If you ever get lost at sea or in the desert, the two men you would want in your survival team – are stargazers extraordinaire Johan le Roux and Willie Koorts.
Johan is the convener of the Orion Observation Group and a well-known astrophotographer, radio amateur and satellite communication expert. Willie worked as an Electronics Technician at the South Arican Astronomical Observatory until retirement earlier this year, and even has an asteroid named after him!
These two amateur astronomers were invited to talk at the monthly Marine Dynamics Marine Evening at the Great White House in Kleinbaai.
What does the stars have to do with the oceans, you’d ask? Well, everything!
“The origins of our oceans are in the stars. Water molecules exist in the Orion Nebula and are still forming today. The nebula is composed mostly of hydrogen gas; other molecules are comparatively rare. Even so, the nebula is so vast that it creates enough water every day to fill Earth’s oceans 60 times over.” www.nasa.gov.