Editorial
Having recently returned from a short visit to the pollution-free ( light pollution that is… ) Overberg region, I wonder at the difference in viewing between the various areas in our country. I commented, several months ago, on the condition of the skies in the KZN South Coast area where even on clear and relatively unpolluted nights, there seems to be a haze which affects the general viewing. In the Overberg, ( L'Agulhas to be precise ) we have a coastal area which seems to have no haze at all and the seeing is really crisp and clear. It must be something to do with the lack of humidity at Cape Agulhas. On the way back from the coast, we stayed overnight at a farm near Colesburg and were treated to an even better view of the heavens. In fact, we saw so many stars that it was difficult to make out some of the constellations. The view through a pair of small 8 x 40 binoculars was brilliant and when using larger 10 x 50 glasses, it was quite breathtaking. What a pity we can't organise convenient power cuts in Jo'burg during viewing evenings at the observatory.
Jupiter and to a lesser extent Saturn are still putting on a good show for observers and Venus has started to climb up into the evening skies, though she's a little early at this time.
Wolf Lange supplies the next in his series, "The A to Zee of Astronomee" covering items starting with the letter "D" and Eben van Zyl lets us in on the techniques used by astronomers of old - in particular, those used by Kepler.
Brian Fraser gives us some pointers to a few heavenly happenings for the next 2 months, including a table of the rising and setting of the Sun and the 5 "original" planets. Remember, if you need the tables for the Sun, Moon and Planets - just dive into the website where they will shortly be loaded covering the whole year.
ECLIPSE chasers - remember we have a solar eclipse on 4th December. If you would like to be there, contact a committee member, or Brian Fraser for further details on how to get to the area of interest.
The Editor - chris@penberthy.co.za