729th Consecutive Meeting

June  8, 2010

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Jim Browder called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.  This meeting was going to have a different format – business first, the main presentation, and then after the break, the short talk.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 43 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

Jim Browder is a celebrity.  Jim displayed an ad for Astronomy Technology, and showed us a photo of him, but it’s a small photo in the lower corner of the ad. 

There were several items for sale, including a few eyepieces by John Raymond.

There were a few photos for anyone to look at.

A license plate holder that goes on the back of a car was on the table.  It was a recent purchase from the RAS Café Press store.  The shop can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

Past Events:

Science Museum Skywatch was a success on May 21.

Ken Wilson talked about sighting Comet McNaught in the SE sky.

Terry Barker and others mentioned the pairing of Mars and Venus close to each other.

Upcoming Events:

The next Science Museum Skywatch/LiveSky show is June 18.  Please sign-up if you are available to attend and bring a scope.
Skywatch at Willow Oaks Country Club on Friday June 11. Rain date is July 9. 

Cub Scout Twilight Camp at Fairfield Prebyterian Church on Tuesday June 22.  Rain date is June 25.

ECVAR (East Coast Video Astronomy Rendevous) in Luray, Virginia on June 10-13.  Please see http://sites.google.com/site/ecvar2010/  for more information.

Green Bank StarQuest in Green Bank, WV on July 7-10.  Please see http://www.greenbankstarquest.org/  for more information.

Dues announcement:

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Observatory Report (John Barnett)

John Barnett will be hosting an open house for members and guests on Wednesday, June 16th at 8:30pm.  On the 15^th, he will email a weather advisory and a reminder to all members. Contact Jim Blowers to update your email address if it has changed.

Library Report was not given.  The RAS library was moved out of the RAS recently.  At this time, it is in public storage with controlled atmospheric conditions.  An effort is in progress to find a long-term location where RAS members can easily access the library contents.

June’s Presentation: “News in the World of Weather Forecasting” by John Bernier

John Bernier spoke about many aspects of the weather affecting our lives and environment.  He started off his presentation by asking about a very active political topic:  “Climate Change – Fact? Fiction? Fantasy?”  He used the beliefs of Al Gore to take the side of there is global warming, Ken Cuchinelli to side with no global warming, and Sargent Schultz (from Hogan’s Heroes) to take the middle ground using Schultz’s well-known line of “I know nothing!”.  Very effective!

Since the dawn of time, we have had 7 ice ages, where the warmer periods have lasted longer than the colder periods.  Sometime during the warmer periods, it has been warm enough for the dinosaurs to venture up to the Arctic. 

He discussed how the upcoming hurricane season will affect the oil spill in the gulf.  There is no telling what is going to happen.  It could spread it around and carry it onto the land, or it could break it up, depending upon the strength and track of the storms.

Many countries do not have tornadoes.  US and Canada happen to be 2 of the countries that have them.  Much of it has to do with geological and geographical conditions.  For example, the lack of mountains along the central parts of US and Canada helps to cause and intensify the tornadoes.

Time was spent discussing the sun spots (or lack thereof) and their influence of the weather.

An interesting fact that I learned this evening:  All of Ohio’s lakes are manmade – there are NO natural lakes.

There were many other topics and ideas discussed during John Bernier’s talk, including a lengthy Q&A session afterwards.  As expected, this was an outstanding talk with plenty of information.  Well done!

Break – -

Short talk

“East Coast Star Party” by Jim Browder

In a smaller, more informal setting, Jim showed the remaining group of 22, photos taken at the ECSP in Coinjock, NC.  The photos contained many of the regulars who usually attend the star party, and several of the telescope setups that were used.  It was interesting to hear the stories of the camaraderie during the day and the observing opportunities in the sky that occurred during the night.

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, July 13th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, August 16 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with the Science Museum and Thomas Jefferson High School.

President Jim Browder called the meeting to order at 7:03pm.

Attendees (8):

• Jim Browder, President
• David Medici, Vice President
• Jim Blowers, Treasurer
• Chris McCann, Secretary
• John Barnett, Observatory Director
• Gary Cowardin
• Betty Wilson
• Ken Wilson

Secretary’s report given by Chris McCann

February’s board meeting minutes were distributed, discussed, and the following needed to be corrected:

• Barnett was spelled incorrectly with an ‘e’ on the end.
• Gary Cowardin was incorrectly labeled as the Vice President.  The Vice President is presently David Medici.
• The word ‘planetarium’ in the ‘New Business’ section should be changed to ‘observatory’.

Treasurer’s report given by Jim Blowers.

Balance Summary (as of 5/17/2010):

• General Fund:                $6213.90
• Observatory Fund:           $156.56
• TOTAL:                         $6370.46
• Checking Account:        $1323.84
• Savings Account:           $2858.29
• Certificate of Deposit:    $2188.33
• Pay Pal Acct:                          0.00
• TOTAL:                          $6370.46

The report reflected the funds towards the new fence build on the observatory property.

Treasurer’s report was approved by the board.�
Observatory Report given by John Barnett

• The fence along the property line between the shopping center and the RAS observatory has been repaired, actually replaced, by the Hercules Fencing company for the agreed upon price of $1000, which was allocated by the RAS board.  John Barnett stated that the fence looks good, but needs to be extended a little lower at a tree root.
• There was also a brief discussion about possibly selling the 13” Dobsonian telescope that the RAS owns.  It is presently stored at the home of John Barnett, and needs to be moved soon. 
• A minor leak was repaired in the observatory.  No damage had occurred.

• Another Open House has been scheduled, weather permitting. 

Education Report (Jim Browder) :

• John Raymond, RAS Outreach coordinator, continues to schedule and hold several public skywatches at various places.
• There are several requests for skywatches in the near future. 
• Astronomy Day went really well, but was clouded over, therefore, no solar observing was done.
• The VAAS meeting for 2011 will be held by the Back Bay Amateur Astronomers in Virginia Beach.  RAS was scheduled to host the meeting in 2011, but decided to give the Back Bay society the opportunity to host it.  RAS will host it in 2012.  The Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society will be the host for the October 9, 2010 meeting.  More information later.
• Area skywatches should be processed through John Raymond, who is doing a great job.

Library Report

• Discussion about library issues will be discussed during New Business.

Old Business:

• David Medici and Jim Browder have been doing research into getting our RAS library moved from a climate-controlled storage facility to the VCU library.  The response from the VCU library was ‘No’.  The library does hold volumes for some groups, but refused RAS, because of no astronomy program at VCU.  More discussion will be found in the ‘New Business’ section.

New Business:

• RAS needs to fill a Form-990-N with the IRS within every 3 years.  We agreed upon a goal for RAS to submit the form every year, soon after the new slate of officers has been elected.
• Disposition of library volumes: 
• Discussion was continued to determine what can be done with the contents of the RAS library.  The following were ideas (with pros and/or cons):
  • VCU – will not hold our library. 
  • University of Virginia – too far away for RAS members to use.
  • University of Richmond, Richmond Public Library, Randolph-Macon College, a few selected private companies – will be contacted to see what they have to offer
  • Long-term storage in present climate-controlled storage facility – high-cost over time, limited accessibility.
  • Storage in individual home/office – no one asked yet, but it would require that person to be the librarian (or library support)
  • Storage in observatory – limited space available.
  • Discussion into possibly purchasing a storage shed to be built on the RAS observatory property.  Research has begun through several companies into the significant cost estimates for purchasing the building, cost of possible wiring, permits . . ., etc.  This building can be used to house the library contents or the tools and hardware from the observatory.  In the later case, the library contents may be kept in the observatory.
  • Further discussion suggested that the value of the library contents needs to be determined, especially for any possible insurance coverage.  An idea was brought up to donate any extra copies or (non-collector) out-of-date books to either members, charities, groups, or libraries.

Next Board meeting will be Monday, August 16^th, 2010 at Extra Billy’s at 7pm.  If you want to come early for dinner, come by at 6pm.

• Meeting was adjourned at 8:24pm.

728th Consecutive Meeting

May 11, 2010

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 31 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items for sale, including a telescope, a few eyepieces by John Raymond.

There were a few free magazines and photos for anyone to look at.

Past Events:

Astronomy Day was a big success!!!!

Thanks to all members and everyone else who participated and made this another successful Astronomy Day for RAS.  Unfortunately, the clouds settled in and disrupted any solar observing that we were planning.  It appeared all attendees were enjoying themselves and really interested in all aspects of our Astronomy displays.

Science Museum Skywatch
Skywatch at Woodlake
Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

The next Science Museum Skywatch/LiveSky show is May 21.  Please sign-up if you are available to attend and bring a scope.
East Coast Star Party – May 14-15, Coinjock, NC   Expect a review of the party at the next meeting.
Skywatch at Moore Middle School, May 25, 8:30 PM (rain date is May 27, see Richastro calendar). 11455 Prince George Dr., Disputanta 23842.  Contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help.

Stargazing at City Point May 29, 8:00 PM
City Point Unit, Petersburg Nat’l Battlefield, 1001 Pecan Avenue, Hopewell, VA (see Richastro calendar).  Contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help.

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Observatory Report (John Barnett)

John Barnett will be hosting an open house for members and guests on Wednesday, June 16th at 8:30pm.  On the 15^th, he will email a weather advisory and a reminder to all members. Contact Jim Blowers to update yours if it has changed.

       Saturn’s moon Rhea (10th mag) will transit the planet’s disc from 7:30pm until 11pm, and Rhea’s shadow may be visible. The 4.5 day old moon, binary stars and a couple globular clusters will be the main attractions.  These monthly get togethers are a good time to bring personal scopes and get advice from other members. We have an artificial star device to test/correct collimation even if it’s cloudy!                                    

Library Report was not given.  The RAS library was moved out of the RAS recently.  At this time, it is in public storage with controlled atmospheric conditions.  An effort is in progress to find a long-term location where RAS members can easily access the library contents.

Visitors

Dennis Slocum

Quincy ?? and his Dad (attended Astronomy Day)

Al ???

Short talk

John Raymond: NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum) 2010 Recap

      << Will be completed when I view the video.>>

April’s Presentation:

Tim Streagle: “Outreach:  More Than Showing Off Your Gear”

      << Will be completed when I view the video.>>

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, May 11th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, May 17th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

727th Consecutive Meeting

April 13, 2010

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 38 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items for sale, including a telescope, a few eyepieces by John Raymond, and a newly purchased telescope and stand by David Medici.

Cal had an interesting planetary chart depicting the relative positions of the planets to the sun, throughout the year.  There were a few free magazines for any interested members.  I did not get to see them, but someone brought a few photos they had taken through their telescope.

Past Events:

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the last Skywatch at the Science Museum on Friday, March 19.  The event was well attended.  There was an estimated crowd of over 150.   Observed objects included Saturn, Mars, and Orion.

Yuri’s Night at the Westover Hills Library was a success with over 200 people.  There was a great turnout with observations made of Orion, Saturn, and Mars.

Metro Richmond Science Fair at Powhatan High – Terry Barker presented cash prizes for 4 good Astronomy projects:

1. Justin Lau, The Effect of Solar Wind Speed on the Strength of Geomagnetic Substorms.
2. Isaac Steincamp, Celestial Motion: The Difference Between Stellar and Planetary Motion.
3. Anisha Rohatgi, The Effect of Distance of the Light Source on the Intensity of Skyglow.
4. Zachary and Benjamin Terner, The Effects of Coronal Mass Ejection on Muon Event Frequency at a Local High School.

Several members volunteered their adventures into their individual observing.  A few mentioned they had observed the Mercury/Venus conjunction, and others had been out to Big Meadows for some dark skies.  One member announced they had been to the Powhatan observing site and was approached by someone saying he was the one who got the site started at Powhatan.

The March 26^th Skywatch at Scotchtown was rained out.  There are 2 more scheduled for later in the fall of 2010.  Contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help.

Upcoming Events:

The next RAS/SMV LiveSky and skywatch is scheduled for Friday April 16.  LiveSky starts at 6pm, while the skywatch will start shortly after sunset.  Expect a report on the blog page.

Astronomy Day 2010 is planned for April 24 at the Science Museum.  Final plans and the corresponding personnel were announced for door prizes, greeter table, meteorite exhibit, brochures, night sky photography, International Dark Sky Society (Laura Graham), space suit demo, bottle rocket launcher, solar telescopes, radio telescope, making sundials, a starlab planetarium, a scale model of the solar system, and a 2pm presentation by Anne Verbiscer in the forum!  Due to other plans at the SMV, no skywatch will be held for this year’s Astronomy Day. 

Stargazing at FiveForks on April 24 at 8pm.

Skywatch at Woodlake on April 30 at 7:30pm. Contact John Raymond if interested in helping.

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Observatory Report

John Barnett will be hosting an open house at the RAS Ragland Observatory on April 28, starting at 8:00 PM.  The waxing gibbous moon will be visible during the early evening, and Saturn will be visible.

The property fence around the RAS observatory is expected to be completed by the Hercules Fencing company before the open house.

Library Report was given by Virginia Eckert.  The RAS library was moved out of the RAS recently.  At this time, it is in public storage with controlled atmospheric conditions.  An effort is in progress to find a long-term location where RAS members can easily access the library contents.

Visitors

We had 4 visitors – Isaac Steincamp, Bill Newman, and Anne & Liam Jeffries.  Welcome everyone!

Short talk

Ted Bethune: “Pluto 2015”

Ted’s presentation briefly discussed NASA’s New Horizons mission, which is planning to swing by and observe the planet Pluto.  It was launched from Earth in January, 2006 and is expected to reach Pluto on July 14, 2015 and then continue into the Kuiper belt.  Ted explained that New Horizons is traveling faster than any other man-made object, and has passed the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn already.  I also learned that Pluto’s 2 moons have been named Nix and Hydra.  Interesting presentation.

His presentation was followed by a youtube video showing Ted being interviewed on Chinese TV. 

April’s Presentation:

Jim Blowers: “Stars in the News”

Jim discussed several stars that are very capable of becoming super-novas in the future.  His interesting presentation discussed the possible characteristics pertaining to super-novas, and how 6 well-known stars can be affected.

Almaaz: The magnitude of Almaaz has fluctuated over history and has been found to repeat its fluctuations over a 27-year cycle.  It is being eclipsed by a larger and dark object, possibly a large ring of dust. 

Betelgeuse is a red super-giant, and with a magnitude of -5.14, it is the 9^th brightest star in the sky.  It has shrunk 15% in the past 15 years, but has not lost any of its brightness.  Scientists are going to keep watching it over the next few years.  If these size and brightness changes continue, scientist will expect Betelgeuse to collapse and explode into a type-II supernova.  In the future, Orion may be missing a right shoulder.

T Pyxidis is a binary system where both bodies are heavily influenced by the each other.  It is a combination of a red giant and a white dwarf, that are feeding back and forth between each other.  When the mass of the larger star passes the Chandrasekhar limit, it will super-nova.

Dschubba (Delta Scorpii) has 3 companions in its orbital system.  The rapid spinning of the systems causes bright material to be thrown off.  This material will cool to dust.  The magnitude of the system has dropped about 50%.  This continuing transfer of material will cause the system to supernova in the distant future.

V407 Cygni is another system of a red giant and a white dwarf.  Usually, it has a magnitude of 15, but it increased to a magnitude of 7 during March of 2010.  This is an example of a ‘classic nova’.

Eta Carinae (Foramen) is one of the largest binary stars which recently was in the news.  It exploded in 2004, and then retained its existence.  Later in 2006, it became a super-nova.

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, May 11th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, May 17th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

President Jim Browder called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

Attendees:

• Jim Browder, President
• Gary Cowardin, Vice President
• Jim Blowers, Treasurer
• Chris McCann, Secretary
• John Barnett, Observatory Director
• Bill Jeffries
• Jeff Pike
• Prashant Reddy
• Tim Streagle
• David Medici
• Betty Wilson
• Ken Wilson

Secretary’s report

• November’s board meeting minutes were distributed, discussed, and accepted with no changes.

Treasurer’s report given by Jim Blowers.

Balance Summary:

• General Fund:                $7630.97
• Observatory Fund:           $210.76
• TOTAL:                         $7841.73
• Checking Account:        $2819.35
• Savings Account:           $2857.94
• Certificate of Deposit:    $2164.44
• Pay Pal Acct:                          0.00
• TOTAL:                          $7841.73

Treasurer’s report approved by board.�
Observatory Report:

• John Barnett has reported that the fence is still deteriorating and falling down.  Discussion about the fence will be found in the New Business section.
• Another Open House has been scheduled, weather permitting.  John reported that the last chance to see Mars during it’s approach to Earth is coming soon.
• Thanks to those who took care of the facilities and grounds around the observatory.

Education Report (Jim Browder) :

• John Raymond, RAS Outreach coordinator, has scheduled and held several public skywatches at various places.  John will continue to provide this service during 2010.
• There are several requests for skywatches in the near future. 
• A skywatch request has come in from St. Emma Military Academy in Powhatan.
• Discussions are under way to have a skywatch in Bryan Park. 
• There was a successful skywatch at Rockwood Nature Center on Courthouse Road (David Medici, Tim Streagle, John Barnette, and Dave Walton were among the RAS members that participated).

Library Report

• Discussion about library issues will be discussed during New Business.

New Business:

• There was a brief discussion about whom to send the meeting presentation topics to.  They are to be sent to the Vice-President and also copy the board members to keep them informed.
• Jim Browder discussed the meeting that he and Dave Credicott had with Rich Conti, SMV Director and CEO, and Elizabeth Voelkel, Director of Guest Operations.  A large portion of the meeting involves looking at slides.  Jim and Dave discussed the global relationship between RAS and SMV, including the long-time history and activities that the 2 groups have shared.  It was found that RAS is not in the future strategic plans of the SMV.  It appears that Rick Conti wishes to ad pizzazz and excitement, rather than inspiration and education, to the museum.  His attention is intended towards the family rather than the schools and their SOLs.
• The latter portion of the meeting brought some “Challenges and Issues” for RAS.  The impression at the meeting was that the over 600 volumes of books and manuscripts in our possession had to be moved out of the RAS library at SMV by the end of February.
• Options and their pros/cons were discussed pertaining to the books:

1. Get atmosphere controlled rental storage
2. Long term storage inside the observatory,
3. Short term storage inside the observatory, with plans to create a new separate building on RAS property, to house the books.
4. Reduce the amount of books by donating to different charities and libraries.
5. Long-term storage in the 4^th floor library at VCU.  Only RAS people will be allowed to check out the books.

• The following motions were considered and passed by the board:

Members of the board were going to assemble at the RAS library on Feb 20 to box the books.  Betty Wilson strongly encouraged that we lined each box with a plastic garbage bag before loading the books into it.  There are several old, important, and fragile books in our library.

The moving of the books will be done within the following week, but is not planned to be on the day of boxing.  The primary destination will be the VCU library, if David Medici can arrange it with VCU by that time.  If not possible, the books will be put into a near-by climate-controlled public storage facility.  If not possible, the books will be moved into the observatory.

The board discussed the condition of the fence around the RAS observatory, and has realized that no one else will be found responsible to fix it.  The board has agreed to a maximum of $1000 to be used to replace the fence, in efforts to improve the security of the planetarium.  Research will be made and several possible construction choices will be considered.

Next Board meeting will be Monday, May 17^th, 2010 at Extra Billy’s at 7pm.  If you want to come early for dinner, come by at 6pm.

• Meeting was adjourned at 8:38pm.

726th Consecutive Meeting

March 9, 2010

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 29 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

Several articles about the Moon and about the recent Mars approach, were available for reading.

Several eyepieces were also there for examining and also purchasing.  There was also donated telescope hardware, free to a good home.  Most was gone before I got a chance to see it.

There was an announcement about an annual public study involving dark sky measurements.  This year was from March 3-16. The following description was taken from  www.globeatnight.org :

GLOBE at Night is an annual 2-week campaign in March. People all over the world record the brightness of their night sky by matching its appearance toward the constellation Orion with star maps of progressively fainter stars. They submit their measurements on-line and a few weeks later, organizers release a map of light-pollution levels worldwide. Over the last four GLOBE at Night campaigns, volunteers from over 100 nations have contributed 35,000 measurements.

If you missed it, keep it in mind for next year.

Reminder:  In a recent meeting, Ottewell Astronomical Calendars were on display. RAS members can purchase the Ottewell Astronomical Calendar through a special website,  www.Universalworkshop.com/clubs.htm , or call 800-533-5083. 

It claims the sale price of $19.95 expires on December 31, 2009, but still displays it.  Give it a try.  If not, the regular price is $26.95.

Past Events:

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the last Skywatch at the Science Museum on Friday, February 19.  The event was well attended as was the January skywatch.  At one point, there were 10 telescopes and 1 pair of binoculars, for use with the crowd of an estimated 150.  

“A great night” was had by all at a recent skywatch at Brandermill.  The estimated 40 people enjoyed the views through the telescopes.

Bill Jeffries was telling us about an extremely clear night on the Duck River about a month ago.  The rough thing about the night was a 24 degree temperature reading.

Upcoming Events:

Outreach events: On Friday, March 26^th, RAS will have a skywatch at Scotchtown in Hanover County.  You may recognize Scotchtown as the Hanover County home of Patrick Henry.  It is scheduled to start at 7:30pm.  There are 2 more scheduled for later in the fall of 2010.  Contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help.

Astronomy Day 2010 is planned for April 24 at the Science Museum.  We are looking for volunteers to help with the activities.  We are also considering alternate plans for this year’s skywatch.  There are 2 proms scheduled at SMV on the night of our Astronomy Day.  Therefore, we need to move the skywatch to a different location, or possibly a night earlier to Friday night, the 23rd.  More information will be available later.  Probable activities for that day include solar observing through telescopes, making sundials, dark sky information, CCD astro-imaging, a starlab planetarium, a scale model of the solar system, radio telescopes information, light pollution education, a meteorite exhibit, door prizes, a life-like space suit, and the ever-popular soda bottle rocket launch!

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

The next RAS/SMV LiveSky and skywatch is scheduled for Friday March 19.  LiveSky starts at 6pm, while the skywatch will start shortly after sunset.  Expect a report on the blog page.

Astronomical League report (www.astroleague.org): none, due to website being down during the meeting and for the previous week.

Observatory Report

John Barnett will be hosting an open house at the RAS Ragland Observatory on March 23, starting at 8:00 PM.  The waxing gibbous moon will be visible during the early evening, and Mars is still visible but will be retreating from the close encounter with the Earth.  Saturn will also be visible.

Watch the Richastro Yahoo Group or check back at this site for weather updates on the day of the event.

Library Report was given by Virginia Eckert.  The RAS library was moved out of the RAS recently.  At this time, it is in public storage with controlled atmospheric conditions.  An effort is in progress to find a long-term location where RAS members can easily access the library contents.

Visitors

We had 1 visitor – Ed Duffy, who has a nice telescope of his own.  He said he would like to learn how to use it more effectively.  So, we are encouraging Ed to bring it to a skywatch and let the rest of us help him with it.  Welcome Ed!

Short talk

John Raymond: “Review of the Winter Star Party”

(Most of the following was taken from Jim Browder’s entry on the blog page)

During the February meeting, John gave us a live report by telephone from Florida on the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys, hosted by the Southern Cross Astronomical Society in Miami.  It was tough listening to John’s description of the weather in the Keys as we were enduring the unusually snowy weather for this area.  During the March meeting, he presented photos taken of day and night time observing and activities, including a sign to prove the existence of the “Seven Mile Bridge”.  Combining his reports from both meetings, John passed along the following review of the event:

Good things about the star party:

• I got to see Crux, Eta Carinae, Alpha and Beta Centauri for the first time.
• I got my Televue hat signed by Al Nagler.
• I was camped near Tom Peters of Discmounts. He helped me fine tune the balance on mine. He also has the same scope so we had a lot to discuss.
• The JMI binos were outright awesome. Easy to use, no problems merging images. The bad part : for collimation a hex tool is needed.  JMI makes dobs, why not have spring-loaded thumbscrews for collimation? I told Jim Burr my concerns. Im interested in selling my dob and getting the 10″ JMI.
• I also met Rob Royce of Royce Optical. He tested the mirror in my 8″ f/20 and assured me the optics were good.
• Gayle Rigsbee of Charlotte came up to me and told me about the 8″. He made the tube and rings.
• Sergio of the SCAS showed me the Radio Marti blimp that broadcasts into Cuba.
• The Mike Lockwood 14″ f /2.5. Awesome!!!!
• The AP and TEC refractors. Excellent Mars. I saw the Running Man nebulosity in the TEC 140. I cant see it in my 18″ from home.
• There was an old dude with a homemade dob next to Lockwood. Excellent construction – I forgot the name.
• The Dutch optical engineer was there. I had him evaluate my binos. He also showed me his 25 year-old 80mm binos he completely overhauled. No aberrations detectable at all. It took him six months but well worth the time. He tests imported binos for the Dutch telescope vendor.
• I watched Howie Glatter make and install a cable sling for a 20″ dob.
• Meeting a lot of nice people.

Bad things:

• That was the longest, most boring drive I’ve ever been on.
• The wind, cold, and rain.
• The men’s shower all the way at the other end of the site. The long line in the morning.
• The confusion over the camping sites.

March’s Presentation:

Betty Wilson: “What’s Up This Year?”

Betty took time to combine information from several resources to present us with a listing of notable upcoming events.  Her list of events included Planetary Highlights, Conjuctions, Sun Spot information, Lunar Occultations, comets, meteor showers, major NASA launches, and major star parties.  Some of the interesting facts from the handout:

Mercury reaches max brightness at -1.0 magnitude by March 30, while Venus has max magnitude at -4.3 in mid-August.  Jupiter is at closest approach to Earth on Sept 21.  More info on that later.  Jupiter officially has 62 moons, while Saturn is a close second with 61 named satellites. 

There are several planetary conjunctions – 1 in June and many after July.  I’m sure we will hear more about these at that part of the year.

The Sun is starting to have visible sunspots again, but we are in a relatively low activity period.

Total Sun eclipse on July 11, but not here.  Total Lunar eclipse on Tuesday, December 21 which is visible in North America.

Expect Comet Hartley2 to become visible in late October – early November.

Final Space Shuttle launches are planned (at the earliest) for April 5, May 14, July 29, and Sept 16.

The listing of the major star parties have been added to the blog.

Many of the items listed on Betty’s handout will be mentioned by RAS as the time draws near.  This is a very informative and useful list that we can use to plan our 2010 activities.

Good work, Betty!!

February’s presentation:

Ken Wilson presented highlights of the recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January of this year.  Since the meeting was in Washington, DC and close to this area, Ken took advantage of the opportunity to attend the meeting.  Ken discussed highlights of recent research and educational efforts presented by astronomers, which included some discussion of outreach work associated with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.  Ken covered some of the hot topics discussed at the meeting and gave us a flavor of what it was like to be there.  Thanks to Ken for sharing his experience with us.

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, April 13th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, May 17th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

725th Consecutive Meeting

February 9, 2010

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 25 in attendance at the meeting. 

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

Several magazines and articles were available for reading.

Several eyepieces were also there for examining and also purchasing.

Reminder:  In a recent meeting, Ottewell Astronomical Calendars were on display. RAS members can purchase the Ottewell Astronomical Calendar through a special website,  www.Universalworkshop.com/clubs.htm , or call 800-533-5083. 

It claims the sale price of $19.95 expires on December 31, 2009, but still displays it.  Give it a try.  If not, the regular price is $26.95

Upcoming Events:

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Please check the calendar on the RAS website, http://richastro.org/index.php/calendar/  for upcoming skywatches.

The RAS skywatch at SMV is planned for Friday, February 19.  Expect a report on the RAS blog page.

See observatory report about an open house for March.

Observatory Report

John Barnette announced that RAS is planning an open house for March 23,  starting at 8pm.  The moon will be visible during the early evening, and Mars is still visible but will be retreating from the close encounter with the Earth.  Saturn will also be visible.

Library Report

Virginia Eckert brought a collection of 5 books to the meeting, available for check-out. At this point, the library is still at SMV, but we will be forced to move it to another site in the very near future.  More information later.

Presentation: “Highlights of the 2010 American Astronomical Society meeting

Ken Wilson presented highlights of the recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January of this year.  Since the meeting was in Washington, DC and close to this area, Ken took advantage of the opportunity to attend the meeting.  Ken discussed highlights of recent research and educational efforts presented by astronomers, which included some discussion of outreach work associated with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.  Ken covered some of the hot topics discussed at the meeting and gave us a flavor of what it was like to be there.  Thanks to Ken for sharing his experience with us.

—–

Reminders:

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, February 15th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, March 9th at the SMV.

<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 43 in attendance at the meeting.
The RAS blog and newsletter have been updated.  There is a link to the blog on the RAS webpage. http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/
Share table:
Terry Barker brought a 2010 Guy Ottewell Astronomical Calendar for people to look at.  He stated he bought it for a couple of dollars through a book club.
Chris McCann also brought one, along with a copy of the RASC Oberver’s Handbook
John Barnette had several items of Mars information, related to his presentation later in the meeting.
Ken Wilson brought a get well card for us to sign for Jane Hastings, who took a bad fall over the Holidays.
RAS members can purchase the Ottewell Astronomical Calendar through a special website,  www.Universalworkshop.com/clubs.htm , or call 800-533-5083.�
It claims the sale price of $19.95 expires on December 31, 2009, but still displays it.  Give it a try.  If not, the regular price is $26.95.
Past Events:
Last month’s skywatch was ‘snowed’ out.  That doesn’t happen too often around here!!
Individual observing included the viewing of the Orion and Mars.
The 60th Anniversary dinner in December had a good turnout.  There were a few comments about how good the speaker was.  The speaker was Jim Condon from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
Upcoming Events:
Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.
Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm
See observatory report about an open house for January.
John Raymond is planning a skywatch at the Petersburg Battlefield and at the BonAir residence center.  More information will be coming soon and should be on this website and through mass emails. Please let John know if you can help.
January’s skywatch is Friday, January 15.
Astronomical League report (www.astroleague.org):
Due to multiple laptop and screen issues, the planned Web site demo was postponed until after the break. It was then postponed again until the February meeting, due to shortness of time after resolving the laptop connection issues.

Observatory Report
John Barnette announced that RAS is planning an open house for January 24th, starting at 6pm.  The moon will be visible during the early evening, and Mars will clear the treeline about 9pm.  If you come, dress warmly!

Library Report
Virginia Eckert brought 5 books to the meeting.  Her theme revolved around Mars, the topic of tonight’s presentation by John Barnette.

Visitors
We had 5 visitors and 1 new member. The 5 visitors were:
Cecil Shifflett, his daughter Amy Duffey, Michael Clary, Wade Murray, and Bob Banks.�
Our new member is Ronnie Bailey, who stated visiting our meetings this past October.
Welcome to our visitors and our new member!!  We look forward to seeing all of you again.
Presentation: “The Martian Aphelic Opposition of 2010″ by John Barnette
John Barnette described that the Mars opposition is a great opportunity to get a closeup view of Mars.  The Earth and Mars are in the same part of their respective orbits and are close to each other, relatively speaking.
There were a few interesting facts presented during the talk.  There IS a mathematical equation to determine the synodic period of the Earth-Mars system.   Another fact was that Earth and Mars have a similar axis tilt.  This allows all aphelic and perihelic rendevous to each have its own consistent characteristics.
For example, all aphelic occurences display views of the north pole during a Martian winter.  The threat of dust storms are low and you need a relatively higher power optics to view details on Mars.
On the other hand, perihelic views occur less frequently, and show views of the south pole during the Martian summer.  Dust storms are more frequent during the summer, and you can use lesser power optics to see details, unless the dust storms block your view.
John also showed some Martian drawings dating back to 1659 by Huygens.  Other artists were Shroder, Shaparelli, and Autionaddi.  We also saw photos and drawings by local RAS artists named Bill Dickinson and John Barnette.
Very interesting talk!

�
—–
Reminders:
<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, February 9th at the SMV.
<<The next board meeting will be Monday, February 15th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.
<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

• Jim Browder, President
• Gary Cowardin, Vice President
• Jim Blowers, Treasurer
• Chris McCann, Secretary
• John Barnett, Observatory Director
• Preston Kirby
• Bill Jeffries
• Jeff Pike
• Prashant Reddy
• Tim Streagle
• David Medici
• Betty Wilson
• Ken Wilson

Secretary’s report

• August’s Board meeting was distributed and accepted with no changes.

Treasurer’s report given by Jim Blowers.

Balance Summary:

• General Fund:                $7168.47
• Observatory Fund:           $220.74
• TOTAL:                         $7389.21
• Checking Account:        $2367.19
• Savings Account:           $2857.58
• Certificate of Deposit:    $2164.44
• Pay Pal Acct:                          0.00
• TOTAL:                          $7389.21

Treasurer’s report approved by board.  Charts were presented as part of the report.  It was recommended and agreed that the charts should be presented to the membership at the next RAS meeting.

There was a question regarding the reasons behind the need for insurance, and if the insurance is for injuries occurring at all RAS events.

Observatory Report:

• John Barnett has reported that the fence is still deteriorating and falling down.  Our legal representative has been attempting to speak with Thalhimers Corporation, the owners of the adjoining shopping center.
• Dave Credicott’s son will be spending time patching up the fence as a scouting activity.  Our legal representative states it is OK for now. 
• The observatory staff has 3 new members and recently had a computer donated to the observatory.
• Another Open House is scheduled for Nov 22, weather permitting.  John reported that weather has allowed only 3 RAS open houses this year.
• John and Joe Hetmanski have spent some time speaking with 2 electrical engineers about the use of Solar energy to help complement electrical power to the observatory.  If ever used, RAS will not cancel its account with Dominion Power.  RAS power line runs 0.5 miles through the woods.  The necessary battery arrangement would provide a trickle charge, and would probably not be noticed in the electrical bill.
• This was investigated to provide a means to keep the telescope dry and prevent humidity build-up in the case of a long-term electrical power outage.
• The insurance adjuster inspected the observatory and was impressed with the new flooring around the base of the telescope.

Education Report (Jim Browder) :

• John Raymond is the RAS Outreach coordinator and has scheduled and held several public skywatches at various places including schools, nursing homes, and neighborhoods.  John will continue to provide this service during 2010.
• The regional Science Fair will be held in Powhatan this year.  RAS has an on-going practice of giving monetary prizes to impressive projects that support study into Astronomical research.  David Medici will be the lead RAS representative to judge the projects involving Astronomy and similar studies.  John Barnett and Chris McCann will also attend as RAS judges.

Library Report

• There are several issues regarding the allowed hours for the library to be open, and access to RAS books and manuscripts.

New Business:

Election of 2010 RAS officers from the new slate of board members were held.  Also assignments of monthly presentation responsibilities were decided.  Both will be listed below:

• Jim Browder       President                           December
• David Medici      Vice President                  June
• Jim Blowers        Treasurer                          April
• Chris McCann     Secretary                          August
• John Barnett        Observatory Director       January
• Gary Cowardin                                             November
• Bill Jeffries                                                   October
• Jeff Pike                                                       September
• Prashant Reddy                                            July
• Tim Streagle                                                 May
• Betty Wilson                                                 March
• Ken Wilson                                                   February

• Virginia Eckert was appointed to continue as librarian for 2010.
• John Raymond was appointed to continue as our Outreach Coordinator for 2010.

• There was a brief discussion about the database of past presentations.  It can be accessed through an existing link on the RAS webpage.
• A goal has been set to provide Jim Browder (and the remainder of the Board) with our tentative presentation topic during the first couple of months in 2010.

• There are several issues regarding the allowed hours for the library to be open, and access to RAS books and manuscripts.  We have over 600 volumes of books and manuscripts in our possession.  After board discussion, we will attempt to have 2 RAS representatives meet with SMV officials to discuss our questions and concerns.

Reminders:

• 60th anniversary RAS dinner: Date Friday December 4th.  Place: Holiday Inn on Staples Mill Road, near Staples Mill and West Broad Street.
• The cost is $30 a person.  Provide payments to Jim Browder or Jim Blowers by Nov 30.  John Barnett and others are assembling some historical material for display, while Gary Cowardin is providing audio/visual equipment.  Bill Jeffries has scheduled our speaker for the evening to be Jim Condon from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville.  The topic of his talk will be “Weighing a Black Hole”.
• Thanks was given to all that have helped, including Preston Kirby for researching the possible dinner locations.
• The anniversary dinner will take place of the regular December meeting and will be RAS’s 723^rd consecutive monthly meeting.

• We briefly discussed the group purchase of the RASC Observer’s Handbooks.  After looking at the 2008 and 2009 versions, we decided we needed to approach the membership before deciding.  Motion was table.

• Tim Streagle presented a legal insurance agreement for the RAS Board to consider.  If accepted, RAS would be legally covered for any liability concerns at events held at the Boy Scout Camp in Goochland.  The main concern would be for the allowance of minors at events.  It will be passed on to our legal representative for their approval.

Next Board meeting will be Monday, February 15^th, 2010 at Extra Billy’s at 7pm.  If you want to come early for dinner, come by at 6pm.

• Meeting was adjourned at 8:47pm.

Share table: Several members have things to share.
Jim Blowers had an Orion catalog to offer, and also information on a journey to the 2010 total eclipse in Kenya.
Jeff Pike had a solar scope and solar filters to be referenced during tonight’s presentation.  He also had a free camera tripod for whoever wanted it.
John Raymond had a telescope for sale that was good for both astronomical and spotting.
Jim Browder had a coffee mug that was sent to him.  The mug had “Marthatopia” printed on it and was free to anyone who wanted it.
Bill Jeffries read a very nice note from Anne Verbiscer, who wished to thank RAS for the time and attention we gave her at October’s meeting.  She gave a fantastic presentation about her discovery of the largest ring ever found around Saturn.

 Past Events:
Last month’s skywatch was ‘weathered’ out.
Individual observing included the viewing of the Orionids, Jupiter, and Mars.  A few members had ‘unplanned’ neighborhood observing parties (usually they are the best kind).  It was also good to hear that the Powhatan police or park rangers are checking on safety of the members at the Powhatan site.
Upcoming Events:
60th anniversary RAS dinner: Date Friday December 4th.  Place: Holiday Inn on Staples Mill Road, near Staples Mill and West Broad Street.
The cost is $30 a person.  Provide payments to Jim Browder or Jim Blowers by Nov 30.  John Barnett and others are assembling some historical material for display, while Gary Cowardin is providing audio/visual equipment.  Bill Jeffries has scheduled our speaker for the evening to be Jim Condon from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville.  The topic of his talk will be “Weighing a Black Hole”.
Thanks to all that have helped, including Preston Kirby for researching the possible dinner locations.
The anniversary dinner will take place of the regular December meeting.
Annual membership dues are due to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30, with an additional $10 if you are on the observatory staff.  If interested in magazine subscriptions, they are $32.95 for Sky & Telescope, and $34 for Astronomy.
November SMV skywatch has been cancelled due to a conflicting event at the museum.
Matoaca High is scheduling a skywatch on Nov 26 at 6pm.
Leonid meteor shower coming soon.
Mini Star party at Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland on November 13.
RAS Board of Directors meeting will be 7pm on Monday November 16 at Extra Billy’s. Arrive earlier for dinner.
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson will be the opening speaker of the 2009-2010 season for the Richmond Forum, on November 14, 2009.   For more information, go to http://richmondforum.org/
The Cafe Press Shop is functional.  Check it out and and let us know what items you would like to add.    http://www.cafepress.com/richastroshop

Astronomical League report (www.astroleague.org):
Home page announcements:
“What’s Up for November Feature”- short video on the Crab Nebula
The NASA Messenger Mission has revealed 6% of previously unseen landscape on the Moon.
There is a nice 3-hour exposure of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) on their home page)
Aerial view of the Ares I-X Flight Test (6 minutes) from a tracking aircraft 10 miles away.
3 NASA press release highlights:
STS-129 Atlantis will launch at 2:28pm on Nov 16, and will deliver 2 gyroscopes, equipment, and ExPRESS logistics carriers to ISS.
Learn how the challenges of the Apollo 11 mission were met through first hand accounts of those who made it happen.  Classroom videoconferences are available to the public when they are broadcast during the week of Nov 16-20 at 1pm each day.  The weblink:
   http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/webcast
A media teleconference will be held on November 12 at 1pm to discuss the future attempts to release Spirit, the Martian Rover, which has been stuck in sandy soil for the past 6 months.

Observatory Report
John Barnette announced that RAS has 3 new staff members: David Medici, Dave Walton, and Reed Hand.�
Thanks to Dave Walton for donating a computer to the RAS observatory.
An open house is planned on November 22, weather permitting.

Library Report
Virginia Eckert has to change the library times to 6:45 – 7:05.  At 7:05, the electrical power goes off.  She made sure she got 5 more books to bring to the meeting: “The Discoverers”, “Analysis of Starlight”, “The Universe & Dr. Einstein”, “Violent Universe”, and “Entering Space”.  Virginia stated that “Entering Space” has wonderful pictures.

Visitors – We had no visitors. 

Election for 2010 Board of Directors:
The 2009 board was asked to stand and was thanked for their work over the past year.  Since were no new nominations from the floor, the proposed board of 12 nominees were voted on and approved by a voice vote of the attending members.
The 2010 Board of Directors are:
John Barnette, Jim Blowers, Jim Browder, Gary Cowardin, Bill Jeffries, Chris McCann, David Medici, Jeff Pike, Prashant Reddy, Tim Streagle, Betty Wilson, and Ken Wilson.

Short talk: Recap of the Hands-On Optics road trip.
Bill Jeffries, John Raymond, Jim Browder, Dave Walton, Tim Streagle, and others discussed what equipment they saw, and which ones they put on their ‘wish list’.

Presentation: “Amateur Solar Astronomy” by Jeff Pike
Jeff discussed the how, when, where, and what of solar observing.  He stated that solar observing is the same at a dark sky site as it is at a city location.  That characteristics of the sky’s environment doesn’t affect it.
He discussed and compared several types of filters (white light, Hydrogen-Alpha, and Calcium-K).  Based upon the type of filter, you will be able to see different solar occurrences, including sun spots, prominences, filaments, and flares.
Jeff displayed several views of the sun that included these active characteristics of the sun. He also showed us the solar scope that he uses (Coronado/Meade PST), and compared it to other scopes such as Lunt scopes, and Daystar Solaredi scopes.  There was even a photograph of a “Sun Gun” that had a large viewing portal attached to the eyepiece that allows solar activity to be seen by many people at the same time.�
Very interesting talk!
—–
Reminders:
<<The next RAS meeting will be the 60th anniversary dinner.  There will be NO meeting on Tuesday, December 8 at the SMV.
<<The next board meeting will be Monday, November 16th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.
<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/  and let us know what you think.