The Webb Deep-Sky Society
Welcome to the autumn edition of DSO/QJ.
The committee decided that in order to try and raise the membership we
would try and get out a couple of editions with colour per year. We hope you
like the change. To keep this going
if you have good colour images that you would like us to feature then please
send them in. It is good to enter
2002 with deep sky observing seemingly as popular as ever from the profusion of
web sites that come up devoted to aspects of deep sky observing.
Several of the best can be found on the Webb Society CD3 along with a
large number of images collected over the last couple of years since CD2.
On a more cautionary note despite the increasing popularity of deep sky observing both Steve Gottleib running the Galaxies section and Steve Hynes running the Nebulae and Clusters section report that they have very few observations sent in to make a report. If you have material that could be useful to either of them could you send it in.
On a more controversial subject over the summer Ronald Stoyan of Interstellarum approached both the Webb Society and the National Deep Sky Observers Society (NDSOS) in the USA with the view to publishing an international magazine that would come out in English. This would be a partner to the already successful German deep sky magazine Interstellarum. The idea was that it would effectively replace both DSO/QJ and the Deep Sky Journal (the publication of NDSOS). Both societies would have a society section as part of the new magazine and the editors would sit on the board of the new magazine. The committee did seriously think about this as an option. The problems being as we saw with becoming part of this new magazine is that it would effectively mean the end of the Webb Society as we would then become a society with no real purpose. It would also mean that should it fail in a few years the Webb Society would find it difficult, if not impossible, to restart DSO/QJ. The only hope of success in the main market for the proposed new magazine, the USA, would be to recruit a number of well known US writers. Sky & Telescope has already wrapped up some and with Astronomy magazine starting a new section on more hardcore deep sky observing it was felt that they probably would not get these people. Alan Goldstein and Gordon Bond of NDSOS came to similar conclusions and reluctantly we decided not at this stage to participate in the venture. It would be interesting to know what our members felt about this call.
We are sad to announce that Steve Hynes is stepping down as the Nebulae and Clusters Section director. After many years on the committee in various posts Steve has decided that his interests lie elsewhere. Bob Argyle has written a note on Steve’s contributions to the society elsewhere in the magazine but I would like to add my own thanks to Steve for the work he has done over the years. The committee are currently looking for a replacement for Steve.
After a couple of years absence the society will be back at Astrofest. We feel that although it is difficult to recoup the costs we need to increase our profile. To help with this we are bringing out the Webb Society CD3, already mentioned above and Wolfgang Steinicke has kindly allowed us to reproduce his booklet on Extragalactic Objects Discovered as Variable Stars which will also be available. We are now out of the Webb Society Deep Sky Observers Handbooks Volumes 1-3 with limited stacks of Vol 4. The rates for the remaining Volumes (5-8) at Astrofest will be £3.00 per volume or 2 for £5.00, so now is a goodtime to collect those missing volumes and help Bob get his garage back.
On the membership front we have been static now for a number of years and it was felt that we need ideas to grow the membership. The Web site under Tim Walker has been completely revamped and that should help. Other ideas are always welcome though.
Advance dates for your diary for 2002 are the Webb Society AGM which will be held on the 18th May hopefully at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratories in Oxfordshire. Look in the next issue for more details of the program. Other deep sky meetings in the UK include the BAA Deep Sky Section meeting in Northampton on March 9th. Program also not yet finalised.
Editor: Owen Brazell