Constant was born in the heyday of space exploration, in1969, and in the most beautiful place in South Africa, namely Cape Town.

(He has seen all the Star Trek and Star Wars movies, although whether this has had an influence on his astronomical interest is a debatable point.)

He believes the one person whom he has to thank for introducing him to Astronomy is Mrs. FitzGerald, former Director of the Planetarium. It was in std.7 when his school visited the Planetarium, that she did the Solar System show and moved the Sun so that they could see how the Sun’s angle changes through the seasons. This practical demonstration stuck with him all these years, and now he also does this for schools that come to see his show. Mrs. FitzGerald also gave him the opportunity to work at the Planetarium on a part-time basis, which eventually became his full-time job.

He started in astronomy by buying the Astronomical Handbook For Southern Africa every year from ASSA, and during this period, his only astronomical aid was a pair of opera glasses. Astronomy really took off for him when he went to the army in 1989. He was sent to the Big Hole in Kimberly. During the hours of standing guard, he had a lot of time to find the constellations, and look for meteors and satellites.

He was subsequently posted to Voortrekkerhoogte, and joined the Pretoria Centre in 1990 as a Country member (He was probably the only country member for the 1990/91 year.) For the Pretoria Centre he was active in the Satellite tracking programme, in the days before the Internet became so popular.

He joined the old Transvaal Centre in 1991, the year after his Defense Force obligation ended, and became member of the ASSA parent body at the same time. For the Johannesburg Centre he has been doing the Friday Night viewing sessions at the Observatory on a regular basis, and has been on the Committee since 1993.

For ASSA he is a member of the Comet & Meteor and Deep Sky Sections. ("Not", as he comments, "that I get a lot of Dark Skies to look at.")

Constant was the secretary of the Johannesburg Centre for some time and has been elected to the Chair for the 1998/1999 year