Albert Jansen 

Albert Jansen died 13 June after a hearth attack at the age of 64.  In April this year he had already a heart attack but recovered quite well at the time.  However he did plan to re-emigrate to Holland as of July. It was not to be.  However he was very happy to have observed the Venus transit.

The author, Albert Jansen, was born in The Netherlands.  He became fascinated by astronomy at the age of nine.  After high school he obtained an MSc degree in astronomy at Leyden University.  He managed the Planetarium in The Hague for a number of years and has taught physics and computer programming at Technikons in Amersfoort and Utrecht.  In 1995, Albert and his wife Ellie emigrated to South Africa, where they established a private observatory in Prince Albert, welcoming many visitors each year.

Before he went to SA he was a University professor in Physics and a long standing member of the Royal Dutch Association of Astronomy and Meteorology.  He served a number of years on the national board and has written many articles on astronomy in various magazines.  After early retirement he decided to start a private observatory in the Southern Hemisphere on a commercial basis in order to serve the Northern Hemisphere amateur astronomers with a place to observe the Southern Hemisphere.  I do believe he has served many amateur friends with this private observatory.

He also published a book when living in South Africa:  “Star Maps for Southern Africa”

http://www.struik.co.za/book.book.detail.action?id=1906 

I believe we have lost a dedicated amateur astronomer and a friend in Albert Jansen.

Atze W. Herder