Editorial

Have you noticed how prominent Mars is now-a-days ( or should I say now-a-mornings?? ).  I've been watching with interest as it approached Antares so that I could compare the two in terms of size and colour.  There really is no comparison except maybe as regards colour, and as Mars approaches opposition, the heart of the Scorpion seems to fade a little as the Red Planet glares balefully down at us from overhead in the early morning sky.  Venus tries to steal the limelight, but this month we're going to ignore her and concentrate on Mars as it makes one of it's closest approaches in many years.  Don't worry - if you don't get a good look this time round - the next opposition is even closer.

So with the above little introduction to our outboard neighbour,   I have searched the NASA internet sites for suitable articles, and found many appropriate ones for inclusion in these pages.

We have three articles covering different aspects of Mars and the observation thereof, as well as several other small items on various topics of space exploration in general such as black holes and phantom torsos!

We had a very informative talk on Planispheres at our meeting on the 9^th of May.  Not only did we get to see various sorts of these very handy devices, but Claire gave us some insights into the hows and whys of designing and making your own planisphere kits.

Eben van Zyl has submitted a very interesting mathematical proof of the age of the universe.  Don't be put off by the thought of the mathematics involved - it is not at all complex and even I understood the rationale and found Eben's evidence quite compelling.  Read and enjoy it.

No specific variable of the month for June, but Delta Sco is still looking pretty interesting and now appears to be the second brightest star in Scorpius.

Some sad news arrived last week.  Alan Cousins, a past president of the ASSA and a Gill medal awardee, died peacefully in his sleep just a few months before celebrating his 98^th birthday.  He will be missed by his many friends in the ASSA and we offer our condolences to his family.

The Editor - chris@penberthy.co.za

 The 2000/1 Committee of the Johannesburg Centre