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/

John has been the chief meteorologist for WRIC TV8 since 1984.  He also serves as meteorologist for the Agrinet Farm Radio Network, WGAI in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, WCXL in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, and WWOC-FM in Hatteras, North Carolina.  In short, he knows the local weather patterns and has dealt with severe weather forecasting and warning throughout his career.

Please join us for the next meeting if you can and for dinner before the meeting at Arby’s across the street from the museum.  Everyone is welcome.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

Members and guests are welcome to the Ragland Observatory’s monthly open house at 8:30 pm, Tuesday evening, July 20th. I’ll send out a reminder the day before on the club’s directory ( keep Jim Blowers advised if yours has changed) and on Richastro.org.        

      We’ll have a 9 day old Moon that will display big craters such as Plato, Copernicus and Clavius; also the Carpathian mts. Saturn is still with us in the early evening. Bring and share personal telescopes if you like. See the “observatory” page for directions.

                                        John Barnett, Obs. Director