Terry Barker

Richmond Astronomical Society

739th Consecutive Meeting

April 12, 2011

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David Medici called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 26 in attendance at the meeting.

Share Table

A few photos taken through telescopes.  Star maps.

Library Report (Virginia Eckert):

No issues and no theme tonight.  She brought in 5 books: 2 books about the Sun; Pictorial of Planets; Stars; and a book about Venus (very old collector’s book).

Recent Events:

• SMV Skywatch – Sky had spotty clouds. There was a “fairly modest turnout” to view through telescopes.
• City Point Skywatch (Petersburg National Battlefield) – very good turnout; Tim Streagle, Ray Moody, and Tom K saw and displayed Orion, a few planets, and the moon.  A reporter spoke with Tim for about 2 hours, good enough for 1 quote.

Individual observing:

• Several members looked at Orion and the moon.  Tim had a few sessions at the scout camp, and a good turnout during the new moon.
• Betty Wilson made 3 presentations to students at Springfield Park Elementary.  Each session was for 200 students (600 total) and lasted about 40-50 minutes.

Upcoming Events:

• Bryan Park Skywatch, April 14: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help out.   Bring your telescopes early to set up.
• Science Museum Skywatch, April 15: Please add your name to the sign-up sheet if you can bring a scope.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html.  No LiveSky presentation this evening (Planetarium has been down since October).  There will be Science on a Sphere at 6pm and 7pm, “Weather on Planets” (35-40 minutes) will be scheduled during the summer vacation.
• Skywatch at City Point, April 23: Public observing session at the City Point Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield.  Please let Jim Browder (at president@richastro.org) know if you can help out by bringing a scope and your expertise.  More information about the Park’s Skywatch program and the City Point location is available at:
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/forkids/skywatch-2011.htm and
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/historyculture/city-point.htm
• Forestry Center in New Kent County, April 29, 6pm. See Bill Jeffries if you are interested.
• Scotchtown Skywatch, May 6, 8:00 PM, 16120 Chiswell Lane, Beaverdam, VA 23015.  Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a scope.
  (http://www.apva.org/scotchtown/calendar/)
• Astronomy Day, May 7, 12 noon – 4pm, SMV, (no Skywatch this year), RAS club table, IDA booth (dark sky information), make and take sundials, solar observing through telescopes, CCD astro-imaging, 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!

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Richmond Astronomical Society

738th Consecutive Meeting

March 8, 2011

—–

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

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 37 in attendance at the meeting.

 

Share Table

A member brought in a few photos taken through his telescope.  Star maps.

One member jokingly announced he brought in “invisible dark matter”.

 

Library Report (Virginia Eckert):

No issues.  She brought in 5 books that fits into a Meteor theme.  They were Stones from Stars;  Meteors, Comets, and Meteorites; Cosmic Debris; Meteorite Handbook; Rocks from Space; Comet and Meteor Streams (collector’s item).

 

Due to the Meteor theme, Leslie thought it was an excellent time to announce that the SMV had a new exhibit on meteors, cosmic debris, and meteorites.

 

A “pretty cool” comment was made when the Science on a Sphere was mentioned. 

Recent Events:

• SMV Skywatch – well attended, good group in February.  A “cabin fever night” and the Children’s Museum had an event the same night.
• Individual observing – Just prior to the meeting, the RAS members were treated to a view of the Space Shuttle followed moments later by the International Space Station.  For a few moments, both were within view simulataneously. 

Upcoming Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch, March 18:  Please add your name to the sign-up sheet if you can bring a scope.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html.
• Skywatch at City Point, March 19:  Public observing session at the City Point Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield.  Please let Jim Browder (at president@richastro.org) know if you can help out by bringing a scope and your expertise.  More information about the Park’s Skywatch program and the City Point location is available at:
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/forkids/skywatch-2011.htm and
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/historyculture/city-point.htm
• Ravencon, April 8-10:  Holiday Inn Koger Center, 1021 Koger Center Blvd, Richmond, VA. Thanks to the encouragement of member Mike Lewis, RAS will be participating in this year’s Ravencon which is a science fiction and fantasy festival held annually in Richmond.  RAS will be supporting the science track of the conference; additional details will be forthcoming.  Please join the fun if you can.  More information is at: http://ravencon.com/.

 

• Yuri’s Night at Westover Hills, April 8: 7:00pm, Westover Hills Library at 1408 Westover Hills Blvd.  Please let Jim Browder (at president@richastro.org) know if you can help out by bringing a scope.

 

Visitors:  We had 5 visitors:  Deanna Remmich, Daniel Feagans, Ben Bare, Eli Doxtator, and James Parkes.  Thanks for coming to our meeting, and please come again.

Short Talk:

“SpaceX and Dragon, the Next Step in Science”

http://www.spacex.com/dragon.php

— Break —

March’s Presentation:

“Stargaze with the Night Sky Network” by Betty Wilson

http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov

Betty Wilson is one of RAS’s club coordinators for the Night Sky Network. 

The content of the presentation was very interesting and sounded like a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in Astronomy and associated areas.  Knowing that my own explanation would not completely describe its activities, I have chosen select passages from the Night Sky Network webpage to explain this very interesting and supportive program.

“The Night Sky Network is a nationwide coalition of amateur astronomy clubs bringing the science, technology, and inspiration of NASA’s missions to the general public. 

We share our time and telescopes to provide you with unique astronomy experiences at science museums, observatories, classrooms, and under the real night sky

The Night Sky Network is sponsored and supported by:

• NASA/JPL’s Exoplanet Exploration public engagement program, publicly known as PlanetQuest. The Exoplanet Exploration Program encompasses several of NASA’s extra-solar planet-finding missions, including the Keck Interferometer, the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), Kepler, and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. Learn more about PlanetQuest: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/
• The NASA Education Forum on the Structure and Evolution of the Universe (SEU), based at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, is a national center for teaching and learning about NASA’s SEU theme. http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/

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