Petar Teodorovic shares his love for the stars with those who come to Astro Pete’s Astronomy Cafe
PETAR Teodorovic grew up loving sci-fi and astronomy. Now he shares his love of the cosmos with those who come to his unique cafe.
AS a young boy Petar would ride his tricycle at his mother’s side during even walks near their Brisbane home. “A full moon used to rise at the top of our street and I was completely fascinated by it,” says Petar. “That was the first spark in my love of astronomy and it was backed up by a steady dose of sci-fi during my upbringing.”
Today, Petar shares his love of the cosmos at his eponymously Astro Pete’s Astronomy Cafe in Brisbane’s Mount Gravatt. Part astronomy store, part cafe, Astro Pete’s most popular offering is its weekly astronomy night at which CommBank’s Australian of the Day helps others aim for the stars.
Petar sees his own youthful exuberance reflected in his clientele — the most dedicated of whom are children. “Kids absolutely love astronomy and it’s extremely rewarding to help them expand that even more,” he says. “To help them look deep and further into the galaxy and see the excitement on their faces is such a great thing.”
A computer programmer by profession, Petar hit on the idea for an astro-cafe five years ago. “When I was a kid I couldn’t afford a telescope because my mum was a single parent,” says Petar, who also sells telescopes at the cafe.
“Later on I enjoyed going to public viewing nights with astronomy clubs and I got a big kick out of that but they only did it once a month.”
At Astro Pete’s, Petar conducts free astronomy workshops every Friday night. “We run through how to do telescope setups, how to attach cameras for astrophotography and how to find objects in the sky,” he says. “Once you know how to do that, you’re in business.” And the sky’s the limit.
CommBank has partnered with News Corp Australia to champion the Australian of the Day initiative which celebrates people in our neighbourhoods and communities who really make a difference to how we live and who we are. You can read all their stories at australianoftheday.com.au, where you can also nominate someone you know.
Fighting mind over matter
When it came to developing dementia in 2008, it was a matter of sooner – not later – for Kate who was preparing to celebrate her 50th birthday.
The woman with “the best job in the world”
ANDREA Mason is working hard to integrate elements of corporate Australia to create employment, support health and wellbeing, and tackle domestic violence in the community.