The M.A.S. Newsletter 37

There is no meeting scheduled for this month.
The society would like to launch a new edition of the planisphere in May this year. We would much appreciate if members of the society could find sponsors to help finance the project. For more information please contact:

On the 25^th, the moon will be at its most distant point from the Earth. Unfortunately the moon will then be only 4% illuminated. Mercury is back in the evening sky in the constellation of Capricornus. The moon is visible close to the planet Mercury above the western horizon on the 26^th just after sunset. The planet will be at its furthest, 18^o, from the setting Sun (greatest elongation east) on the 28^th of January. On the night of the 2^nd and 3^rd of February, the moon is close to Jupiter and Saturn respectively, and on the 8^th, we have the largest full moon of the year. The smallest full moon will occur on 02^nd September. It is quite interesting to make photos of the moon on these two dates for comparison. The Alpha Centaurids meteor shower is active from the 28^th January to 21^st February. The peak activity being on the night of the 07^th. With the nearly full moon, best conditions for observing will be in early morning just after moonset and before sunrise i.e. in early morning. You might have a better show on the early morning of the 6^th when the moon sets earlier. The radiant of the shower is close to the brighter of the two pointer stars (alpha Centauri) following to the east of the southern cross.

Month	Day	Event	Remarks
February	Friday 23^rd	AGM
March	Friday 30^st	Observation Session	Observation of southern hemisphere.
April	Friday 27^th	Slide Show.	Topic: The Sun.
May	Friday 25^th	Observation of Mars
June	Tuesday 21^st	Solar Eclipse	Visible in the afternoon till sunset.
July	Tuesday 05^th Friday 27^th	Partial eclipse of the moon Slide Show.	Moon rises (17:35) partially eclipsed. Topic: Size of the Solar System.
August	Sunday 12^th - Monday 13^th	Perseids meteor shower,	moon (36% illuminated) rising at 00:50.
September	Friday 28^th	Double star observation night
October	Saturday 20^th - Sunday 21^st	Orionids meteor shower.	Favourable, no moon.
November	Friday 30^th	Observation of Jupiter and Saturn	Saturn at opposition 3^rd December, Jupiter 1^st January
December	Tuesday 13^th	Geminids meteor shower.	No moon.

Radiant: The point on the celestial sphere from which the trails of meteors belonging to a particular meteor shower appear to radiate.

Elongation: The angular distance between the Sun and a planet or the Moon as viewed from the Earth, i.e. the angle Sun-Earth-planet or Sun-Earth-Moon.