Forthcoming attractions of the night sky.
Obviously, we all know about lions, elephants, antelope and other animals. Then there are the colourful birds we take for granted. What about our indigenous trees, grasses, flowers, insects, reptiles and fish of which we have twenty endemic species? Arguably best of all are our moonless winter night skies away from urban centres, where we can be enthralled by a magnificent, breath-takingly beautiful panorama unequalled in many other parts of the world. Seeing is believing!
We know there are many members who would like to know more about our night skies and would appreciate being better informed. To this end we have decided to have a five-minute slot at our monthly meetings when we will tell members what the highlights of the next month will be. We plan on pointing out major constellations, stars, planets, clusters, in fact anything in which we think you may be interested. We will look north and then south from where we are standing or sitting. Please make sure you are in a clearing and no trees or building structures are obscuring your vision, that you are warmly dressed and safe from any wild animals.
Our astronomical meetings are in the early evening on the last Thursday of the month. We hope you will join us then. Members are advised of the times of the meetings by e-mail or WhatsApp.
To prepare for this presentation, we will be referring to a number of books and websites, notably:
- Collins 2022 Guide to the Night Sky, Southern Hemisphere
- Night Skies of Botswana by Stephen O’Meara
- Stars over Botswana by Uno Jonsson
- https://astronomicalsocietyofbotswana.org/
- Go to our Botswana Sky Calendar page and if you look below the calendar you will see the items of interest for that particular month for you to read. Magic! (Sadly, this item comes out on our website after our talk!)