Greetings all

I'm stealing this opportunity to notify you of some interesting recent developments. No doubt some of you will also hear from Cliff Turk in due course.

Most of you will have received a copy of my proposal for a Dark-sky Week in 2000. I was very pleased to be informed that my proposal had been accepted as a project by the Council of the ASSA (Astronomical Society of Southern Africa) at a recent meeting, as a result of which a meeting was held at the SAAO in Cape Town on December 2 to discuss the project. To cut a long story short, it was decided to call it "STAR WEEK 2000" ("STERREWEEK 2000"), and the date set for the week of March 5 to March 12, 2000. It was also decided that the ASSA would organise the event in the Western Cape, but that all the centres throughout the country would be notified and encouraged to organise their own events during that time, making it a national event. The primary aim will be to create public awareness of our mostly dark skies as a tourist attraction, from which will follow reasons why light pollution should be controlled.

After the meeting at the SAAO I had a meeting with Jurgens Schoeman, Project Development Manager of the Western Cape Tourism Board. In short, they are prepared to support the project on the tourism side by getting Regional Tourism Organisations and local Tourism Bureaux involved. The ASSA will generate the necessary publicity materials, such as pamphlets and posters. Of course, the various media will be utilised to the full.

Please make a note of this forthcoming event, and think of ideas of how you could promote our night skies in your area, even if you are not situated in the Western Cape. Some ideas are: hosting talks and star gazing events at local schools etc.; requesting your local authorities to turn off certain lights for a few hours during that period; organising star parties at suitable venues; etc. etc.

You are also welcome to contact me at any time should you require more information about this project. My direct e-mail address is astronomer@skywatch.co.za

Best wishes,
Chris de Villiers
Corvus Observatory
Vanrhynsdorp, South Africa
http://www.skywatch.co.za