Category Archives: News and Updates

News about Astronomy and Space Science. Find every news item and update here, in blog format. You can get these updates sent straight to your mailbox by subscribing here, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the link.

Venus Transit 2012 – Live Webstreams

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As you have almost certainly heard by now, Venus will be transiting the Sun on June 6.  Unfortunately for us in South Africa, the event starts just after midnight local time, and ends just before 7am, so that only the very tail end of the transit will be visible, and even then only to people in the far North-East regions of the country.  If they watch the sunrise carefully (taking proper eye safety precautions, obviously!), they’ll be able to watch … Continue reading →

Public Astronomy Evening: Louis Trichardt

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Thanks to Kos Corianos for letting us know that the Soutpansberg Astronomy Club are having a public astronomy evening this Saturday.  If you live in the far northern stretches of South Africa, why not take a drive and join what sounds like it will be a very professionally run astronomy demonstration? Saturday the 19th May promises to be jam packed with activities at Portion 72 Rondebosch in Louis Trichardt. During the day Rondebosch Riding School will host an open day … Continue reading →

ASSA Symposium 2012

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The Astronomical Society of South Africa’s biannual symposium will be held in October this year, in Cape Town.  Registration will begin in June, but the organisers are already accepting abstracts from aspiring speakers.  The official announcement, lifted from the symposium website, reads as follows: Welcome to Cape Town! ASSA is pleased to announce this year’s symposium, which will be held from 12 to 14 October 2012 at the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town. The theme of the symposium, … Continue reading →

What? Why? How?

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What is an urban astronomer?  We love the night sky, and we live in the city.  We are amazed and awed at the scale of the universe, and humbled by our place in it.  While we make occasional trips away from the city, where we can find the most glorious dark skies, most of our observing is done from our own back yards.   Whether we’re on a budget, or understand the futility of breaking out the heavy equipment under … Continue reading →

MNASSA April 2012

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The April 2012 edition of the Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of South Africa has just been released for download.  Since last year, MNASSA is available as a free ebook for the general public, and comes out every second month.  MNASSA features a range of material including scientific papers, history of astronomy in South Africa, and guides to casual stargazing.  Urban Astronomer has yet to be featured (although I have made uncredited contributions to the report on the society’s … Continue reading →