The Johannesburg Centre of ASSA has had for a number of years a regular slot at the monthly meetings called "Danie's Corner" during which Danie Overbeek informs members of current astronomical events of interest. The Centre is very fortunate in having one of the world's top amateur astronomers as one of its longstanding members, who's achievements have been recognised locally by the Society (in 1984 Danie received the Gill Medal of the ASSA), and abroad (in 1986 the Merit Award by AAVSO, in 1994 the AAVSO Director's Award and prolific observer's merit award, in 1996 the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1996 Amateur Achievement Award, and in 1997 the AAVSO prolific observer's merit award). This year Danie has been elected the President designate of the ASSA for the second time, a rare occurrence in the history of the Society.

Danie's first astronomical milestone (or milepebble he says) was in 1925, (approx. 5 years old), when he went in terror to his parents to report that "the stars are moving", a phenomenon which must have been due to the wavy, pre-float glass panes in his bedroom window! But it was in 1928, at a camp fire on the beach below Polana Hotel, Lorenco Marques, when Danie heard his grandfather identify Mars, that, intrigued by the fact that heavenly bodies had names, he began to read all the astronomy he could lay his hands on. At the age of 15, Danie had made his first telescope (which worked! after a fashion) from a reading glass and a pocket microscope for an eyepiece. Over the years, he progressed to more powerful instruments with 1-2 dioptre spectacle lens OG'S! Two years later, in 1937, Danie sent about $4.48 to the Brownscope Company in NY for a "powerful 60X telescope". This scope worked fine at about 10X once the terrestrial erector lenses had been removed. Details of the Galilean satellites and moon showed well.

The following year, Danie matriculated (first class), and went on to study Mining and Metallurgy at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Central Organisation for Technical Training, Milner Park. In 1941, Danie joined the South African Air Force, maintenance and instructing (where he was mentioned in Despatches (Oak leaf on Africa Star)), and at the end of his term there, he married his old school chum, Jean Mary Preddy. The rest of his career (1946 - 1980) was in maintenance, training, civil engineering research and administration at the South African Airways and South African Railways.

In 1950, during a four month stay in New Jersey, New York and California, whilst visiting the Haydn Planetarium in New York, Danie met Richard Luce, a great amateur telescope maker, and associate of Alleyn Thompson of "Making your own Telescope". Luce helped with surplus optics and encouragement. Shortly after this, Danie constructed a 6" Newtonian and started his occultations and variable star observing. Two years later, Danie built his 12 %" Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain. The optics took about six months and the mechanicals another 6 months. This scope has moved with Danie from Bedfordview to Edenvale, Kew, Houghton and back to Edenvale.

Danie was elected Chairman of the Transvaal Centre, ASSA in 1956 and President of ASSA for the first time in 1961. Between these two events, Danie gained his BSc through UNISA and was the only UNISA candidate in the Republic to gain a distinction in a science major that year. During the years following 1966, Danie became more involved in his career, aeronautical and ASSA matters, and variable star observing took a back seat, until 1971, when he achieved AFRAES (Associate Fellow, Royal Aeronautical Society) and Pr Eng (Register of Professional Engineers), and, after re- reading Leslie Peltier's "Starlight Nights" became inspired to return to Variable Star Observing. Danie's first AAVSO meeting, at Blantyre Castle, in 1973, gave him the opportunity to meet all the luminaries, an experience he will never forget!

1977 to 1980 saw Danie back in New York, where he had the opportunity of attending meetings of the AA of NY, Fairfield County & Union College groups and the AS of Long Island, fairly regularly. Danie went to occultation events as far north as Montreal and as far south as Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela. Between these years, Danie was made Council Member of the AAVSO, Honorary Member of the Transvaal Centre, ASSA, and Honorary Member of the ASSA. In 1981, Danie started solar flare STD/SES recording for Cap Hossfield, built a magnetometer for fun and he has been monitoring the earth's magnetic field ever since. In addition to the magnetometer, in 1990, Danie built a seismograph, and has been monitoring Gaia's shivering on a daily basis ever since.

1982 - 1985 was a tragic time in Danie's life in which Jean was diagnosed, and finally died from cancer.

Danie has been the author and co-author of numerous articles for MNASSA, Astrophysics and Space Science, and other publications, including:

"Variable Obscuration of the Carbon Star R Fomacis" by MW Feast, PA Whitelock,
RM Catchpole and MD Overbeek

"Small Astronomical Observatories", a chapter in a book by Patrick Moore, Springer, 1996 (printed in the February 1998 edition of Canopus (Amateur Observatories: The Edenvale Observatory))

"Mass-loss Variation among Carbon-rich AGB Variables" by PA Whitelock, MW Feast,
F Marang and MD Overbeek. MNRAS 288, 512-532

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above Danie Overbeek (second from left) with Janet Mattei (Director of AAVSO),
            Dr John Percy and Brian Fraser far right), January 1996.