Hi, I am so glad to find a good southern hemisphere forum, so joined up this week
. I live in Cape Town, probably the most beautiful city in the world!!
My first real astro experience was at an all-night star gazing get together in Sutherland, a tiny town in the Great Karoo, which is famous for 2 things. 1. It is the coldest town in south Africa 2. Outside the town high on a hill, is the South African Large Telescope (SALT). That night was a great experience for me and since then astronomy has bitten deep into me and on the way to becoming an obsession!.
I have a Skywatcher EQ5 6" telescope and have now bought a 10" Skywatcher Dobsonian.
Recently I went to see the Karoo Array Telescope about 80km from the Karoo town of Carnarvon. So far there are 7 antenae up and running. You can google it under SKA or Meerkat. This is the beginning of our bid to host the Square Kilometer Array, which Australia is also bidding for. If we get it, which I hope, I hope you Ozzies will still be friends with me!!!
Last year I joined the Cape Town amateur astronomy society and we meet every Wednesday at the old original observatory, in the suburb of Observatory!!!
in Cape Town.
I am looking forward to participating in this forum.
Iain