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Johannesburg Centre,
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
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Editorial Another Jo'burg Centre year draws to a chilly close with Winter blowing it's frosty breath around us as we go about our observations. Of course, it takes a little more determination to do so at this time of the year, but the results are usually more spectacular as the seeing tends to be much clearer than at other times of the year. Early mornings have the two big planets putting on a good show though this is only available to those of us who are insane enough to leave for work before 06:00. The Centre's A.G.M. is being held at 19:00 on Saturday the 15th July this year and our normal Wednesday evening meeting will be used from 20:00 by the ASSA parent body for their A.G.M. More information on these meetings is available in the Notices. The big Astronomical news of the moment is of course the announcement of strong evidence of liquid water on or near the surface of Mars. This makes the case for more missions to Mars all the stronger, including some manned missions in the next few years. Just imagine, in a few decades, the younger members of our society might be in a position to consider a holiday on Mars - this is exciting! Bill Wheaton keeps us abreast on the status of some of NASA's current missions, of both major and moderate importance. There are many missions being planned or in the final throes of implementation and you are sure to find something of personal interest amongst them. Brian, besides his normal "state of the heavens" report, has supplied us with an interesting article on when mid-winter's day actually occurs. This of course changes by a few hours from year to year. The Planetarium is on the lookout for presenters - if anybody out there is interested in taking on this challenging and rewarding task, please read Claire's short piece on the subject. Included please find a nomination form for election to the committee as well as a form asking you for your personal interests and things you'd like to see us achieve during the next Jo'burg Centre year. |
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