Letters to the Editors

Chris

On GIA news Saturday this item (with illustration) came from BBC news website -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_424000/424001.stm

Cheers
Tony

PS Bought corrugated iron on special for my observatory. I had asked how long the dealer would have the stock for and he said "until the rains come". I thought that would be in Oct but I thought I'd buy anyway.

Prophetic - it rained fours hours after delivery!

Another rain-maker at work!! --- If you get the chance, go and browse the above URL.
It gives information about a Planet orbiting 2 Stars. The Editor.

Good Day,

A while back you referred me to your webpage for information about ASSA. I finally had a look at the webpage and glanced at the information.

The reason why I required information about ASSA was to find out how to join ASSA.

Just like you, we're also a group of enthusiasts who share a common interest (although definitely on the superficial side) in Astronomy. The knowledge we have of astronomy is quite basic. Most of our information is obtained through the internet and the library and also through the use of some astronomy software and what we can see through our small telescopes.

About two to three months ago we started our own small amateur astronomy club called the "Koingnaas Amateur Astronomy Club" for the purpose of bringing the people of the area, interested in astronomy, together. I was surprised to see the amount of people interested to know more!

We stay in quite a remote area of our land (± 250 km from the Namibian border on the west coast of Namaqualand). The area is semi-desert with no air-and-light pollution, ideal for watching the heavens, but unfortunately not near any big cities where we can get more information and/or interact with people sharing the same passion.

The question I actually wanted to ask was:

Can the members of our club join your centre as members or must members of the centre be in the Johannesburg area? It would be nice for us to be associated (in terms of membership) with a centre like yours.

I'll appreciate any feedback!

Thank you.
Regards

Ernest Carpenter
Koingnaas, Namaqualand, South Africa

We sent feedback saying there was no reason why they cannot join the Jo'burg Centre, although it might be better for Ernest and his group to contact the ASSA Parent body for affiliation. If anyone would like to contact Ernest, first contact the editor for his (Ernest's) eMail address.
The Editor.