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Johannesburg Centre,
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
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Editorial Well, even though we didn't see it down here in South Africa, the astronomical news was greatly taken up with the Total Solar Eclipse on the 11th August. Your editor managed to view a really magnificent picture ( one of the last to be taken ) shot from the soon to be deliberately de-orbited Russian space-station Mir. This station, notwithstanding its checkered history, has performed some really good science, and it is a pity that funds to prolong its useful life cannot be found. All available funding is, of course, now being channeled into the project to create the new International Space Station ( the ISS ) which will hopefully have a centuries long life. Talking of the Eclipse, we have included a couple of articles submitted by our ever-vigilant reporters….read them for some interesting viewpoints. Danie has supplied a good variable for all you VSOs - but even if Variable Star Observations are not your own personal cup of tea, we recommend that you observe this star for your own edification - who knows, it might set you on the Variable path! Maureen Chitters reports back on the Annual trip to the Boyden Observatory and some very interesting snippets of astronomical information are included for your perusal. Interested in information regarding "Skyhooks" - then read Bill Wheaton's intriguing article which shows how this may be accomplished. Brian in addition to submitting a couple of good articles, has supplied the Astronomical Calendar for the next 2 months and Melvyn's eagle eye always manages to spot something on astronomical interest.. For those of you who still have to pay your annual subs, the October issue will unfortunately be your last until the monies arrive. So if you enjoy our efforts at keeping you informed of matters astronomical, please pay your subs and advise Constant so that we can keep you on the mailing list. Canopus costs in excess of R500-00 per month to print and post and we cannot afford to produce what we can't pay for. We have a regular core of authors who supply some pretty good articles - but we'd still like to get articles from any and all of you out there - we promise never to reject any article out of hand - remember, this is Your magazine so all submissions will be included with the absolute minimum of editing. The Editor Chris chris@aqua.co.za |
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