Night sky
I have lost count of the number of star parties I have attended. You may think that each one is like the last, especially as everything in the night sky is pretty static in relation to our time on earth, but every time you look up is an opportunity to see and learn something new. The small team who run the private observatory at Leeuwenboschfontein may be amateur astronomers in that it is not their profession, but their boundless knowledge and enthusiasm for sharing it with others place them in the top echelons of ‘amateur’.
This weekend they hosted the 2024 Event Horizon where a variety of telescopes from simple and easy to handle to the most technologically advanced tracking equipment was available for anyone wanting to get spectacular views of the objects normally seen as fuzzy blobs with the naked eye (if at all in the city, where extreme light pollution obliterates night vision). The owners of these telescopes patiently, willingly and extremely passionately share any information they have on each object, and answer all questions, no matter how silly the asker may think it is. And as the rest of us gather around, unseen except for shadowy outlines in the starlight, we also learn about things that may be beyond our comprehension (such as the distances measured in space) but can be appreciated simply for their very existence.
Weather and temperature play a huge part in any stargazing event, and these were the best conditions I can remember from any site where star parties have been held – clear skies, no wind, not warm or cold so minimal haze. Being comfortable while standing outside for around 6 hours through the night is of prime importance, and only a light jacket was required – no beanie, gloves, double layers or thick socks of winter observing! The first two nights I made it through to 10 or 11, but on Saturday there was so much to see that it seemed ridiculous to go to bed when the double star we wanted to see was in a constellation that would only rise in two hours’ time and when next would there be an opportunity?! It was the right decision – we saw many objects that I have not seen in my 15 or so years in amateur astronomy: Vesta (third largest asteroid in the solar system) which requires considerable skill to locate; a dull red star just below Beta Crux; the Southern Beehive; Southern Pleiades and Coma Berenices. Sunspots were a source of great interest – we are currently at solar maximum and as the time went by, the number of spots increased from around 8 to 22. The cycle of solar activity covers 11 years from minimum to maximum, and this year maximum has arrived ahead of the predicted 2025; it is accompanied by interference with the magnetic field of Earth, mainly affecting the northern hemisphere. Solar eclipse chasers in the USA in April will probably be treated to spectacular views of coronal mass ejections as the moon covers the Sun’s disc. The rest of us will have to look at the pictures.
Our sky guides are at the observatory (weather permitting) mostly twice a month, when the public are encouraged to take a drive out into the silence of the Karoo and stay in the comfortable chalets or camp sites at Leeuwenboschfontein Guest Farm (see their website), and you will find the observatory viewing dates and hosts on the Leeuwenboschfontein Observatory Facebook page. In addition to stargazing, a drive along the good gravel road will give birdwatchers lots to see, 4×4 trails wind through the mountains, and long walks on the farms roads in the cool of the evening make this an all-round experience not to be missed.
