Sky Guide Africa South 2017, by the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa

Sky Guide Africa South 2017, by the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa. Penguin Random House South Africa (Nature). Cape Town, South Africa 2017. ISBN 9781775844778 / ISBN 978-1-77584-477-8

Sky Guide Africa South is annualy published by the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa and Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd. This is the edition of 2017.

The Sky Guide Africa South 2017 continues the tradition of the well-established Astronomical Handbook for Southern Africa and is intended as a reference work for both the established astronomer and the casual sky watcher. The Sky Guide Africa South 2017 is divided into a number of sections, each of which is identified by a symbol along the top of the page. The first section is the monthly celestial almanac, which includes eight full-page seasonal star charts as well as four pages of information for each month. Following the celestial almanac are sections on:

• Sun and Moon, giving information about such topics as eclipses and predictions for Ramadan & Shawwal, including Moon maps to help identify prominent lunar features
• planets, discussing their movement and appearance, with a graph of rising and setting times (which can be used throughout southern Africa) and charts showing their positions in 2017
• asteroids, comets and meteors, comprehensive background information and details on opportunities to observe these fascinating objects, including predictions for meteor showers
• southern stars and constellations, including data on all the brightest stars, a brief guide to pronouncing star names and charts for locating Proxima Centauri and Sirius' companion
• deep-sky objects, with a hand-picked selection of the finest southern specimens
• basic observing skills, with tips on getting started in stargazing, including sound advice on choosing a telescope, where to go observing, and basic astrophotography
• astronomy in southern Africa, looked at from various perspectives (historical, contemporary research, educational and social), including information about the ASSA
• glossary, defining commonly used terminology
• galleries of outreach and astrophotos taken by South African astrophotographers; and
• competition entry form, with prizes sponsored by Eridanus Optics and Struik Nature.

Data is obtained from the JPL Horizons ephemeris generator, Occult 4.2.1 (David Herald), Stellarium 0.13 (Fabien Chereau et al), Cartes du del 3.1 (Patrick Chevalley), A Dictionary of Modern Star Names (Paul Kunitzsch and Tim Smart), Jupiter Moon Tracker 2.6 (Mark Showalter), Edwin Goffin (asteroid occultation predictions), the Lunar and Planetary Institute (selected lunar photographs) and the Digitized Sky Survey (Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. and the Anglo-Australian Observatory Board). Assistance was received from the ASSA Secretary, Outreach Officer, Scholarships Coordinator, ASSA Sections (Directors, Specialists and Collaborators) and Secretaries of the Centres. Contributions by Tim Cooper (comets and meteor showers), Greg Roberts (artificial satellites), Chris Stewart (televangelism) and Chris de Coning (historical material) are gratefully acknowledged. Sharp-eyed comments from Dr Ian Glass (Assistant Editor) has saved my bacon many times. Continued feedback from readers has helped improve the Sky Guide and future comments and suggestions are welcomed. Please send your contributions to the editorial address [skyguide@assa.saao.ac.za]. Many astrophotographers contributed their work freely to the Sky Guide Africa South 2017 and are thanked for their beautiful submissions, which help make this publication unique. [...]

This is an excerpt from the Sky Guide Africa South 2017, by the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa.

Title: Sky Guide Africa South 2017
Publisher: Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa (Nature)
Cape Town, South Africa 2017
ISBN 9781775844778 / ISBN 978-1-77584-477-8
Softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 136 pages, throughout colour photos and images