General Information
These reports appear in the Friday (before our monthly meeting held on the first Thursday of the month) editions of the 'Clacton Gazzette' and 'Essex Evening Standard' in their 'Neighbourhood News' sections
Southern Constellations - A Personal Selection by Bob Leon
At the last monthly meeting held on 1st February 2007, Bob Leon gave a presentation entitled 'Southern Constellations - A Personal Selection'. He began with the description of a holiday taken in August 2002 to Australia. There, visiting Ayres Rock (more correctly known by its Aboriginal name of 'Uluru'), he took part in an event known as 'The Sound of Silence Dinner'. As night fell in the middle of the Australian desert, the sky became ablaze with light. An amateur astronomer was on hand to give guided tour of the night sky and with a number of telescopes set up, the diners were able to view some of the more famous astronomical objects. Bob used this experience to show a selection of well known southern constellations and some of his favourite objects found within them. These included the 'Jewel Box Cluster', the 'Large and Small Megellanic Clouds' and the 'Tarantula Nebulae'. Of course, mention had to be made of 'Alpha Centauri' (or more precisely, 'Proxima Centauri') which is the closest star to our own Solar System.
The Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held as usual at the 'Friends Meeting House' in Granville Road, Clacton on March 1st 2007, where the club will debate the issue that 'This House believes that Pluto should remain a full Planet'.