The Dunedin Astronomical Society celebrated its 100th birthday by holding a meeting in the same room the group first met in at the University of Otago on September 27, 1910.
To mark the occasion, Dr Grant Christie, of Stardome Observatory in Auckland, spoke to the group of about 45 people about the advancement of astronomy over the past 100 years.
What surprised him most was how "people didn't have a clue" about stars back in 1910.
Over the century, astronomers had learnt there were different sizes of star, that they were made from helium and hydrogen, rather than the same matter as Earth, as was first thought, and how they evolved.
It was the advancement of instruments and theories which progressed humankind's learning, with telescopes growing from 22cm in length to 10.4m, and the development of radio telescopes.
Now it was up to infra-red technology to witness a star's birth and peer deep into galaxies, he said, with the future of the field and "cutting-edge cosmology" relying on it.
The meeting also included a reading of the minutes of that first meeting, and an acknowledgement of those involved with the organisation throughout its lifetime, including the Otago Institute.
