While the rest of the world was straining to see the Venus transit last night, I was warm and cozy in bed. But when I did get up to rouse the kids, I saw something quite beautiful out of my son’s bedroom window: The belt of Venus (that pink horizontal band), between the Western horizon and the setting Full Moon. So I snapped this picture, using the my cameraphone (5MP Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro, on ‘auto’ mode, in … Continue reading →
The world has been on tenterhooks all day since the board of the SKA Organisation convened in Amsterdam to make a final decision on the site location for the Square Kilometer Array radio telescope. A tantalising “Announcement to be made at 1pm” message had my pulse racing all day, until finally at 2:40pm, the verdict was spoken: It’s a tie. The project will be split between SA and Australia/New Zealand. Exactly the verdict I had most feared, in fact. Still, … Continue reading →
So the news is out: The Square Kilometer Array will be split between South Africa, and the Australia/New Zealand joint site, with SA getting 2/3 of the project and the antipodes getting the remainder. But some of the most detailed information came straight from the mouth of Naledi Pandor, South African Minister for Science and Technology. Ms Pandor had the following to say in response to the announcement from the board of the SLA organisation: Good afternoon and welcome … Continue reading →
The NamibRand nature reserve in Namibia has just been granted International Dark Sky Reserve (IDSR) status for its efforts to eliminate light pollution from within its boundaries. This honour comes as a result of the reserve having expanded its conservation role to include preserving the star-filled nighttime skies that shine above its dunes and mountains. IDSR’s are part of a worldwide programme by the International Dark-Sky Association to identify and protect the world’s last remaining sites where the sky at … Continue reading →
Thanks to Thembela Mantungwa of the South African Astronomical Observatory for this notice: Dr. Andreas Faltenbacher, a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Western Cape, will be giving a free public talk at S.A. Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town this Saturday, May 26 at 20h00. The title of his talk is “The search for dark matter”. After the talk, there will be tours of the main building, the McClean Telescope and stargazing if the weather is good. Summary of the talk: … Continue reading →
