Editorial

Cloudy skies and accompanying wind have made their impact on all of us the last couple of weeks. This year, the August winds only just qualified for that title, arriving on the 31^st…but so far, have not managed to usher in any rain. I know that rain is generally the enemy, but it's an unfortunate fact of life that the rest of nature, including of course our gardens, and the dams, mealie and wheat fields etc… actually need it so that we can survive to curse it!      Sounds like Catch-22 to me.

The International Space Station ( ISS ) is big in the news at present, with the Space Shuttle Atlantis up in orbit with it as this editorial is being composed. As mentioned in the previous editorial, once it is completed, it really will be quite unmistakable and very easy to view when passing overhead.

I have the first of a hopefully regular series from the "Sky Owls" presented by Dave Gordon which details his and Dino Fotinidis' Astronomical adventures as well as supplying a good picture or two.

Brian's "Sky this Month" is a very useful event guide and handily placed ( as always ) on the back page so that you may refer to it without have to scratch through the pages of the magazine.

Danie has supplied an interesting Variable of the Month prompted by an internationally known friend and asks that you do a little amateur research of your own - with appropriate feedback of course. A larger version of the sky chart will be available on the website where you may download it and print it out for observing purposes.

Where might you find life on Mars? - Try digging for it according to the New Scientist.

And for something a little out of the ordinary - see page 4 for information on a really special event.

This will probably be the last Canopus sent out to all current members who have not yet sent in their subscription for the 2000/2001 Jo'burg centre year. The Canopus is one of our major costs and we can't produce it without the subscriptions backing it up. As previously mentioned, our fee structures, especially the Family Member subscription, are very inexpensive for the perks they provide - access to a physical site with some excellent telescopes, a library with a great selection of books and magazines, the "Mars Bar" and of course, last but not least, your own Johannesburg Centre magazine - Canopus.

The Editor

The 2000/1 Committee of the Johannesburg Centre