Newsletter of RAS (Richmond Astronomical Society)
April, 2003

Visit our web site at www.richastro.org

Next meeting--Monday, Apr. 14

Last meeting
by Terry Barker

• Ken Wilson brought in a sign-up sheet for Astronomy Day, the May lunar eclipse, monthly star charts and Iridium flare schedules. The lunar eclipse could be a big event for us--last year brought out about 500 people. Plus, we could have live TV coverage.
• John Raymond brought out some books for our club library. This is an attempt to make the library more visible. We have quite an extensive library, but it's kept in a separate room of the SMV, and is not accessible to members. Let John know if you'd like for him to bring a book out for you to check out--we have a listing on the web page.

Reports and observing:

• Malvern Hill -- rained out.
• SMV Skywatch - rained out.
• Ken Wilson reported that the shared PC program that SETI is sponsoring has yielded some possible hits (of extraterrestrial communication).
• Terry Barker has a skywatch scheduled for Mar. 18 at Crestwood Elementary, and one at Walton Lake this Friday.
• Charlotte Talley saw the Christmas Tree Cluster recently, as well as Jupiter, Saturn, M41, and M44.
• Roger Rigby did some observing recently with his seven year old daughter and their 4.5 inch Dobsonian.
• Jim Blowers observed a planetary nebula, NGC 2392.

Observatory:

• Gary Cowardin has trained Dave Credicott and Susan Brubaker. He also had a sign-up sheet for further training.

Skywatches and other events::

• The first week of April is National Dark Sky Week--see article in newsletter.
• Terry Barker has a Chesterfield County skywatch at Clover Hill on Friday, Apr. 4..
• The SMV skywatch will be Apr. 18.

Visitors:

• Charlotte Tally greeted our visitors—Joe Muire, Jerry Zaun, and Steve and Flora Pinkham.

Ted Bethune, gave the short presentation, a slide show overview of the Hubble Telescope and our space program.

Dave Thomas gave the main presentation, on the constellation Orion. Dave started out by giving a couple of examples on how other cultures had defined the constellation, but all seemed to center on the character being some kind of hunter. A three dimensional representation of the stars that make up Orion showed that the stars are not really in the same portion of the Milky Way at all, but our view from earth makes it appear that they are. Dave showed several views of objects in Orion, including the Great Nebula, that look quite different, depending on the spectrum of light used.

Astronomy Day
by Terry Barker

Plans for Astronomy Day in May are shaping up well. We have a committee, chaired by John Raymond, that has met once, and pretty much defined our game plan. Here's what we have defined so far:

We'll have exhibit tables on:

• Amateur telescope making with live demonstrations of mirror grinding and other activities.
• Real meteorites from outer space.
• Photography using a video camera equipped with a charged coupled device and electronic eyepiece demonstrations.
• An advanced telescope display.
• How to make a sundial display.
• Computer assisted telescope observation, with a working example.
• An astronomical photography display on a computer monitor.
• An evening skywatch, with several telescopes available for public stargazing.
• Several telescopes set up on the front lawn during the day for solar observing.

In addition, RAS will be distributing a gift pack to the first 100 attendees, containing a Milky Way candy bar, 10 glow stars, and a printed template showing how to create a constellation on your wall or ceiling.

We could use volunteers for telescopes capable of solar viewing (meaning you have a solar filter), and some strong backs to help with carrying equipment into the SMV. Contact John Raymond or Terry Barker if you'd like to help.

National Dark Sky Week
by Terry Barker

This is an event started by a high school student from our very own home town. Jennifer Barlow, a local student, got the idea after trying to do some observing with her first telescope, and becoming frustrated by bright lights nearby. The theme of Dark Sky Week is for everyone to turn off their porch and yard lights at 10 pm every night, from April 1-8. Hopefully, this will highlight (no pun intended) people's understanding of the bad effects of light pollution.

National Dark Sky Week has been recognized in Sky and Telescope Magazine, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and this last Saturday in the Virginia Pilot (Norfolk). Please tell your friends and neighbors about this event! You can get further information at http://www.nationaldarkskyweek.htmlplanet.com/.

You can also click here to open a Word version of a flyer you can post at your workplace.

Metro Science Fair
by Terry Barker

Well, we tried to give away some money at the recent Metro Richmond Science Fair. We normally give out several $50 awards, named after T. Wilbur Stone, one of our founding members, but we could not find a single exhibit based on astronomy or space science. We're going to make a bigger effort next year to get word out to the schools to consider these subjects in their students' projects.

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