Important News Update – CAS COVID-19 Response

In view of the current developing situation around COVID-19, the CAS COVID Response sub-committee has agreed to amend the societies planned activities to assist in efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, and to protect the health and well-being of society members and members of the public.

We would ask for your support in helping your committee manage this unprecedented global event. This will have a significant impact on our observatory operation this winter. We must ensure we act responsibly to the government’s attempts to manage the situation and sadly this does require us to amend our plans.

In light of the requirement to limit the size of gatherings and to maintain social distance in smaller groups, we have, with immediate effect, made the following changes to our society activities until further notice:.

Regular Planned Members Meetings:

CAS Members Monthly Meetings (Held at University of Canterbury) have been suspended
CAS Members Nights (at the Observatory) have been suspended

The following planned events have been cancelled or postponed until a later date

Public Open Nights including private group tours have been cancelled until further notice.
These will restart again when the health situation allows.

Earth Hour 2020 public night (booked for Saturday 28th March) has been cancelled

RASNZ 100 Centenary Lecture (Prof Chris Lintott 5th May) has also been cancelled

Kidsfest will be re-assessed based on information from the event Kidsfest organizer and the situation closer to the date.

Observatory Operations

Due to the difficulty in maintaining safe hygiene in an open access environment combined with our lack of hot water in bathrooms etc, we request that members do not use the lodge, or society telescopes during this period. We cannot guarantee their cleanliness and so advise they not be used until this situation passes.

You are welcome to bring your own telescopes to use on the terraces, if you wish for dark skies, but we ask that the lodge is not used. We will carry out a thorough clean before the lodge is used for members or the public again.

We also ask that members do not bring guests to the observatory until further notice.

If you are using the terraces, please ensure you maintain good social distance from one another. No secret night time hugs ok

You should not come to the observatory if you are in quarantine, have had contact with known cases, or feel unwell yourself.

On Behalf of the New Committee

We hope to be able to restart our public events and members meetings as soon as safe to do so. The new committee will be conducting its business online for the near future. We will continue to keep you updated via email, our CAS website, Facebook and of course your CASMAG.

We ask for your support and understanding through this difficult period, Stay safe and stay calm, remember your family, friends and your fellow CAS members/ friends. And if you can, get outside and look up, the skies are still there to enjoy so don’t forget to do a bit of destressing under the stars if you can.

We look forward to seeing you all again soon at CAS.

Kind regards
Your CAS 2020 Committee