747^th Consecutive Meeting

December 13, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in a room off of the rotunda.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 41 in attendance at the meeting.

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

Annual dues are due. $30 for a regular membership; $10 more to be an observatory operator: discount subscriptions are available to Sky & Telescope and Astronomy. You can pay by check to Jim Blowers or by PayPal at this link:

http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

If you joined our organization after July 1, your dues payment will be applied to next year.

The 2012 Board of Directors and 2012 Officers have been elected:

Board of Directors: Jim Blowers, Jim Browder, Gary Cowardin, Chris McCann, David P. Medici, Bill Newman, Prashant Reddy, Tim Streagle, David Walton, Betty Wilson, Ken Wilson

Officers: Jim Browder, President; David Medici, Vice-President; Chris McCann, Secretary; Jim Blowers, Treasurer

Congratulations to Betty Wilson:

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Division has designated asteroid 84991 (2003 YM94) for Betty Philpotts Wilson at the request of the discoverer – Rik Hill of the Catalina Sky Survey. The orbital information and citation are available at this link:

http://ssd .jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi#top

Share Table

    A lot of good food!!

Library Report – none

Events and Individual Observing Recent Events:

• Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party and school skywatches.
• Individual observing
• Observatory maintenance

Upcoming Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch, December 16: Please sign up if you can bring a telescope. More information is at http://smv.org/events.html. The theme of the LiveSky event will be ‘Hollywoodin Space.” Come and see what they did right and what they did wrong.  If you have a chance, please have a look at the promotional video by theScienceMuseumon the RAS web site.
• January RAS meeting, January 10: We will have as our special guests a group of fourth graders fromRidgeElementary SchoolinHenricoCountyalong with their parents and teachers. The students will be presenting some recent special projects in astronomy and space science. These should be very special evening. Please join us if you can.

Visitor and New Member Welcome:

There were several visitors.  Two of our visitors were first time visitors – Cierra and Wallace Bracey.  Cierra is interested in astronomy and wants to study it at U.Va.

Our other visitors, Dee Remmick, Karen Streagle, Marie Barnett, and Anne Blowers are spouses of some of our regular members. 

Short Talk:

Tim Streagle had a very humorous photo show, showing people and their telescopes.  It was great seeing several of our members and their “collections of equipment” that they bring to the skywatches. 

Potluck Dinner

Presentation: Astro-Jeopardy, Leslie Bochenski

After our potluck dinner, we were divided up into 4 teams and played a friendly and lively game of astronomy Jeopardy

Thank you to all who donated food for our potluck dinner!  Lots of delicious food and friendly conversation was a great way to end 2011.

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, January 10th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, February 20 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/

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

746^th Consecutive Meeting

November 8, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

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

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

Annual dues are due.

$30 for a regular membership; $10 more to be an observatory operator.

Benefit of being a member is you are eligible for a discount subscription to Sky & Telescope and Astronomy. You can pay by check to Jim Blowers or by PayPal at this link:           http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

If you joined our organization after July 1, your dues payment will be applied to next year.

Election of 2012 Board of Directors was held after asking for nominations from the floor.  Chris McCann supervised the election by acclamation.  Elected members are:

Jim Blowers, Jim Browder, Gary Cowardin, Chris McCann, David P. Medici, Bill Newman, Prashant Reddy, Tim Streagle, David Walton, Betty Wilson, Ken Wilson

The 2011 Board members were thanked, including the 3 who were stepping down: Cal Pletcher, Bill Jeffries, and Jeff Pike.

Share table:

There were several books on display.  “The Big Book of the Universe”, donated books, and library books (to be discussed in a later report).  There were also several photos taken at recent star parties and observations.

Library Report was given byVirginia.  All is good at the library.  Her topic for this month was Sunspots.  She brought in a set of related books, including “Our Sun”, “Our Turbulent Sun”, “Chasing the Shadow”, “Sun and Its Influences”, and an old book, “Birth and Death of the Sun”.

Two (2) books have been donated to RAS.  Randy Tatum donated a book named “Sleep Walkers”.  Jim Calpin donated “First Light”.

Events and Individual Observing

Recent Events:

• Chiefland Floridastar parties (see Frank Green’s blog entry dated 10/30/2011, http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/ ) – passage from his blog:      The sky is darker at Chiefland than at manyVirginia sites, though not as dark as some of the W.V. ones. However, Chiefland is best known for great seeing.  … in a high-power eyepiece — Jupiter was nothing but bands, swirls and eddies from pole to pole, Europa was a beautiful, sharp white orb with a sharp black shadow as it moved across the planet that night.   …  Some folks had their scopes up to 1,100 power with razor sharp views. Have never experienced seeing like that in Virginia (or anywhere else).
• Girl Scout Astronomy Badge – 2 troops of 6 girls each, Mark and Syndey Mabry helped us out here
• City Point – no one
• Woodlake – 30 observers, helped by Hank and John Raymond
• Byrd Elementary – Tim Streagle and Jim Browder reported that they had a small group of students show up.
• RAS observing at the scout camp – good skies, especially Thursday and Friday;  a little cloudy on Saturday; good crowd; had 7 different telescopes available at different times during the night.

Individual observing

Alan saw spectacular views of Jupiter fromPettigrewState Parkin NC.  It is a dark sky area located about 3 hours from Eddington, towards Outer Banks.

Upcoming Events:

Thanks to ALL who helped at the skywatches during 2011!!

•ScienceMuseumSkywatch: No skywatch in November! The next skywatch at theScienceMuseumwill be on December 16.

• Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party, November 18 — 20: Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public, convenient location, nice facilities and a dark sky:

More info at http://bradysaunders net/cam p/starparty.html

Don’t miss it — this should be a great event! The festivities start at 4:00 PM on Friday, November 18 with an astronomy club social.

• Matoaca Middle School Star Party, November 10: Please contact Jim Browder at presidentrichastro.org if you are interested in bringing a scope to his event.

• RAS Board meeting, November 14: 7:00 PM, Extra Billy’s Restaurant onBroad St. Please arrive earlier if you plan to eat.

• Skywatch at Five Forks,Hopewell, November 19: 6:00 PM, contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net for more information if you are interested in attending.

• Cub Scout Event inEastern Henrico: No date yet specified for this event, please contact Jim Browder at president@richastro.org if you are interested in helping a cub scout troop learn about astronomy and earn their belt loop award.

• December RAS pot luck party – location TBA.

Visitor and New Member Welcome, Chris McCann

We had a few returning visitors, but had 1 new visitor: Tamara Hubbard

Short Talk: “Moons of Jupiter — Research Project,” Nick Annichiarico

Nick is aUniversityofRichmondstudent, studying under Henry Nebel.  Nick is researching the orbital periods of the 4 major moons of Jupiter. Using photography, he hopes to repeat what Galileo observed (while under house arrest).  His goal is to select 1 of the moons at a time, starting with the closest to Jupiter, track its orbit and calculate its orbital period.  As each moon is successfully tracked, Nick will proceed to the next moon and repeat the process again. 

Good luck to your studies and research!!

Break

Presentation: “Unusual Refractor Telescopes,” Ken Wilson

Ken presented a lot of information about the historical progression of refractor telescopes, including a few unusual designs.  We started off thinking about Galileo’s gear from 1609 – 21x magnification, 37 mm objective diameter, giving a very narrow field of view that covered ¼ of a full moon.  Of course, it had its problems, like severe chromatic aberration.

We moved onto Aerial telescopes.  In 1673, Johannes Hevelius used a 149-foot long scope that hung from a 90-foot pole.  Too easy to move and not stable.  Constantine Huygens worked with a 123-foot long scope that was attached to a hinge at the opposite end.  The position of the eyepiece was controlled by a cord.

Improvement in refractor lens was proposed by Romer in 1675, when he suggested cutting a lens into 2 halves.  The 2 halves were to be moved back and forth to make small measurements.  The idea wasn’t successful until John Dolland worked with the concept in 1754.

Much later in history, a “fly’s eye telescope” was developed and used by universities such asHawaiiandArizona.  It involved multiple mirrors sending images to a common focus.  The same set-up was used to measure the distance to the Moon by reflecting a laser off of instruments left on the Moon by astronauts.

The largest refractor was the Great Paris Refractor, used in 1900.  It was a horizontal telescope with a movable mirror at the end.  49.2 inch diameter and a focal length of 187 feet.

Coude created a telescope with a ‘fixed eyepiece’.  Most of the telescope was not movable except for a mirror at the end.  Most of the telescope was contained inside of a building or structure and was not affected by heat differences.

Unusual mounts:

Peltier’s Merry-go-Round mount, where the telescope rotated about a fixed eyepiece.

‘Auto-mated’ telescope, mounted on the top of a car.  It could be moved to wherever it needed to be and could be pointed into any direction.  It was also called the “Volvo mount”.

Ken presented a lot of information by use of diagrams, showing quite a lot of ideas to improve telescopes.  Very interesting!!

—–

Reminders:

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

The next board meeting will be Monday, November 21 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/

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

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

Attendees (8):

• Jim Browder, President
• David Medici, Vice President
• Jim Blowers, Treasurer
• Chris McCann, Secretary
• Ken Wilson
• Prashant Reddy
• Gary Cowardin
• Dave Walton

Secretary’s report given by Chris McCann

• May’s board meeting minutes were discussed, ‘Old Business’ was updated, and minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s report given by Jim Blowers.

• Balance Summary          (as of 5/16/2011)                (as of 8/15/2011):

• General Fund:                        6481.10                               6314.61
• Observatory Fund:                 180.91                                 128.35
• TOTAL:                                      6662.01                               6442.96
• Checking Account:               1590.08                                1366.35
• Savings Account:                  2859.72                               2860.22
• Certificate of Deposit:          2212.21                               2216.39
• Pay Pal Acct:                                  0.00                                     0.00
• TOTAL:                                      6662.01                                6442.96

The Astronomical League fees of $330 for 64 RAS active members are included.

It was mentioned that our bank’s name has changed from Wachovia to Wells Fargo.

Treasurer’s report was approved by the board. 

 
Observatory Report given by Jim Browder

• Maintenance update
• Reported that Randy Tatum had chipped away concrete from the apron, re-filled it, and painted it.
• Two exterior walls have been painted, leaving 2 more walls to paint.
• Grass needed to be cut, but it could wait until the end of the month.
• A tree had fallen on the power line, but was removed by Dominion Power.

Education Report (Jim Browder) :

• Many outreach skywatches and events have occurred and continue to be scheduled at various places.  There are several requests for skywatches in the near future. 
• SkyDay night was very successful.  The quarterly event was well attended by over 300 attendees.  RAS was well represented.
• “Good time was had by all”
• Skywatch guidelines completed and thought to be posted.  It was mentioned that the link had issues with WordPress.

Library Report (made by Jim Browder)

• Virginiareported there was no change in status. Process runs “remarkably smoothly”.  Air conditioned room protected the collection during these hot summer days.

Other Reports:

• Telescope donation by Ray Matsuura (Celestron 4.5” reflector).  Need to send a letter receipt for donations such as this.  The board needs to review a receipt template.
• Rezoning near observatory for medical facility.  We believe there may be a probable tree buffer.  Our concern was about possible light sources on such objects as a building identification sign and a flagpole.  Prashant had agreed to go make contact and fine out information.    Brief discussion about the possibility of an amendment in the state constitution that we could use to our advantage.
• Scout Camp observatory plans – Tim proposed creating an observatory on the scout camp grounds that can be used by the RAS.  Well received by the board.  It will need further discussion and research into cost, timeline, accessibility, and probably more issues.  An advisory panel was started that included Jim Browder and Ken Wilson.  More members will be added.
• Goochland lighting ordinance – plans by the board of supervisors are in disarray.  RAS will hold its support letter for Laura Graham until she requests it.

Old Business:

• Name Tags – discussion continued with details of needs and different types.  We need to consider tags for present members and going forwards.  We need to consider cost, and ease to make quickly and inexpensively.  It all comes down to a happy medium among ‘time to create’ vs ‘cost’ vs ‘ease of reading tag’.  We would like to keep the logo.
• Existing prices: Staples FedEx can create tags quickly (was $4, now $5 a badge).
• Magnetic type seemed to be popular to not damage clothing or puncture skin.
• Garyspoke of a machine that we could use to make name tag labels.
• Equipment inventory – Dave Walton (Inventory controller) stated that we need a form to use for check out purposes.  We need to look at what the members now have in their possession.  Dave will need to eventually get it finalized and posted on the web site under the member’s security page.  Jim Browder will send an email to members inquiring what RAS equipment they have.  Dave Walton will ask at a future RAS meeting.
• Draft asset policy – Ken Wilson distributed a procedures draft for RAS’s inventory control.  He requests for the board to review and respond with comments before the next board meeting.  There is a target to get a final version of it approved at the next board meeting.

New Business:

• Selection of nominating committee – Dave Medici volunteered as chairman.
• Fall picnic is scheduled for the 3^rd Saturday of September (Sept 17) at the scout camp.  A $60 check is needed to pay rental fees to Tim.  It was decided that if members brought visitors, they may either bring additional food or donate money to the food cause.
• The RAS version of VAAS 2012 is scheduled for September 15, 2012.  the shelter and dining hall at the Maidens scout camp have been reserved).  Planning committee will be created after elections are done and new board has begun.

• Proposed purchases – Prashant proposed a purchase of a double stack filter for the solar telescope.  Discussion delayed until later after other estimates have been found.  It was re-iterated that John Raymond needs to be consulted for advice before equipment is purchased.
• Announcement to be aware of suspicious Facebook emails.  Several board members have received SPAM emails addressed to Dave Walton.

Next Board meeting will be Monday, November 14, 2011 at Extra Billy’s at 7pm.  If you want to come early for dinner, come by at 6pm.  Normally, the board meeting would have been on November 21, but with that being on Thanksgiving week, there may be attendance issues.

• Meeting was adjourned at 8:34pm.

745^th Consecutive Meeting

October 11, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

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

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

The procedure for the election of the Board members for 2012 was discussed.  David Medici introduced the slate of nominees:

Jim Blowers,            Jim Browder,            Gary Cowardin,            Chris McCann,

David P. Medici,      Bill Newman,            Prashant Reddy,           Tim Streagle,

David Walton,          Betty Wilson,            Ken Wilson.

Nominations from the floor and the elections will be done in November.

Share table:

There were several items on display.  A CD of demo astronomy programs.  Library books (returned and to be picked up).  An Orion catalog.  October issue of Astronomy magazine.  An occultation astronomy journal. 

Library Report was given byVirginia.  All is good at the library.  She brought in a set of books, including “Beyond the Known Universe”, “Ancient Light”, “Splendor of the Universe”, “Manual of Advanced Manual Astronomy”, and an old book from 1929, “Energy”.

Observatory Report:  Physical updates are being done to the observatory.  John Barnette is looking for more people who are interested in receiving training.  Training will start soon for the original group from last month.

Past Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch for September was clouded out.
• RAS Fall Picnic: great time.  Good turnout.  Sky cleared up for 3-4 hours between midnight and dawn.
• VAAS: About 30 attendees, good speakers, dark sky at the observation site, but cloudy
• Observing at the scout camp:  Tim and Jim Browder had great views of the moon and other objects.  There were many people looking at their internet broadcast. 
• ECVAR:
• DelMarVa: Ray attended this.  Thursday – seeing OK, pushed the viewing limits, a lot of fuzzy objects.  Showers on Friday & Saturday.   DelMarVa is held each May and September.

Upcoming Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch No skywatch in October and November!

• Astronomy Badge Event for Girl Scouts at the Science Museum of Virginia, October 15, 9-12 Noon: The Science Museum is hosting a special event for girl scouts from 9 to 12Noon. If you can help with this event, please contact Jim Browder at president@richastro.org.

• Skywatch at City Point, October 15: Skywatch at the City Point Unit ofPetersburgNational Battlefield. Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Skywatch at Scotchtown, October 15: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Observing session for RAS members and friends, October 29: See above for directions to the scout reservation.

• Mid-Atlantic Star Party, October 24 — 30: Star Party near Robbins, NC; http://masp.us.

• East Coast Star Party,Coinjock,NC, Oct 21-23: Contact Kent Blackwell for more information at kent@exis.net. Note that this is a revised date from previous announcements.

• Fan Mountain Retreat — Charlottesville Astronomical Society, October 28 – 30: RAS members are invited. If you are interested in attending, please contact Richard Drumm with the Charlottesville Society directly at richard@drummdigital.com.

• Skywatch at Byrd Elementary in Goochland, November 4: A special skywatch for fellow astronomer and elementary school teacher, Karren Streagle, for students ofByrdElementary School. Please let Jim Browder know at presidentrichastro.org if you can bring a scope to this event.

• Skywatch at Scotchtown, November 5: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Skywatch at Woodlake, November 6: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.  Last outreach activity for the year.

• A Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party, November 18 — 19: Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public, convenient location, nice facilities and a dark sky; http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html. Don’t miss it — this should be a great event!  The festivities start at 4:00 PM pm on Friday, November 18 with an astronomy club social.  $15 entry + $6 for lodging.

• December RAS pot luck party – location TBA.

Short Talk: “Dark Skies Update,” Laura Graham

      <to be updated>

Break

Presentation: “Adventures in Astronomical Imaging,” Tim Streagle

      <to be updated>

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, November 8th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, November 21 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 theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

744^th Consecutive Meeting

September 13, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 27 in attendance at the meeting.

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

The procedure for the election of the Board members for 2012 was discussed.  David Medici was introduced as the committee chair, with Betty Wilson and Chris McCann among the committee members.  Nominees will be introduced at the October meeting.  Nominations from the floor and the elections will be done in November.

Share table:

There were several items on display.  A National Radio magazine was available to be looked at.  Phil had found a story about an 1859 Sunspot storm that caused burned hands for some people on Earth.  Another story was on display where 15 Super Earth planets had been found. 

Library Report was given byVirginia.  All is good at the library.  She brought in a set of books, including “Galileo”,, “Choices of Catastrophes”, “Stars or Galaxies”, an old book from 1954 “Our Moon”, and an old book from 1949 “Mars”.

Observatory Report:  Physical updates are being done to the observatory.  John Barnette is looking for anyone who is interested in receiving training.

Past Events:

Science Museum Skywatch for August was clouded out.  Discussion was made into a process to announce the cancellation to members and the public.  Presently, the RAS website is updated, but there is no sign at the Skywatch site (even though there are no telescopes nor astronomers present).  Thanks to those who came by just in case it happened.

Dark Skies Bright Kids Skywatch:  Tim and Jim Browder attended it atCharlottesville.  There were many people, of all ages, who turned out for it.

Individual observing: Prashant, Alan, and Ray were among those to discusse their observations when they had clear skies and a few minutes to spend.

Upcoming Events:

SMV Skywatch : Friday, September 16

• RAS Fall Picnic, September17, 5:30 PM: The RAS fall picnic will be held at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland. The Scout Reservation is an excellent location with convenient picnic facilities, restrooms, electricity and, lest we forget, a nice dark sky. Directions to the camp are available at: http://bradysaunders.net/camp/direct.html. Once you enter the reservation, turn right into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and the picnic shelter will be on your right.

• Skywatch at Scotchtown, September 16, starting at dusk: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Skywatch at City Point, Petersburg National Battlefield, September 23: please contact John Raymond at raymond l419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Observing session for RAS members and friends, September 24: Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.

• East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous, September 26 — October 2: Star Party atLuray,Virginiafocused on video astronomy. More information at http://www.ecvarstarparty.com.

• Delmarva No-Frills Star Party, Sep 29 — Oct 2: http://delmarvastargazers.org/.

• Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, October 1: Hosted by the Back Bay Astronomers atTidewaterCommunity College; http://www.backbayastro.org/vaas/vaas.shtml.

• Mid Atlantic Star Party October 24-30: Star Party near RobbinsNC; http://masp.us

• East Coast Star Party, Coinjock, NCOct 21-23 Contact Kent Blackwell for more information at kent@exis.net.

• Central Virginia Family Stargaze, November 18 — 19: Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation open to the public; http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html

Visitor and New Member Welcome, Chris McCann

Talk: “Meade Lunar and Planetary Imager,” Ken Wilson

      <to be updated>

Break

“Astronomical Software,” Dave Walton

      <to be updated>

—–

Reminders:

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

The next board meeting will be Monday, November 21 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 theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

743^rd Consecutive Meeting

August 9, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

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:

There were several items for sale, including a few eyepieces and a few photos for anyone to look at.

Past Events:

Science Museum Skywatch was held on July 15.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.  With the number of people that came out, it was good to see we had enough scopes to handle the crowd.

RAS observing session at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation

Outreach events

Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

Observing session for RAS members and guests, August 27: Observing at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.  Directions to the camp are available at: http://bradysaunders.net/camp/direct.html.  Once you enter the reservation, turn right into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and turn right at the brown sign with a picture of a telescope on it.  The observing field is at the top of the hill.

RAS Fall Picnic, September 17:  The RAS fall picnic will be held at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland. The Scout Reservation is an excellent location with convenient picnic facilities, restrooms, electricity and, lest we forget, a nice dark sky. 

Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, October 1: The Back Bay Astronomers are hosting this year’s VAAS meeting at Tidewater Community College. Be sure to mark your calendars.

Mid-Atlantic Star Party, October 24 – 30:  Star Party in a dark sky park near Robbins, NC.  More information at http://masp.us.

Central Virginia Family Stargaze, November 18 – 19:  Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public.  More information at http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html.

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

Library Report was not given.  All is good at the new library.

Short talk

“What’s For Sale at the RAS Café?”  by Jim Browder

Jim presented the RAS Café web pages and showed many items displaying the RAS logo.  Items included shirts, mugs, a thong, stickers, writing pads, and a license plate holder. 

Break – -

July’s Presentation:

“Atlantis, Sofia, and an Asterioid” by Chris McCann

      <to be updated>

—–

Reminders:

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

The next board meeting will be Monday, August 15 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 theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

742^nd Consecutive Meeting

July 12, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

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:

There were several items for sale, including a few eyepieces and a few photos for anyone to look at.

Past Events:

Science Museum Skywatch was held on June 17.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.  With the number of people that came out, it was good to see we had enough scopes to handle the crowd.

Green Bank Star Quest

RAS observing session at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation

Outreach events

Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

Science Museum SkyDay Night Skywatch, July 15:  This skywatch is in conjunction with the special SkyDay Night event to be hosted by the Museum from 5:00 to 10:00 PM.  It should be well attended.  Please add your name to the sign-up sheet if you can bring a scope along with your passion for the night sky.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html.

Observing session for RAS members and guests, August 27: Observing at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.  Directions to the camp are available at: http://bradysaunders.net/camp/direct.html.  Once you enter the reservation, turn right into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and turn right at the brown sign with a picture of a telescope on it.  The observing field is at the top of the hill.

RAS Fall Picnic, September 17:  The RAS fall picnic will be held at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland. The Scout Reservation is an excellent location with convenient picnic facilities, restrooms, electricity and, lest we forget, a nice dark sky. 

Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, October 1: The Back Bay Astronomers are hosting this year’s VAAS meeting at Tidewater Community College. Be sure to mark your calendars.

Mid-Atlantic Star Party, October 24 – 30:  Star Party in a dark sky park near Robbins, NC.  More information at http://masp.us.

Central Virginia Family Stargaze, November 18 – 19:  Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public.  More information at http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html.

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

Library Report was not given.  All is good at the new library.

Short talk

“Advanced Teen Astronomy Camp,” by Isaac Steincamp

Isaac recounted his experience at the Advanced Teen Astronomy Camp at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Break – -

June’s Presentation:

Astro-Jeopardy with David Medici

Dave entertained and educated us a with a game of Astro-Jeopardy.

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Reminders:

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

The next board meeting will be Monday, August 15 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 theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

741^st Consecutive Meeting

June 14, 2011

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Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 32 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, including an ISS orbit map, a scavenger hunt (for later in tonight’s presentation), an IR map of the country at night, a map of Florida from Cal (short talk), information on the Kennedy Space Center, a solar photo through a white light filter, a press release declaring the next solar maximum will probably not be good, and an autographed magazine article by Ken Blackwell.

Library Report was in great shape. Virginia had 5 books to offer tonight: Coming of Age of Milky Way (1943); Man Discovers Galaxy; Realm of Nebuli; Air and Space; and Entering Space.

Past Events:

ScienceMuseumSkywatch – “pretty nice bunch of people”; clear sky for about an hour, then clouds started rolling in.  Major object of viewing was Saturn.

City Point – Rained out

Scout Camp – high level of clouds when it got dark; a few mosquitoes too

East Coast Star Party – Ray, Mark, Jim Browder attended.  Some of the attendees had the pleasure of seeing the supernova in M51.  Thursday: decent viewing and a few mosquitoes; Frnd; Saturday: hit or miss with clouds; Sunday was rained out.  Enjoyed by all.
Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

The next Science Museum Skywatch/LiveSky show is June 17.  Please sign-up if you are available to attend and bring a scope.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html

Observing session for RAS members and guests, July 2: Observing at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.

Green Bank StarQuest, June 29 – July 2:  Optical and radio astronomy star party, Green Bank, WV.  http://www.greenbankstarquest.org

Visitors: none

Short talk: “Visit to a Space Shuttle Launch” by Cal Pletcher

Caldecided that he would like to go see Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-134) launch before the shuttle fleet becomes permanently grounded.  He told us about taking a drive down toFlorida, and finding a place to stay nearby theCape.  On the morning of the launch (May 16, 2011), he found a place about 15 miles north of the launch where very few people were, until it got close to launch time.  This time, the shuttle successfully launch and he got a view from the north side. Calshowed us a few photos that he took of the view and of the launch.  He even got a copy of a shuttle photo taken just seconds after launch by a photographer with a strong telescopic lens.  What a photo!!  Shortly after the launch,Calmade his way back to his car, and back toVirginia.  His interesting presentation makes me wish to see one soon!

June’s Presentation: “Great Balls of Fire Exhibit – a Private Showing” by Leslie Bochenski

Remember the scavenger hunt information from the share table.  We are about to use it on a private viewing of the meteor exhibit.  There were many exhibits to see to give us the answers for the hunt.  By the time we were done, we had seen ways to recognize and test for a rock to be a meteor.  Several computer models let us see what different sizes of meteors can do to the Earth if it ever collided with the Earth.  We even had a chance to launch bombs and deflectors to save the Earth from an object floating near our orbit.  This was a very informative and enjoyable activity.

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, July 12th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, August 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/

740th Consecutive Meeting

May 10, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

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 perusal or for sale, including a few eyepieces.

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

Past Events:

Astronomy Day was a big success!!!!

Science Museum Skywatch
Skywatch at Woodlake
Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

The next Science Museum Skywatch/LiveSky show is May 20.  Please sign-up if you are available to attend and bring a scope.

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)

Library Report was not given.  All is good at the new library.

Short talk

May’s Presentation:

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, June 14th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, May 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/

 President Jim Browder called the meeting to order at 7:02pm.

 Attendees (10):

• Jim Browder, President
• David Medici, Vice President
• Jim Blowers, Treasurer
• Chris McCann, Secretary
• Ken Wilson
• Betty Wilson
• Prashant Reddy
• Gary Cowardin
• Dave Walton
• Jeff Pike

 Secretary’s report given by Chris McCann

• February’s board meeting minutes were discussed and approved.

Treasurer’s report given by Jim Blowers.

• Balance Summary          (as of 2/21/2011)                      (as of 5/16/2011):

• General Fund:                        6089.27                               6481.10
• Observatory Fund:                   213.62                                 180.91
• TOTAL:                                 6302.89                               6662.01
• Checking Account:                1241.43                               1590.08
• Savings Account:                  2859.37                                2859.72
• Certificate of Deposit:           2202.09                                2212.21
• Pay Pal Acct:                               0.00                                      0.00
• TOTAL:                                6302.89                                 6662.01

The Astronomical League fees are due for RAS.  Jim mentioned we have 64 active members, which approximates dues to be $330.  Chris McCann just received the AL bill a couple days ago and will deliver it to Jim Blowers’ home within a few days.

Motion was made to allocate fees to renew RAS’s website address.  Moved and accepted.

Treasurer’s report was approved by the board. 

�
Observatory Report given by Jim Browder

• The following maintenance has been performed on the observatory: concrete has been patched, front gate was re-painted
• Maintenance needed to be done: building and metal poles need to be painted; 1 light needs to be replaced
• Grass cutting duties have been set
• John Barnett is planning an open house.  Comment heard: “… good to see him active again.”

Education Report (Jim Browder) :

• Several public skywatches continue to be scheduled at various places.  There are several requests for skywatches in the near future. 

• Appreciation to David Hagen (Educator at SMV) for his work with RAS needs
• Where is the large RAS banner?
• RavenCon 2011 (April 8-10) report:
• Attended by Jim Browder, Prashant Reddy, John Raymond, Dave Walton, Terry Barker
• There were panel discussions and information tables; unfortunately, night time Skywatch was weathered out
• 5pm on Friday: Jim and Prashant handled the RAS and amateur astronomy discussion.  Very few attended
• Terry spoke on satellite observation and Dave talked about available software.
• John had a telescope aimed at a photo of Saturn down the hall. (“attention getter”)
• “worth-while experience”, “always good to try something different”
• Astronomy Day (May 7) 2011:
• Thanks to Prashant for coordinating RAS activities for Astronomy Day.
• Many RAS members, not many visitors, although there was a steady flow of attendance, reasonable contact with public,
• More diversity in crowd – all ages, but appeared to have more children than  previous years
• Need for back-up coverage on all activities, especially solar observing
• Rocket launcher was defective
• Skywatch had been “prommed out” quite a while back.
• Recommendations for next year:  Ken recommended more children activities for next time; check available equipment long before that day; what will be available for us from SMV; RAS t-shirts for next year’s workers

Library Report (made by Jim Browder)

• Virginiareported there was no change in status. Process runs “remarkably smoothly”.

Other Reports:

• A $50 contribution was donated to the American Cancer Society, in the memory of Jerry Zaun.

Old Business:

• Skywatch guidelines (drafted by Ken and Betty Wilson) finalized.  Needs to be linked on website.
• 501 (c)(3) filing completed – electronic filing, receipt sent to Phil Roberts

New Business:

• Jeff Pike is looking at a dark sky site inCumberland, about 20 miles west of the Powhatan observing site.  It is near the junction of routes 628 and 629.  Staff at their office has given their OK for us to look at it.
• Gary Cowardin suggested a more comfortable site onPatterson AvenueinGoochlandCountynearColumbia.
• Betty Wilson recommended a 17^th century home in Manquin (King William??) for future picnics and skywatches.

• Proposed purchases:
• Prashant proposed a purchase of $599 for a double stack filter for the solar telescope.
• Jeff and Gary support the purchase of another telescope. 
• For example, purchase a new scope to use daytime at schools.
• Recommendations for scope/filters purchases included white-light filters, Hydrogen-alpha filters, and Calcium filter (different frequency than double stacks)
• John Raymond needs to be consulted for equipment advice before purchases.
• Ken proposes that we first determine what amount is available in the treasury to budget for any purchases.  Jim Blowers will research.
• Ken will draft a policy of procedures for RAS’s inventory control.
• Dave Walton volunteered to be the inventory controller.
• Eventually, membership will be informed of what inventory is available.
• New member needs:  name tags, handbook (Feb, 2006 is latest edition), password for web page information
• Motion was made to match design of new name tags with existing name tags.  Motion approved!

Next Board meeting will be Monday, August 15, 2011 at Extra Billy’s at 7pm.  If you want to come early for dinner, come by at 6pm.

• Meeting was adjourned at 8:38pm.