Astronomy Clubs in Southern Africa.

It is astonishing how popular astronomy became with the general public in the last decade. There area whole host of reasons for this--one of them most probably the publicity that SALT enjoyed but various radio programs on astronomy must definitely also contribute vastly. One cannot help but wonder what impact the IYA2009 will have on this. A crude barometer is the explosion in the number of visitors to Sutherland, the latest example being when almost 200 people attended the all night New Year's starparty held there.

Another manifestation of the general popularity of astronomy is the huge number of non-ASSA affiliated astronomy clubs in Southern Africa--in fact, there are currently more "private" clubs than ASSA Centres! On the ASSA website (http://assa.saao.ac.za) is a map of Southern Africa (similar to Fig. 1) depicting all the known clubs, private or ASSA-affiliated. One of them, the Hermanus Astronomy Club, just made the transition to an ASSA Center--see p.85. Many of these clubs have their own websites, all linked from the above metioned page, if you want to learn more about them.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Starting in the north, situated in Windhoek is the Astronomical Work Group, Namibia. The society is active in the fields of astrophotography, solar and occultation observing. They have an observing site at the Brakwater Agricultural Centre outside Windhoek. They occasionally arrange exhibitions and public viewing sessions in their area.

The most northern club in the Republic of South Africa is the Soutpansberg Astronomy Club situated in Louis Trichardt They have been in existence since 2002 and are quite involved in astronomy outreach in their area which includes assisting schools in presentations on the subject, Astronomy Month and are quite actively participating in the IYA2009 program. A (mainly email) monthly newsletter gets sent out to 120 recipients (some as far afield as America and New Zealand) with news about club activities, worthwhile observing opportunities and general astronomy articles. Because of their proximity to the big game reserves, they have the luxury of stargazing excursions which include game and bird watching. Monthly observation evenings are held utilising a 10-inch Newtonian reflector and timing equipment for occupations (kindly on loan from Mrs Magda Streicher). These are well attended with new faces seen each month.

The city of Johannesburg is flanked by two clubs. Towards Krugerdorp is the West Rand Astronomy Club (WRAC) which was formed on 9 April 2008 with 30 founding members. Their main aims are to learn about astronomy from each other, to promote amateur astronomy and to arrange group outings and starparties in the West Rand area They hold monthly club meetings in the NG Church, Witpootjie, Roodepoort as well as monthly stargazing events with a special year-end star parry in November. A number of public events are also planned each year.

On the other side of Johannesburg, based in Benoni, is the East Rand Astronomy Club, founded in 2003. During informal meetings in the Benoni Library Theatre members are encouraged to report on any observations made during the month. They produce a monthly newsletter, Mons Mensae, containing astronomy news and "What's up" information. The club has regular outings to the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve and joins the Johannesburg Centre once a year in a viewing event to Swinburne.

About 200 km north of Bloemfontein is the Kroonstad Astronomy Club. An informal astronomy club that meets once a month, usually during a dark moon, in Kroonstad (Free State). Various members have built their own telescopes or have acquired commercial instruments.

In Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape we find the Rhodes Astronomy Society (Astrosoc). It is a student society which has been running for 16 years, currently with 70 registered members of which about 20 regularly attend meetings. These are held twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, with weekly talks by other members and guest speakers, fun courses to learn about astronomy, stargazing and hot chocolate! Astrosoc has its own observatory (the Simon Walsh Observatory) equipped with one 3-inch and two 4-inch refractors, an 8-inch Dobsonian reflector and a permanently mounted antique 10-inch reflector (see p.112). Although it is a student society, Astrosoc welcomes members of the general public and are frequently joined by high-school students, lecturers and residents of Grahamstown.

Staying in the Eastern Cape, in PE is the Port Elizabeth People's Observatory Society. The Society has a long rich history with their inaugural meeting dating back to 28 May 1947. They also have their own observatory, the People's Observatory, equipped with an 8-inch Cooke Refractor installed there in 1948, offering regular public viewing nights. Meetings are held bi-monthly on the third Monday.

In the Boland area is OOG (the Orion Observation Group). OOG formed on 8 March 2003 and is an informal group of mostly beginners, but all with a lively and enthusiastic interest in Astronomy. Although mostly centred in the Wellington, Paarl, Somerset West region, there are members from all over the country and even Namibia. Members are unified through a bi-monthly newsletter, Focus, mainly distributed via email but there are also a number of snail-mail recipients. There are currently 260 members on the mailing list of which 66 are from Kleinmond, which has an affiliated, semi-independent club running there. Gatherings are held at many different venues at an adhoc basis, mostly coinciding with specific interesting astronomical events. The main event held regularly is a year-end starparty. The public is always invited too and telescope viewing is mostly preceded by a talk. A few workshops have also been presented so far.

Centred around Fishhoek is the South Peninsula Astronomy Club (SPARC) with the motto "Don't just tell me, show me!". They started in November 2004 with 92 founding members--current membership stands at 182 of which about a third regularly attend meetings. Members are mostly beginners and persons with intermediate experience but also includes some seasoned amateurs and even a past ASSA Solar Section Director (Jim Knight) and ASSA President (Andrew Gray). Meetings are held monthly in the Fish Hoek Civic Centre with speakers on a wide range of subjects, often presented by professionals in their field. An agreement was reached with the Rocklands Centre near Simon's Town, a relatively dark venue used for monthly stargazing. Excursions to interesting places are arranged from time t0 time.