Go Back   IceInSpace > General Astronomy > Astronomy Books and Media

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 31-03-2022, 07:07 PM
UniPol's Avatar
UniPol
I Prefer Refractors

UniPol is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Lithgow, NSW
Posts: 1,670
Astronomical Society of NSW Ephemeris

During one of my many cleanups today I came across some of my old NSW Astronomical Society ephemeris's from years ago. I'd forgotten how informative and useful they were and aren't as glossy and colourful as todays ones. It's hard to imagine the sheer amount of work involved in producing these as the earlier ones were hand drawn and written. The following extract from an article about the society's McNiven awards is an interesting read owing to the fact that Edward (Ted) Lumley F.R.A.S. is largely responsible for its publication over many years.

Edward (Ted) Lumley

The 1st (1973) and 17th (1986) McNiven Medals were presented to Mr. Edward (Ted) Lumley, who was most worthy to receive the first medal, which was mainly awarded for his significant contributions to Astronomy. His overall assistance to the Society cannot be understated, and his service to the Society is both long and distinguished. One of his serious pursuits was variable star observations, and he passed these on to the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) for more than three decades. Mr Lumley dabbled in many aspects of astronomy, and members and the community alike have exploited his expertise, with questions relating to astronomy, astronomical devices and telescope making. He was renown for the publication of an article in Sky and Telescope about his modification of the Ronchi method for Mirror Testing, which is still used today.

For the Society, he produced the “Yearbook of Astronomy” between 1963 and 1985. Copies of this publication exceed one thousand copies for many years, and the profits made from this significantly helped reduce the cost of membership and/or contribute to Society profits. During the early years of the construction of the Bowen Mountain Observatory, the monies thus raised help push along the project. His assistance to this Society overall was just extraordinary, and it is unlikely that we will ever see such dedication from any present or future committee or ordinary member.

Ted was a Life Member from the early 1960's, and was our longest serving Committee Member for 38 years (2000). He served admirably as Observations Officer (1962-1994) and Education Officer (1995-2000).
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (Ephemeris - 1.jpg)
203.5 KB71 views
Click for full-size image (Ephemeris - 2.jpg)
215.2 KB66 views
Click for full-size image (Ephemeris - 3.jpg)
219.9 KB62 views
Click for full-size image (Ephemeris - 4.jpg)
218.3 KB59 views
Click for full-size image (Ephemeris - 5.jpg)
219.1 KB62 views
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 31-03-2022, 09:58 PM
OzEclipse's Avatar
OzEclipse (Joe Cali)
Registered User

OzEclipse is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Young Hilltops LGA, Australia
Posts: 1,177
Old Gold

Hi Steve,
I also keep a small collection of the same things.

I have a handful of similar 'old school' ephemerides produced by Lee Lafferty of the AAQ in the late 1970's. His father, Fred used to do it for many years before that.

I have a copy the 1982 Ted Lumley USNSW handbook. Thanks for the bio about Ted. As a young member of the AAQ, I knew nothing about Ted other than his name on the book.

I also have a single copy of the 1971 USNO Astronomical Almanac. Lot's of explanatory notes on the maths behind the calculations.

Fred Espenak use to send me all the NASA eclipse bulletins and hard copies of the two Five Millennium Canon's of Solar and Lunar Eclipses. I still have all of those.

Many of these old publications were really hard work, all that plotting by hand. Real dedication required by .

These days, I produce a nightscape photographers handbook, similar to one of these ephemeris publications for Canberra/SE NSW. Early versions 7 years ago used to take quite a lot of time but I recently completed about 90% of the 2023 handbook all in one evening. It took about 3 hrs to complete. The part that is incomplete, can't be done until later this year.

Cheers

Joe Cali
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (Ephemerides-IMG_1748 copy.jpg)
91.8 KB40 views
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-04-2022, 10:03 AM
UniPol's Avatar
UniPol
I Prefer Refractors

UniPol is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Lithgow, NSW
Posts: 1,670
Your photographers handbook sounds great, I would be interested to see a copy some time. I meant to mention in my post that Ken Wallace and Glenn Dawes have both received the McNiven medal, see : https://www.asnsw.com/mcniven Along with Peter Northfield their "Astronomy" book published each year is just superb, I really don't know how they produce it to such a high standard.

Re your copy of the USNO, I recall buying a copy of the The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac by United States Naval Observatory, Nautical Almanac Office in 1969 and it was just too much to take in, as you say lots of maths and calculations plus endless tables which weren't relevant here in Australia, I still have the book somewhere around the place.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-04-2022, 10:20 AM
leon's Avatar
leon
Registered User

leon is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Warrnambool
Posts: 12,430
Wow that is impressive and great stuff to own, yes it was done differently in those days, thanks for sharing that.

Leon
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-04-2022, 06:06 PM
OzEclipse's Avatar
OzEclipse (Joe Cali)
Registered User

OzEclipse is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Young Hilltops LGA, Australia
Posts: 1,177
Quote:
Originally Posted by UniPol View Post
Your photographers handbook sounds great, I would be interested to see a copy some time. I meant to mention in my post that Ken Wallace and Glenn Dawes have both received the McNiven medal, see : https://www.asnsw.com/mcniven Along with Peter Northfield their "Astronomy" book published each year is just superb, I really don't know how they produce it to such a high standard.

Re your copy of the USNO, I recall buying a copy of the The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac by United States Naval Observatory, Nautical Almanac Office in 1969 and it was just too much to take in, as you say lots of maths and calculations plus endless tables which weren't relevant here in Australia, I still have the book somewhere around the place.
Hi Steve,
My nightscape handbook is a PDF and can be downloaded from my website
https://joe-cali.com
Link at the top of the home page.

My handbook contains some of the same obvious things as I'd assume the Ken Wallace/Glenn Dawes book contains like Sun Moon rise and set and twilight. Haven't needed to buy their book for many years. But I have produced some other things more specific to nightscape photographers like a Milky Way rise and Set diagram and my own methods for determining maximum exposure time for stationary stars.

cheers
Joe
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 08-04-2022, 09:41 AM
Crater101's Avatar
Crater101 (Warren)
Mostly Harmless

Crater101 is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Bathurst, NSW
Posts: 630
I've heard it said on more than one occasion that if you want to learn new things, read old books.


Many thanks for sharing that.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-04-2022, 08:52 AM
JohnG's Avatar
JohnG (John)
Looking Down From Above

JohnG is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Cootamundra, NSW
Posts: 1,709
Wow, that stirred up some old memories.. Ted Lumley took us very young members of the ASNSW in the 60's under his wing at the old Belfields Observatory and taught us the basics of Astronomy, back in the days when you were expected to attend the Observatory neatly dressed with collar and tie...
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 07:49 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement