EDITOR’S COMMENTS

On behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, I wish to thank the con­tributors to the 1984 observer’s handbook (see the inside front cover). In particular I wish to welcome Fred Espenak (Eclipses), Robert Garrison (The Brightest Stars), and William Herbst (Galactic Nebulae) as new contributors. The latter two replace Donald MacRae (David Dunlap Observatory) and René Racine (Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope) respectively, both of whom have provided valuable support to the handbook over several years.

EDITOR’S COMMENTS

Editor's Comments

the observer’s handbook for 1981 is the seventy-third edition. On behalf of myself and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, I thank all those who have contributed to its production: the contributors listed on the inside front cover, and my editorial assistant Paul Ford.

the observer’s handbook for 1980 is the seventy-second edition. I thank all those who have contributed to its production: those listed on the inside front cover, and also my editorial assistants Tim Pointing and Douglas Welch.

I also thank all those who have sent me corrections to and suggestions about the handbook. Errors inevitably creep in; if you see one please let me know, obvious though it may be.

the observer’s handbook for 1979 is the seventy-first edition—at 140 pages, the largest edition ever. I thank all those whose names appear explicitly in the various sections, and especially the editor’s assistant, Jaymie M. Matthews.

the observer’s handbook for 1972 is the sixty-fourth edition. In response to sug­gestions from readers, several changes and improvements have been made and a number of errors and omissions in the 1971 edition have been rectified.

the observer’s handbook for 1978 is the seventieth edition. It has now grown to 128 pages: the predictions of total and grazing lunar occultations have been con­ siderably expanded to cover the whole of Canada and the U.S., and about a dozen other sections have been extensively revised and/or expanded.

the observer’s handbook for 1977 is the sixty-ninth edition. There are some changes and additions: the presentation of the configurations of Jupiter’s satellites, and of the sun’s selenographic colongitude, is different (see pg. 34); a diagram showing twilight and sidereal time has been added (pg. 12); the section on “Planets” has been rewritten and extended; and some “Suggestions for Further Reading” have been added. The index is now on the last page.