Welcome to the SAAO’s Stargazers page, where hobbyists and amateur astronomers can find information on celestial objects and events, and learn about free tools, apps and resources for astronomy.
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
ASSA aims to encourage astronomy in southern Africa by connecting both amateur and professional observers and sharing current knowledge and information within this community. ASSA is open to all, and provides a wealth of up-to-date information for hobbyists on its website.
Whats Up – September 2023
The Last Quarter Moon falls on the 7th of September at 002h1. The New Moon occurs on the 15th of Sep
04 September, 2023
Amateur Astronomy Associations in Africa
Africa is host to many amateur astronomy associations, and AfAS wants to work with them to organise events and offer support.
Click on the interactive map, zoom in, and find the contact info for any of the associations!
Click here to download a pdf with the details of all the associations (version 1, as of April 2021).
For more information or to register your association, please visit the African Astronomical Society website.
Other useful sites for amateur astronomers:
Stellarium: open source planetarium
African Starlore art for Stellarium
Universe Awareness (UNAWE) South Africa: inspiring children through astronomy
UFO Research of South Africa
Open Source Physics: physics teaching resources
‘Celestia: real-time 3D visualisation of space
Virtual Moon Atlas: a Moon explorer
Skychart: free software to draw skycharts
NASA eclipse tracker
NASA Spot the Station International Space Station tracker
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
PhET Interactive Simulations: physics simulations for learning
World Wide Telescope: view the skies from your computer
Heavens Above: live sky charts
Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena (UAP): common misidentifications