Sky Guide 2009

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Sky Guide Africa South 2009

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 over 110 pages of information specifically for the year 2009 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 63rd 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.
  By popular demand, the "deep-time" graph, showing Moonless nights, is back. This 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 2009

How to get yours

The graph of times of rising and setting of the Sun, planets and selected bright stars has been enhanced by the addition of an extensive table of corrections for places throughout Southern Africa. Several tables of solar system data were added to this edition: discovery of planetary satellites, the Cassini space craft mission to Saturn, and physical & orbital data for the planets.

The sections dealing with comets and double stars have been expanded. The Directors of these Observing Sections have prepared 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 2009 Sky Guide sells for only R70. Free postage applies within SA.

How to get your copy

Available from December 2008. 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 719052.

Contact the ASSA Business Manager, PO Box 9, Observatory, 7935 e-mail [cliffturk@absamail.co.za] to secure your copy.

What others have said...

"The Sky Guide is an invaluable companion to anyone with an interest in knowing what is going on in the night sky; I find the monthly charts and planet visibility information particularly useful. As 2009 is International Year of Astronomy it is likely to be even more in demand than usual and you may have difficulty keeping track of who has borrowed your copy".
- Prof. Patricia Whitelock, SAAO and UCT

"A splendidly presented guide to the southern 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: NGC 3582, a nebula in the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: NOAO/AURA/NSF.

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

Table of contents

Preface
Using the SkyGuide
Must-see events for 2009

Monthly sky diary

Sun
Eclipses
Observing the Sun

Moon
Phases
Eclipses
Lunar occultations
Ramadan and Shawwal
Moon maps

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

Small Solar System Bodies
Close approaches during 2009
SSSB 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
Light pollution
Time
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
Astronomical societies

ASSA
Office bearers 2005 – 2009
Sections
Centres
Officers and Award Recipients

Reference
Useful websites
Glossary

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