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Johannesburg Centre,
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
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Editorial Strange weather we've been having of late - my next door neighbour has been building a wooden boat, or should I say a ship, made of gopher wood and approximately 300 cubits in length……no, not really, it just feels as though that's what should have happened during the second week of February. We had in just 11 days, an amount of rain (300mm) greater that the greatest monthly maximum ( barring one ) that your editor has measured at home since 1987. The upshot of this has been some pretty poor viewing for all of you out there over the last couple of weeks, although there has been one positive result of all the rain. When the sky does clear briefly, the view of the heavens is just breathtaking - clear and crisp and the stars magnificent. The rains have cleared all of the bits of muck and general pollution out of the sky and dumped it on our gardens in the form of acid rain…..well I guess we can't have everything perfect!! Orion in particular has been quite eye-catching - the stars big and bold and really standing out. Articles are a little sparse of late although our regular contributors still manage to find the time to compose some interesting pieces and these of course are always most welcome - Thanks Guys 'n Gals! The big news - astronomically speaking of course - was the successful insertion into orbit around the asteroid Eros by the spacecraft NEAR on Valentine's Day, 14th February 2000. The orbital mechanics must be a physicist's nightmare due largely to the odd potato shape of Eros which appears to be spinning around it's long ( 21 mile ) axis. The potential for NEAR being sideswiped by the asteroid must be great. …and talking of NEAR, Brian has supplied an interesting article on the Minor Planets as well as his regular state of the sky tables. Your editor has managed to glean a couple of items of interest from the Astronomical media and Danie has written a short note which should be read, inwardly digested, and responded to by all of our readers. News of Bill Wheaton is good - his follow-up operation was a resounding success and he has returned to work at IPAC - although in small doses at present. |
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