The Webb Deep-Sky Society

Editorial - Quarterly Journal 141  2006

So far this has been an interesting year with large numbers of northern observers reporting a poor winter season for clear skies.  This has even affected my other astronomy hobby of solar observation with very few days clear to get the filters out, although the Sun is pretty low in terms of activity at the moment as well. I wonder if this is part of the low solar cycle, more cosmic rays and therefore more clouds correlation that has been proposed?  Given the recent weather members might be interested in the following site:- http://www.cloudappreciationsociety.org

The number of articles coming in has also been good but I can still do with more.  Reports from star parties appear to be popular so if there any that you have been too that you would like to report on then I would love to hear from you.

The long awaited biography of Webb has now been published by Gracewing Press and is available from them or, at least in the U, form Amazon for £14.99.  there will be a review of it in the next issue of the magazine.  Speaking of reviews I must apologise for one review appearing twice and Wolfgang’s not appearing.  This was an oversight between my self and Don and it also will appear in the next issue.  Keeping on the book theme it would appear that many of the books mentioned so far have had their publications delayed into next year although the new Sissy Haas book on observing double stars appears to have been published by Sky & Telescope. There will be a short review of that if I can get my hands on a copy.

Society News

The AGM in December at the IOA in Cambridge is now coming together and the current speaker list looks like Peter Hingley (RAS Librarian) on the Webb note books, Mark and Janet Robinson on Webb, Wolfgang Steinicke on Webb’s observations of deep sky objects, Adrian Caterall on CCD imaging and others TBA.  This should be another good meeting and hopefully we will see lots of you there.  There should be another DSO out before then with the final program in.  at the same time if anyone would like to join the committee then start thinking about it now and let Bob Argyle know.  There are plenty of us who would like a break.  It will be fifteen years in 2007 since I started editing DSO and you get a shorter sentence for murder!  We are, of course, still looking  for a Meetings Secretary so if you would be interested in doing that then again contact Bob.

The Society still hopes to get out the Bennett Catalogue for the next AstroFest but southern observers might like to know that a version of it by Michael Bakich appears in Astronomy magazine for July 2006. Magdha has also published a lot of her observations on the ASSA deep sky section website http://www.saao.ac.za/assa/html/32_deepsky.html although when I last checked the pages had gone off line.  The long awaited Volume 2 of the Visual Atlas of Double Stars should also be out shortly.  The delays there have been from the interesting way that Greek letters are now handled in modern fonts and it had taken time to disentangle that.

Internet links

As much deep sky astronomy is done via the internet the following new links may be of interest.

http://www.ngc891.com/ - an observer’s guide.

http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/ - Jermey Perez’s web site with much deep sky material.

http://www.astronomersdoitatnight.de/html/historische_milchstrassenzeich.html - historical studies of the Milky Way (in German) and for discussions the Cloudy Nights forum on Deep Sky observing

http://www.cloudynights.com/ and then forums has a lot of current information.  Beware though as some of the observers there might be pushing the limits a bit. 

Editor: Owen Brazell

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