AstroFest included a series of astronomy lectures, hands-on demonstrations and night observing, as well as a chance for SAO alumni and students to present their own research results. Speakers included Sarah Maddison (Swinburne University), Glen Mackie (Swinburne Univesity), Pamela Gay (Southern Illinois University), Jayanne English (University of Manitoba), Adrian Brown (the SETI Institute) and Jennifer Heldmann (NASA Ames Research Center).
Abstracts for the lectures/demonstrations below are available here.
| Thursday 11 October | |||
| 17:00-19:30 | Registration & Cocktails | ||
| Friday 12 October | |||
| 10:30-11:00 | Coffee | ||
| 11:00-11:30 | Team Swinburne | Welcome | |
| 11:30-12:30 | Pamela Gay | The Improbable Universe (L) | |
| 12:30-1:30 | Lunch | ||
| 1:30-2:30 | Adrian Brown | MRO at the Alien Poles of Mars (L) | |
| 2:30-3:30 | Jen Heldmann | Gullies on Mars: Theories, Observations, and Numerical Modeling Results (L) | |
| 3:30-4:00 | Coffee | ||
| 4:00-4:30 | ..in transit.. | ||
| 4:30-6:00 | 3RF team | Tour of Comanche Springs | |
| 6:30-8:30 | Dinner at Crowell | ||
| 9:00-12:00 | 3RF team | Comanche Springs Observing | |
| Saturday 13 October | |||
| 10:30-11:00 | Coffee | ||
| 11:00-12:30 | Pamela Gay | Standard Stars, Standard Colors, and the art of not being unique (L+D) | |
| 12:30-1:30 | Lunch | ||
| 1:30-2:00 | Jodi McCullough | Setting Up a Home Observatory (L) | |
| 2:00-2:30 | Jim Peterson | The History of the Apache Point Observatory (L) | |
| 2:30-3:30 | Jayanne English | Canvas versus Cosmos (L) | |
| 3:30-4:00 | Coffee | ||
| 4:00-5:30 | Jayanne English | Canvas versus Cosmos (D) | |
| 6:00-6:30 | ..in transit.. | ||
| 6:30-8:30 | Dinner at Crowell | ||
| 9:00-12:00 | 3RF team | Comanche Springs Observing | |
| Sunday 14 October | |||
| 10:30-11:00 | Coffee | ||
| 11:00-12:00 | Sarah Maddison | Planetary Dynamics (L) | |
| 12:00-12:30 | Tim Hunter | Light Pollution & How to Avoid It (L) | |
| 12:30-1:30 | Lunch | ||
| 1:30-2:30 | Sarah Maddison | Swift simulations of planetary dynamics (D) | |
| 2:30-3:30 | Glen Mackie | Mining the 2dFGRS (L) | |
| 3:30-4:00 | Coffee | ||
| 4:00-5:00 | Glen Mackie | Fun with a 1m telescope (D) | |
| 6:30-8:30 | Conference Dinner | ||
