. And the dip in light is about half-a-per cent, point four, one per cent, it just depends on how the star is and how big the planet is,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Observing these \u201ctiny dips\u201d helps Mr Stockdale monitor exoplanets. An exoplanet is any planet existing outside the solar system, that orbits around other stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens when I\u2019m monitoring these other stars \u2026 some stars have planets going around them, and if they happen to line up exactly right, you can see the planet go across the star \u2026 we don\u2019t actually see it go across, we just see a dip in the light and then it comes back again.\u201d<\/p>\n

On receiving his medal, Mr Stockdale said it was \u201ca bit overwhelming\u201d, but enjoyed the moment all the same. To have the medal presented by renowned Australian astronomer and scientist, Professor Fred Watson, meant \u201ca lot\u201d to him.<\/p>\n

Mr Stockdale also acknowledged the team effort it took to conduct the observations and analysis work.<\/p>\n

\"\"Close up: Chris\u2019s Berenice and Arthur Page Medal, honouring his contribution to astronomy.<\/p>\n

Following Artemis 2\u2019s successful expedition to the moon, Mr Stockdale says he is in full support of space exploration, though he is quite content seeing space from the comfort of his dome.<\/p>\n

Artemis 2 was a 10 day space journey that started on April 11 this year, and saw four astronauts sent to the moon and back, marking the first crewed flight in more than 50 years. The mission ended with a splash in the Pacific Ocean on April 11.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s] great, I think it\u2019s good to have. It\u2019s a challenge \u2026 certainly pushing the technology and trying to understand more about our universe,\u201d Mr Stockdale said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(But) I don\u2019t think I\u2019m really built to do that. It would be awe inspiring, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be feeling very well,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

Mr Stockdale is looking forward to continuing work in \u201clooking for more exoplanets.\u201d He encourages people interested in astronomy to join a club, like he did all those years ago. Whether its learning \u201chow to focus your binoculars\u201d, \u201cfinding your way around the sky\u201d, or \u201cfinding your way around a telescope\u201d, Mr Stockdale says they are all important skills that can be learnt through joining an astronomical club.<\/p>\n

LVAS meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the Moe Library.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit the LVAS Facebook Page, or: lvastro.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By PEACE IJIYERA \u00a0 LOCAL amateur astronomer, Chris Stockdale, has sighted potential planets around distant stars all from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[305,64,63,293974,293973,113947,29203,307833,307834,128,137124],"class_list":["post-635676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-astronomy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-berenice-and-arthur-page-medal","tag-chris-stockdale","tag-halleys-comet","tag-hazelwood","tag-latrobe-valley-astronomical-society","tag-professor-fred-watson","tag-science","tag-tamworth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}