Editorial

It's hard to believe that a whole 12 months have passed since our initial Scope-X exhibition - but look at the month - May's here again and our second exhibition unfolds on the 10^th. Hopefully it will be even more successful than the last, and we will be able spark that Astro-interest amongst the public so that they become curious enough to join the Society to learn more about things Astronomical. We also hope that all of You, our members, will find the time to visit us at the Military History Museum - who knows, you may find that little Astronomical knick-knack that you've been after for a while. There are certainly some really excellent speakers arranged for the duration of the exhibition and speaking schedules appear further on in the magazine, as well as on the Jo'burg Centre website. ( www.assajhb.co.za ).

Following up on the 2 liner from the last editorial, did any of you manage to find and view the new comet Juels-Holvorcem - if you did, please send us a few lines to describe your experience. For those of you "into" comets ( and solar system stuff in general ) you should maybe subscribe to the "Shallow Sky" email list for some really interesting discussions. ( http://www.shallowsky.com/shallow-sky.html )

In what must be a major irritation to our good friend Bill Wheaton, NASA managers have decided to postpone the launch of SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility) aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket until no earlier than mid-August 2003. One of the strap-on boosters needs to be replaced before launch, and this would have impacted on the Mars Exploration Rover-B launch window scheduled for June.

Dave Gordon will be starting beginner’s classes again - these will run from 07:00 to 07:45 on the evenings when we hold our monthly meetings. These classes will be very useful in giving you the building-blocks of Astronomy. Trevor Gould passes short comment on the lack of Lunar Meteorites and Eben van Zyl continues with the second of his articles about Variable Stars.…..and, as always, Brian Fraser gives us the low-down on what’s happening high-up over the next couple of months.

Members, please remember that the 2003 Annual General Meeting is just around the corner. This is the opportunity for you to elect your choice of committee for the Year to come. In fact, this could be just the time for YOU to volunteer for a stint on the committee where some of your ideas may come to fruition.

The Editor - chris@penberthy.co.za

 The 2002/3 Committee of the Johannesburg Centre