Newsletter of RAS (Richmond Astronomical Society)
November, 2003

Visit our web site at www.richastro.org

Next meeting--Monday, Nov. 10

Henry Stockmar
by John Barnett

Some sad news: Henry W. Stockmar III died of a heart attack at home on Saturday, Oct 18, 2003. The funeral service was was held Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Henrico Doctors' Hospital Chapel. Ann Stockmar, Henry's widow, had been ill for some time and was a patient at the hospital, so the service was kept small and private ( family only ) in consideration for Ann's situation.

Richmond Astronomical Society documents show that Henry held a continuous membership from as early as August, 1956 to the present. He was President in 1966,1967, 1977, and 1978. He also served on the board and as treasurer for many years. Also, he was the architect of the Ragland Observatory who designed its cantilevered roof. He was very involved with the startup of the Science Museum in the '70's, contacting legislators to help secure funding for its establishment. Under his leadership, the RAS renovated a small, discarded planetarium that was one of the first exhibits in the SMV. He built a unique ball - mounted 8" reflector, ground the mirror himself, and shared it at many RAS/SMV public skywatches.

Henry contributed much to our society and the astronomical community for nearly 50 years. His talent, gracious manner, and fine comradeship will be missed.

VAAS arrives

For those of you not familiar with VAAS, here's a description of what it's all about. VAAS stands for Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies. By definition, this includes ALL the astronomical societies in Virginia, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. Every year, one of the VAAS clubs holds a convention. Because the process of electing the current year's host was never formal, sometimes the convention just never happened. So, a few years ago, four of the clubs, RAS, NAS (Norfolk), CAS (Charlottesville), and RVAS (Roanoke), decided they would rotate the duty among themselves in a set order.

Last year was Richmond's turn, and this year is Norfolk's turn. It will be held on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Chesapeake Planetarium, located in the City of Chesapeake Municipal Center in the Great Bridge borough. You can find more information at http://groups.hamptonroads.com/VAAS/.

It's important to support this event, as we want other clubs to support us when our turn comes again.

Dues are due

Please bring your checkbook to the next meeting, and catch up with your dues, payable to our treasurer, Cindy Bowers. There's a form to fill out at the bottom of this newsletter.

Aurora in Virginia! Twice.
by Ken Wilson

Last night for the second night in a row we had strong auroral activity visible, in spite of the local light pollution, from our house in Hanover county.  In my 20+ years of living here in central Virginia this was the strongest auroral display I can recall seeing from this far south.  The red color was especially vivid.  In spite of the intensity, the aurora greatly lacked the sharp ray and curtain edges that I've seen in many previous aurora's, especially those I've seen in my native Michigan.  The display seemed to peak for us between 7 and 8 p.m. last night (Oct. 30).

I've posted 3 of my better pictures on the Richmond Astronomical Society web site at:

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/richastro/lst?&.dir=/Ken+Wilson&.src=gr&.view=t&start=1&.rand=103118647508

Last meeting
by Jim Blowers

Share table:

• A poster was shown about the Jansky Lecture, an annual lecture given at the University of Virginia each year by a prominent astronomer. This year, it will be at Charlottesville, Va., at 2003 October 22 7:30 p.m. in Gilmer Hall at the University of Virginia. Professor Donald C. Backer will be giving a talk entitled "Massive Black Holes". 
• Ken Wilson mentioned that there will be a total lunar eclipse on November 8 early in the evening, and the Science Museum will have a public viewing of the eclipse, given good weather. He also had flyers on the next passes of ISS and Iridium satellites.
• Jim Blowers bought in pictures of the RAS picnic on 2003 October 4, featuring a spectacular sunset. 
• Susan Brubaker brought in some RAS library books and showed one of these in a presentation, a book entitled "The Messier Marathon Field Guide". The book contains lists of which charts to go to one after another to get as many Messier objects seen in a night as possible, and the charts contain constellations and telescope views of guide stars. Sue will bring lists of objects at the next meeting.

Reports and observing:

• Ruth Petrov reported observing the Moon and Mars in a telescope and another person reported seeing galaxies in Andromeda and Pegasus. John Barnett made some sketches of Mars at the Ragland Observatory, but he did note that Mars was shrinking.
• Many observers reported that power outages caused by Hurricane Isabel and the Tornado improved visibility considerably, with many in the city reporting being able to view the Milky Way.
• Skywatch was mostly ruined by the hurricane, although those that turned out saw the best sky there in a long time.
• At least one observer went to Powhatan.
• Cindy Bowers once again is selling Astronomy Magazine calendars, this time for 2004, for $6 a calendar, which is half price..
• The following visitors were acknowledged by Charlotte Talley, our membership chair: Elizabeth Johnson, Nancy Brooks, Wayne Parker, Sandy Parker, and William Squires.
• Ray Moody made a Stellafane report. The prison is now in operation nearby, and yes, they are shining their lights. But these lights point straight down, and they are not noticeable from the site of Stellafane. 
• Jim Blowers reported to the club an idea he picked up at the Astronomical League Convention (ALCON) in Nashville this year: bring out the telescope on Halloween night. There will be a first quarter moon that night. Children will be attracted to the telescope and its images and it may be a good way of getting some of our youth interested in astronomy.
• Someone asked when and where the annual meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies (VAAS) was going to be given. It is now scheduled for November 15, and will be hosted by NAS (Norfolk Astronomical Society).
• Eric Shelton reported seeing the Martian moon Deimos.
• Bill Dickinson attended the Delmarva No-Frills Star Party on Sept 24.

Observatory:

• The observatory got power back on the Monday after Isabel's visit on Thursday, and Eric Shelton donated a computer monitor to the Observatory. Thanks, Eric!

Skywatches and other events:

• November 3rd--Godwin High School Astronomy club is hosting a skywatch for two, possibly three troops of girl scouts (about 20 girls). It will take place in the Courtyard (near the bus ramp) and will be from 6 P.M - 8:30 P.M for the kids and until we decide to leave, the rest of us can stay.
• Nov. 15, VAAS, held by the Norfolk Astronomical Society. A web site of http://groups.hamptonroads.com/VAAS/ has been established with an email contact of VAASCon@hamptonroads.com.
• The SMV skywatch will be Friday, Nov. 21.

Short talk: Book Report- The Year Round Messier Marathon presented by Sue Brubaker. Sue will bring Messier forms to the next meeting.

Main Presentation: The Solar System - a slide show by Ted Bethune.

RAS picnic
by Terry Barker

The fellowship was at least half the fun, and if everyone else feels like I do, we will do this kind of event more often.

Clear sky clock problem
by Eric Shelton

The clear sky clock domain, www.cleardarksky.com , lapsed through no fault of its webmaster (he blames it on his provider) and has been hijacked by an advertiser. If you go to that domain you will see an incredible number of pop-ups appear. There are clear sky clocks for Powhatan and Malvern Hill. Following is a message from the clear sky clock webmaster, Atilla, Danko, regarding how to access them again.

2004 board elections
by Terry Barker

Powhatan report
by Roger Rigby

I arrived shortly after twilight on Friday Night. There were already a number of scopes set up that grew to probably 10 or so as the evening went on. With Sue and Dave's encouragement I began the Messier List without Goto. I had kind of a rough start thinking Capricorn was about 1/4 of it's actual size, making it very difficult to find M30 <G>. I finally broke down and asked for directions
and Sue helped to explain that in fact Capricorn was not this tiny feature that I had discovered and subsequently named Capricorn Light. <G>

As the night went on I was able to locate and log M30, M56, M57, M72, M73, & M74. I felt pretty good by the time I was done, although I was a bit chilly and hungry. After beginning this hobby with a goto scope I was not sure that I would ever be able find things without a computer.

The sky was excellent with a seeing of 8-9 and very good transparency. The dew was very heavy for a while but thankfully lightened up when a breeze kicked up.

Thanks again to Dave, Sue & Eric who helped me verify that I had actually found some of the things I had set out to locate after Dave & Sue had to leave. I really did have fun! I left somewhere around 1:00 AM.

Powhatan report #2
by Jerry Zaun

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