Sky Guide 2010

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Sky Guide Africa South 2010

Astronomical Handbook for Southern Africa

Sky Guide Africa South is an invaluable practical resource for anyone who has even a passing interest in the night skies of southern Africa.

Prepared by the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa as a reference work for the novice, amateur and professional astronomer,it presents a wealth of information about the Sun, Moon, planets, comets, meteors and bright stars in a clear and accessible way, accompanied by a number of diagrams to support the text.

Here you will find 116 pages of information specifically for the year 2010 about the movement of the planets, about the occurrences of eclipses, the appearances of comets, the dates of meteor showers as well as clearly presented star charts to aid in identifying bright stars and constellations in the night skies of southern Africa.

The SkyGuide continues the tradition of the well-established Astronomical Handbook for Southern Africa. This is its 64th year of publication.

What's inside?

The Table of Contents is shown in the column on the right.

The Guide is divided into a number of sections most of which will be familiar to users of other handbooks. Each section is identified by a symbol.

The first section is the monthly sky diary, giving a summary of events for each month, such as phenomena relating to the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and meteor showers.
 
Predictions for rise and set times of the Sun and Moon are given for five centres: Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Durban and Harare. The "deep-time" graph, showing Moonless nights, is an easy-to-use aid in planning your observing sessions.
 
The apparent positions of the naked-eye planets at regular intervals throughout the month are tabulated. The orbits of the readily observable moons of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are illustrated. Times when Venus is near the Moon during the day, and may therefore be seen with the naked eye, are listed. Dates when Jupiter's moon, Callisto, is at maximum separation from the planet are given.
 
Easy-to-use sky maps illustrate interesting events each month. The dates and days of the week are displayed along the top of the page, along with a base Julian Date number, to which the day of the month can be added to obtain the actual Julian Date. The monthly sky diary pages can be used as hand-outs for public outreach activities, or placed on classroom and education centre notice boards.

Sky Guide 2010

How to get yours

The graph of times of rising and setting of the Sun, planets and selected bright stars is enhanced by the addition of an extensive table of corrections for places throughout Southern Africa. Tables of solar system data include the discovery of planetary satellites, and physical & orbital data for the planets.

The sections dealing with comets and double stars offer introductory observing guides to these fields of study.

First-time star gazers may find the simple star charts useful for identifying the brightest stars, constellations and deep-sky objects.

The final section contains a list of useful websites and a glossary, defining commonly used terminology.

Price

With book prices typically in the three-digits, you will be pleasantly surprised to learn that the 2010 Sky Guide sells for only R75. Free postage applies within SA.

How to get your copy

Available from December 2009. Avoid disappointment and place an order now. Due to their popularity and limited publication number, the Sky Guide sells fast.

If you are a book seller, enquire from our Business Manager about the special discounts available to bookshops and other resellers. Placing a bulk order early will avoid disappointment! The ISSN Number for the SkyGuide is 0571-7191 and the barcode no. is 9 770571 719069.

Contact the ASSA Business Manager, PO Box 9, Observatory, 7935, e-mail [business@assa.saao.ac.za] to secure your copy.

What others have said...

"An absolute must for first-time star-gazers and professional astronomers alike. This concise and practical Sky Guide not only provides you with monthly maps, charts of the heavens and basic astronomical background, but also a wonderful insight into African lore related to current astronomical events. This light-weight small book fits into any purse or backpack wherever you go. You can glean more with one quick glance than from browsing the internet."
- Prof. Renee C. Kraan-Korteweg, Head of Astronomy Dep. (UCT)

"A splendidly presented guide to the southern night sky, this compact, concise and thorough astronomical handbook is an invaluable resource for all sky-watchers, be they amateurs or professional. I particularly liked its guide through the richest regions of the southern Milky Way, and it has an excellent list of useful web sites".
- Prof. P Charles, Director SAAO

 Cover photo: The spiral galaxy Messier 83, a 100 minute exposure by the Wide Field Imager on the ESO/MPG 2.2m telescope at La Silla (Chile). Image credit: ESO (European Southern Observatory), September 2008. ESO PR Photo 25/08

Editor: A B Jones [abjones@iafrica.com]
Assistant Editor: Maciej Soltynski

Table of contents

Preface
Using the SkyGuide
Must-see events for 2010

Monthly sky diary

Sun
Eclipses
Observing the Sun

Moon
Phases
Eclipses
Lunar occultations
Ramadan and Shawwal
Moon maps

Planets
Dwarf planets
Planetary occultations
Close planetary pairings
Rise-set times
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Definition of a planet

Asteroids, Small Solar System Bodies
Close approaches during 2010
S.S.S. Body occultations

Comets
Observing comets

Meteors
Meteor showers
Meteorites & craters

Stars
Constellations
Double stars
Variable stars

Deep-sky observing
Top-100 deep sky objects

Dark Sky
Light pollution

Basic observing skills
Time
Julian day number
Astrophotography

Star charts
Brightest stars and constellations
Circumpolar stars
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Spring

Astronomy in Southern Africa
A heritage to be proud of
Contemporary astronomy
Professional observatories
Private & amateur observatories
Planetaria
Other sites of interest
Education in astronomy
Scholarships
Astronomical societies and Clubs

Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
Office bearers 2009 – 2010
Sections
Centres
Officers and Award Recipients

Reference
Useful websites
Glossary

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