Allen interviews Carol Botha. Carol is a passionate amateur astronomer, who has been heavily involved in astronomy outreach for a number of years and serves as a Slooh Ambassador, having recently achieved the highest rank on the public robotic telescope service. She talks about watching the Sputnik booster rocket pass overhead as a little girls, explains why she prefers sketching at the eyepiece to astrophotography, and shares telescope buying tips for newcomers. Brief bio of the podcaster: Allen Versfeld is an amateur astronomer, an IT professional, a podcaster, a father of five beautiful kids and a barely competent chess player. He is also the director of the Citizen Science Section of the Astronomical Society of South Africa, where he promotes the uptake of Citizen Science among South African amateur astronomers.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.