1% Solar Eclipse in Bloemfontein, South Africa

Hybrid Solar Eclipse of 2013 Nov 03 - 1% visible in Bloemfontein - 3:51 - 4:35pm (Sunday - 3 November 2013)

Frans Human, member of the Bloemfontein Center of The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa took this image of the hybrid eclipse on Sunday, 3 November 2013. Some sunspots are also visible.

1% visible in Bloemfontein  3:51 - 4:35pm (Sunday - 3 November 2013)

Official Opening of the Naval Hill Digital Planetarium

Official Opening of the Naval Hill Digital Planetarium in Bloemfontein, South Africa

Live Streaming

Friday 1 November 2013 

10:45 - 13:00

• http://www.ufs.ac.za/ufslivestreaming/

The University of the Free State (UFS) is implementing an innovative and exciting project, namely the establishment of a ‘Centre for Earth and Space’ on Naval Hill in the centre of Bloemfontein. 

The 86-year old Lamont-Hussey Observatory on Naval Hill, also known as the Sterrewag Theatre, is home to the planetarium. The planetarium is the first component of a proposed Centre for Earth and Space.

Earth-sized 'lava world' discovered

Source: BBC Science and Environment

A doomed "lava world" with a similar mass and density to that of Earth has been discovered orbiting a star 400 light-years away.

Observations suggest the planet, named Kepler 78b, is composed mostly of rock and iron, much like our own planet.
But its extremely close proximity to its host star - a hundredth of the distance between the Earth and the Sun - remains something of a puzzle.
Details of the work by two teams of researchers appear in Nature journal.

More...

Priceless to me - Letter from Sir Patrick Moore

Click to enlarge!

Ok, Sir Patrick Moore did not write directly to me! I was dwelling in the Bibliophile in Clarens looking for the big catch. After all Clarens is a quiet little drinking  town with a fishing problem! And if you're not the fishing kind of man, then the place to hang out is the Bibliophile.

That was where I found the second hand book - Brilliant Stars written  by Patrick Moore. And inside, with some newspaper clippings, was this letter, typed on that famous typewriter and signed by that legendary astronomer - Sir Patrick Moore.

A Mister DW Suchterlonie from Clarens wrote to Moore asking about the absolute and apparent  magnitude of Sirius  on page 13. He received the above letter from Moore.

In another book - Stars and Planets of the Southern Hemisphere (Lionel Warner) DW Suchterlonie wrote his name and also Planetarium, 3rd April 1982 in the front cover. Anyone from ASSA Johannesburg recognizing the name?

- Hannes Pieterse

Hybrid Solar Eclipse of 2013 Nov 03 - 1% visible in Bloemfontein

- 1% visible in Bloemfontein  3:51 - 4:35pm (Sunday - 3 November 2013)

- Johannesburg Planetarium

- Map (Pdf - Johannesburg Planetarium)

- NASA Eclipse Web Site

- More NASA information

International Observe the Moon Night - 12 October 2013

 Photo: Pieter Pieterse
(Samsung S3 cellphone through eyepiece + Tiny Touch of Photoshop)

International Observe the Moon Night - 12 October 2013

Boyden Observatory  - Bloemfontein, South Africa

Our club evening was dedicated to old Mister Moon. Do the following names mean anything to you? Not a clue.  Then it is time to grab a moon map, your telescope and some time to observe this nuisance in the sky....

Aristoteles, Valis Alpes, Morites Alpes, Mont Blanc, Cassini, Aristillus, Archimedes, Spurr (not that one), Patricia, Mons Huygens, Pallas, Herschel, Ptolemaeus; Arzachel, Purbach, Stoller and Shomberger to mention a few.

We also watched a video - "Earth without the moon!" 

Thanks for everyone attending!

Vinnige Verklaring Vir Vreemde Vlieënde Voorwerp (VVVVVV) oor Suid-Afrika)

Hier is 'n foto ongeveer 19h00 geneem van agter my huis in Bloemfontein - Herman Bonnett, ASSA Bloemfontein

Willie Koorts se boodskap op Facebook: 

Die vreemde verskynsel wat vanaand (29 Sep. 2013) net na 19:00 wyd waargeneem is oor Suid-Afrika - ook deur Matie Hoffman vanaf Bloemfontein - blyk, volgens baassatellietjagter, Greg Roberts, 'n "fuel dump" te gewees het van die Falcon 9 vuurpyl wat vanmiddag om 18:00 (SA tyd) vanaf Vandenberg in Amerika gelanseer is. 

Die loonvrag is om 18:52 in sy wentelbaan geplaas waarna dit om 19:03 oor Antarktika gevlieg het en 'n paar minute later oor Suid-Afrika. Dit is toe dat die oortollige brandstof uitgespuit is wat die skouspelagtige sirkelvormige wolk veroorsak het wat wyd waargeneem is. 

 Greg en ek het al tevore so iets gesien en ek moet saamstem dat dit nogal iets is om te sien. Dankie vir die foto's en stuur gerus nog!

• SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Cassiope research satellite for the Canadian Space Agency and MDA Corp. http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/006/status.html

•  Hier was 'n soortgelyke gebeurtenis 'n paar jaar gelede.
  - Sien http://assa.saao.ac.za/.../2009MNASSA..68..Dec..238.pdf
• Nog een
  http://www.mnassa.org.za/.../2012MNASSA..71..Feb..35.pdf 

M8 - Lagoon Nebula uit Bloemfontein

Foto: Herman Bonnet - ASSA Bloemfontein
Klik op foto om te vergroot

Foto van M8 geneem op 1 Sept 2013

50  "lightframes" van 150 sek elk

50 "dark frames"

50" bias frames"

50 "flat  frames"

"Stacking"-Deepsky stacker

Processing - PS

Teleskoop-120 mm Skywatcher Equinox

Mount- CGE PRO

Kamera- Canon 60 Da

Laser Strike

Published on Apr 4, 2013

Laser strike incidents against aircraft have increased dramatically since 2009 and pose a serious threat to aviation across the U.S. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in association with the LASD Aero Bureau, Homeland Security and the FBI has produced a video about the possible dangers of green laser pointers.

• Laser Safety Pretoria Centre    (All the information for South Africa) 

• LaserPointerSafety

Voyager 1 Leaves Solar System, NASA Confirms

This artist's concept shows the general locations of NASA's two Voyager spacecraft.

Illustration courtesy Caltech/NASA.

Dan Vergano

National Geographic

Published September 12, 2013

It’s official: Voyager 1 has slipped from the solar system.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 traveled past Jupiter and Saturn and is now more than 11.66 billion miles (18.67 billion kilometers) from the sun, becoming the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space. Proof of this long-anticipated milestone for the storied spacecraft comes in a study released Thursday by the journal Science and announced at a celebratory NASA headquarters briefing.

Read more...