BAA Comet Section competition

Competition

Springer have just published a new book on 'Observing Comets' and have generously made some copies available for competition prizes. The book is written by Nick James (BAA Comet Section CCD Advisor) and Gerald North and covers all aspects of comet observing. There are three separate competitions:

For Members of the Society for Popular Astronomy : Submit an illustration or drawing of a bright comet. This could be a fictional drawing, a scenic photograph or a painting and can be on paper or sent as an image. Comet 2002 V1 (NEAT) may provide a real example to draw. The submission should be sent by post to J D Shanklin, 11 City Road, Cambridge CB1 1DP or to me by email. Please give your membership number when submitting.
For Members of the British Astronomical Association : Submit a short essay of around 500 words on 'Why I observe comets'. The submission should be sent by email. Please give your membership number when submitting.
For any readers of these pages : Submit a short essay of 500 - 1000 words on 'The importance of amateur comet observations'. The submission should be sent by email.

The winners of each competition will receive a copy of the book, and their submissions, along with those of the runners up, will be published in The Comet's Tale. The closing date is 2003 April 16. Where possible the winners will be presented with their prizes at the Pro-am comet meeting on May 10.

Observing Comets (Nick James and Gerald North), Springer, ISBN 1-85233-557-2, EUR 44.95 : Since comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with the planet Jupiter with stupendous force in 1994 there has been an upsurge of interest in comets. Most comets are first discovered by amateur astronomers, simply because there are so many amateurs looking for them. Techniques and instruments - not necessarily expensive - have improved dramatically in the past few years. Nick James and Gerald North describe comet hunting, photographing and imaging comets, and digital image processing.

This comprehensive book is at once a "primer" for comet hunters and a reference text for more advanced amateur astronomers. The free CD-ROM that accompanies this book provides resources, comet images, and software. It can be used on almost any personal computer that is equipped with a CD-ROM drive and has an Internet browser.

BAA and SPA members are entitled to a 20% discount on all books purchased directly from Springer. Please quote your membership number when ordering.

Published by J D Shanklin <jds@ast.cam.ac.uk>