Visit to Boyden Observatory

Members of the Johannesburg centre paid a visit to Boyden Observatory over the weekend of 17th and 18th April. The sky was perfect on both evenings and much viewing was accomplished with both the Rockefeller 60-inch reflector and Melvyn Hannibal’s 8-inch SCT.

Marty Hoffman from UOFS was kind enough to put some of us through a driving course on the 60-inch scope; despite this, however, it was still extremely difficult to centre objects in the field of view due to the finder scope being out of alignment.

The 8-inch SCT performed flawlessly as usual, and many objects were viewed on the Saturday night. That night the observatory was open to the public and lots of visitors came to look through this scope.

We had a braai on the Saturday night which was enjoyed by all.

The temperature on both nights was comfortable at around 16 degrees which made for pleasant viewing conditions. All in all a delightful weekend.

Ed Finlay