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Johannesburg Centre,
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
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The Monthly Meeting Notice is hereby given that the monthly meeting of the Johannesburg Centre will take place at its physical address on Wednesday, 12 February 1997 at 8pm. Danie Overbeek will talk on The History of the Johannesburg Centre. Beginner's Course Tom Budge hosts the next session of the Beginner's Course in Astronomy. Each session starts at 7pm sharp on the same night as the monthly meeting (12 February 1997.) The topic is Galaxies. Future topics MARCH - Radio Astronomy by Dr. Clair Flanagan, Director of the Johannesburg Planetarium. APRIL - Constellation Recognition by Tom Budge. This meeting is in the Johannesburg Planetarium. MAY - Panel of Experts several of the Centre's "experts" field your questions on any matter relating to astronomy and space. FUTURE - Measuring the Distance to the Sun by Eban van Zyl. FUTURE - The History of the Universe by Basil Payne. Exploring Deep Skies Saturday evening deep-sky viewing on Tom Budge's farm, Protea Ranch Vlakplaats. A braai fire is lit on each occasion, so bring a picnic hamper and your telescope. Family and friends are always welcome. Contact Tom's office (011)484-4740 should you require a road map. Reserve the following dates: 8 March, 5 April, 10 May, 7 June, 2 August, 6 September, 4 October and 1 November. Events Calendar 26 FEBRUARY 7.30 pm for 8pm - Club 42 organised by Chris Stewart. No! This is not a Rave Party nor are there any belly-dancers! This is an Internet Café where participants have the opportunity to surf the web whilst you enjoy delicious food and drink. A fee is levied for time spent on the Internet. The address is Shop 121, Randridge Mall, John Vorster Road, Randpark Ridge (just off D.F. Malan Drive, a short distance from the N1 intersection heading towards Mulderdrift.) 5 JULY - Weekend Star-party in Swinbourne organised by Ed Finlay. This is a repeat of the famous and most enjoyable weekend held some years ago. Some will remember it as the coldest viewing session of all times with night-time temperatures around minus eight degrees Celsius! Prices and other details will be published in due course. POSSIBLE FUTURE - Visit to the Linear Particle Accelerator to be organised by Trevor Gould. POSSIBLE FUTURE - Visit to SAAO (South African Astronomical Observatory) at Sutherland to be organised by Trevor Gould. Revolutionary Lens Cleaner This recipe is off the Internet and by all accounts is the most remarkable lens cleaner of all times. Originally concocted as a dermatological agent, Collodion can be gently painted onto lens surfaces with a soft bristle brush where it solidifies (gels.) It can then be plucked from the lens carrying with it grease and dirt particles down to microscopic sizes. The ingredients are Pyroxylin 4 g, ether 75 ml and alcohol 25 ml. It contains no less than 5% w/w of pyroxylin. After several telephone calls to various pharmacopoeias it seems the only way to obtain collodion is by importing it at a cost of R500 per 500 ml. This minimum quantity will last a lifetime since very small quantities are needed for an application. Would anyone be interested in sharing an order? Does anyone have ideas on how to make it or buy it locally? Contact John Maher (011)484-4740 during office hours. Cool URL!! Check this out! (one simply has to use a colloquial expression here ...) http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~pcp2g/bitesize/current_bite.html Committee Listed below are the home telephone numbers for all committee members Chairman........................................Trevor
Gould...................886-5602 Where to find us. Postal address: Mr. C. Volschenk, Physical address: The Johannesburg Centre of the Astronomical Society of
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