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NLA News cover On the cover this month

Hendrik Hondius (1597–1651)
Haemisphaerivm Sceno Graphicum Australe Coeli Stella Tiet Terrae 1661 (detail)
coloured map; 50.0 x 65.0 cm
Map Collection
nla.map-nk5465

These 17th-century stargazers are a detail from Hendrik Hondius’s 1661 coloured map of the southern sky (above). Stellar observation techniques have of course evolved exponentially since then, and the Giant Magellan Telescope scheduled for completion in 2016 will have the capacity to detect objects 75 times fainter than those observable by the current-best Hubble space telescope. Yet for many of us, a basic knowledge of the local skies is lacking. The National Library’s recent publication for children, Australian Backyard Astronomy, by Ragbir Bhathal and Jenny Bhathal, addresses this matter by opening a window into the southern heavens for young Australians. See story

June 2007 Volume XVII Number 9

Australian Backyard Astronomy

Ragbir Bhathal introduces a recent National Library publication for children

Cooee: Australia in the 19th Century

Curator Martin Terry introduces the Library’s current exhibition

Pursuing Ned Kelly in the 1950s

Mark Finnane looks back at J.V. Barry’s pioneering research on an Australian icon

A Diarist’s View of Wartime Canberra

Patricia Clarke discovers some unexpected social history in the Giblin Papers in the Manuscripts Collection

Sound Detectives: The National Folk Fellowship

Gwenda Beed Davey reflects on an innovative collaboration supporting musical scholarship and performance

Friends

A regular news page about the activities of the Friends of the National Library of Australia

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