the observer’s handbook for 1970 is the 62nd edition. The time zone map has been supplied courtesy of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources of Canada. The sections on Nearest Stars, Galactic Nebulae and Radio Sources have been rewritten.

Cordial thanks are offered to all individuals who assisted in the preparation of this edition, to those whose names appear in the various sections and to Barbara Gaizauskas, Gretchen Hagen, Anson Moorhouse, John Percy, Roslyn Shemilt, Maude Towne, and Isabel Williamson. Special thanks are extended to Margaret W. Mayall, Director of the A.A.V.S.O., for the predictions of Algol and the variable stars and to Gordon E. Taylor and the British Astronomical Association for the prediction of planetary appulses and occultations. My deep indebtedness to the British Nautical Almanac Office and to the American Ephemeris is grate­fully acknowledged.

Ruth J. Northcott

postscript. Miss Ruth Northcott had finished most of the editorial work, including the gathering of material for the 1970 observer’s handbook before her untimely death on July 29, 1969. We have finished the preparation for this issue, and express the hope that the quality of the 1970 handbook will not be seriously impaired by the fact that the Editor of the past 13 years was not able to see it through to completion.

John F. Heard
Helen S.Hogg