We will be asking Dr Nicholson of HartRAO to present a lecture at one of our meetings.

On the Saturday nearest New Moon at Tom Budge’s Farm in the Magaliesberg. Remember that this is by arrangement only as most observers will be following specific viewing programmes and if you don’t have your own ’scope, you should contact one of the observers ( e.g. at the monthly meeting ) to arrange some viewing time with them.

Jo'burg Centre Outings for 2000

Your Committee is making arrangements for several outings during the year. Amongst these are some old favourites as well as a couple of new ones which should prove interesting.

The proposed trip to Nylsvlei during the Winter months has been dropped in favour of a return to our old winter retreat at Swinburne. Unlike Nylsvlei, Swinburne remains contactable from civilization.

Boyden ( July/August timeframe ) is also looking a little dicey at present as we are having problems contacting the UOFS people who control access to the observatory.

We will also be looking at the possibility of arranging visits to other ASSA Centres ( e.g. the Pretoria Centre ) during the year - more information to follow.

The Aloe Ridge experience has turned out to be a little more expensive than originally catered for and the idea of this outing has now been dropped.

Our overnight visit to Haartebeeshoek appears to be a no go as all time to the end of the year has already been booked up. However, Wolf Lange may be able to organise an overnight visit to a reserve just South of Jo’burg and we are pursuing this opportunity at present.

ASSA Annual General Meeting

The ASSA Parent Body would like us to host their AGM. As our AGM will be on 15 July ( see next page ) we have agreed to host the ASSA AGM at the Sir Herbert Baker Library on our normal meeting night of Wednesday 12 July. We will publish more information in the next issue of Canopus.

This year's AGM and Bring 'n Braai

Last year we held a braai as part of our AGM and the smallish turnout notwithstanding, it was a quite successful. So going by the feedback we have received in this regard, it has been decided that the A.G.M. will be held at 19:00 on Saturday the 15^th of July in the Sir Herbert Baker Library.

Please note the earlier starting time of 19:00. The meeting will run between 19:00 and 20:00 and then we will retire to the Braai area to partake of whatever gastronomic delights we can create. The domes will also be opened for whomever is interested in viewing the wonders of the Wintery night sky. With a bit of luck, we may be able to persuade Tony to open the 26" as well.

Other Talks

Tony Voorvelt arranges ( and sometimes presents ) monthly lectures on the last Friday of each month. These are held in the 26" telescope building and there is a charge of R10 for adults and R5 for children or senior citizens. The talks which start at 19:30, last for approximately 45 minutes and there is always a practical demonstration to backup the lecture.

Telescope Making Classes

Would you like to make your own telescope?…or finish off a partially finished one? Well your opportunity has arrived (once again). Join the Telescope Making Class being held under the guidance of Brian, Evan and Chris. Contact Brian on 803-8291 if you are interested.

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Mr. Mike Grainger would like to know if there is any person that could offer him a lift from Sandton to the monthly meeting. He is new in Johannesburg and is from the Durban Centre.

Telephone: 011 706 4090

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