[HMBirds] Namibia
Subject: [HMBirds] Namibia
From: Alan French
Date: Thu, Feb 9, 2012, 11:35 AM
I enjoyed Gregg Recer's "On Safari in Namibia" at the Monday HMBC
meeting. It was a very nice look at birds and wildlife in Namibia, and
gave a good preview of travel in Namibia. I hope to visit Namibia
someday, but not just for the birds. As Gregg mentioned, Namibia has
the second lowest population density of any country. The low population
density, combined with the extremely dry climate, makes the night skies
of Namibia among the darkest on Earth. As illustrated by Gregg's photo
that captured the Southern Cross, Namibia is also far enough south to
show many celestial sights invisible from our northern latitudes.
If you plan a birding trip to Namibia, consider spending some time
enjoying its marvelously dark and beautiful skies. To insure the best
conditions, avoid times around full Moon, if possible. You'll need some
dark moonless time to see the night sky it all its glory. Since you're
birding, you'll have binoculars along - and binoculars are marvelous
instruments for star gazing, especially under exceptionally dark skies.
You can see far more stars with binoculars than you can by eye. The
Milky Way is a lovely sight, and you can see many star clusters,
nebulae, and even some galaxies. Any spotting scope opens up even more
possibilities.
Here are a few things you could see, some depending on the timing of
your trip...
Stars going right down to the horizon, with more stars visible than from
almost any other location on Earth.
Southern constellations that are below the horizon and invisible from here.
The Milky Way arcing across the entire sky.
The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds: Satellite galaxies of our Milky
Way not visible from here (too far south and always below our horizon).
The Zodiacal Light: A roughly triangular glow extending upward from the
western horizon after sunset or from the eastern horizon before
sunrise. Best seen about one half hour after the end of evening
twilight or one half hour before the beginning of morning twilight. It
is sunlight reflecting off interplanetary dust. A lovely sight under
dark skies.
The Gegenschein: A faint brightening of the night sky at the point
opposite to the Sun. Best seen around midnight. Also sunlight
reflecting off interplanetary dust, which is more strongly concentrated
in the orbital plane of the planets (along the ecliptic).
For anyone inclined to do some research on the night sky there (or
anywhere else) on particular dates, Stellarium is an excellent, user
friendly planetarium program that can be downloaded at
http://www.stellarium.org/.
Even without any preparation, the Namibian skies are worth some time.
Not many people have seen the Zodiacal Light or the Gegenschein, so they
are worth seeking. Think of them as two life birds.
Clear skies, Alan
\r
