The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sailor from subcontinent
Fred Connor has been in touch and says: “Regarding the reader’s query about the term ‘lascar’, a lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, south-east Asia, the Arab world, or other territories located to the east of the Cape of Good Hope.
“They were employed on European ships from the 16th Century until the middle of the 20th Century.”
A blue supergiant
Ken Kennedy of Dundee Astronomical Society tells us what to expect in the December sky. “By December the winter sky is showing its full glory with recognisable constellations occupying the south and south-eastern areas of the sky,” he says. “The inverted Y shape of Perseus is almost overhead at 10pm and can be found by following eastwards the line of stars which form Andromeda.
“Continue in an easterly direction from Perseus to find the kite-shaped constellation of Auriga with its brightest star Capella, the sixth brightest in the entire sky. Another step eastwards and we have the twins, Gemini. The stars Castor and Pollux look quite dim beside Capella although Castor is the 18th brightest star in the sky. Following the stars Castor and Pollux downwards towards the feet of the twins the eye is drawn to the most majestic constellation in the entire sky, Orion. The three stars in line form the Hunter’s belt and above Orion’s belt is the red giant star Betelgeuse. Below his belt is the equally bright star Rigel, a blue supergiant star.
“Winter meteor showers continue with the Geminid meteors which may be seen from December 4 to 17. If you are interested in meteors, December 13 is a date for your diary. Maximum is expected to be at around 8pm on that date but it will be worth looking for Geminids at any time during the night of 13th to 14th.
“With new moon on the 14th, conditions couldn’t be better and we may expect more than 100 meteors per hour near to maximum. I always feel that the Geminid shower is the best of the year as the meteors are relatively slow and many are bright.
“The source of meteors is usually a comet but the Geminid meteor source is a mystery as they seem to be associated with an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon. I managed to photograph Phaethon at its last close approach in 2017.
“The winter solstice is the point in the earth’s orbit when the sun reaches its highest elevation in the southern hemisphere. At the winter solstice the sun’s
elevation in the sky at noon from midScotland is only 10° which means that we have less than seven hours when the sun is above the horizon. The winter solstice occurs at 10am on December 21.
“Mercury will not be visible in December. Venus is bright in the south-east at about 15 degrees elevation at 6am at the beginning of the month. It gradually drops towards the horizon and will only be a few degrees above the horizon by the end of the month.
“Mars is still bright during the month but is becoming more distant with an angular diameter of only 12 arc seconds. Jupiter and Saturn are both low in the south west after sunset. During December they draw together and on the 21st are only 0.1° apart.
“The moon is at last quarter on the 8th, new on the 14th, at first quarter on the 21st and full on December 30.”
Remember Red Ingle?
An Angus reader asks if anyone remembers an American comedy singer and bandleader from the 1940s and ’50s named Red Ingle?
His musicians were known as the Natural Seven, and recordings included ‘You can’t be fit as a fiddle when you’re tight as a drum’, ‘Get up off of the floor, Hannah, them hogs has gotta be fed’ and ‘A You’re a Dopey Gal’.
There is a vague memory of some famous singers performing with the band – under assumed names!