Author Archives: Allen Versfeld

About Allen Versfeld

Allen is an amateur astronomer, an IT professional, a podcaster, a father of five growing kids, a barely competent chess player, and the owner and publisher of the Urban Astronomer podcast and website. He has formerly served as Director of the Astrophotography and Citizen Science sections of the Astronomical Society of South Africa. You can find his personal social media feed on Mastodon!

My first mirror – 8 January 2011

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I went to my first class yesterday.  It also happened to be the first meeting of the year for ASSA Johannesburg‘s telescope making class, held in the workshop of Parktown Boys High School.  I was surprised by how few people were present, but I was assured that this was because most people are still away on holiday, and things will really come to life over the next few weeks.  As it was, there were only two people present grinding mirrors, myself included.  … Continue reading →

Old Apollo data reveals Moon’s core

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One of the many tasks required of astronauts during the six successful moon landings was the positioning of lunar seismometers to probe the interior of the Moon. These seismometers measured tiny shifts in the lunar surface, moon-quakes, and meteorite impacts until around 1977.  Using this data, researchers learned a lot about the composition of the moon, but not as much as they would have liked.  Seismologists analyse seismic waves travelling through the Earth (or in this case, the Moon) to … Continue reading →

New hope for Akatsuki

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As previously reported, the Japanese Space Agency’s (JAXA) Akatsuki spacecraft, launched in May last year, failed to achieve orbit around Venus last month.  A faulty valve caused fuel pressure to drop, killing the main thruster in the middle of a long braking maneuvre, so that it was travelling way too fast to be captured by Venus’s gravity.  Although Akatsuki ended up in a slightly lower orbit around the Sun which would bring it near to Venus again in six years time, JAXA scientists … Continue reading →

2012 Most Ridiculous Sci-Fi film of all time: Official

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NASA representatives recently met with Hollywood executives to discuss the portrayal of space and science in movies.  Many movies have presented such a distorted view of how the universe works that scientists are finding it harder and harder to communicate their work to the general public.  One particular film, 2012, built such a convincing case for the end of the world that many people were genuinely frightened, believing that the world would soon be ending.  “The film makers took advantage of … Continue reading →

International Speakers promote Astronomy in SA

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UPDATE:  Unisa, who hosted the first leg of the tour which I write about below, have released their own report on the event here. Earlier this month, South African audiences were treated to a series of public lectures by Professor Charles McGruder, Dr Robert Williams and Dr Jeffrey Hoffman.  I attended the first lecture which was presented in the Great Hall of the University of South Africa on Monday 9 November 2010.  The event was well attended by university staff, … Continue reading →