Astrophotography as far as I know---So Far Jerry Vaughn Meeting location change by Ken Wilson

The October meeting will be in the Eureka Theater, but we'll be moving around for the next few months. Here's the schedule:

Oct.--Eureka Theater Nov.--IMAX Theater Dec.--Eureka Theater (Xmas party) Last meeting by Gary Cowardin

Share table and member observing

Ken Wilson provided some free NASA lithographs. Terry Barker asked for volunteers for the board nominating committee. Susan Brubaker announced the annual club picnic, to be on Oct. 8, 4:00 pm, Rockwood Park. Sue is coordinating the food, and she has put up a web page where you can see what's been provided so far. It's at www.pipeline.com/~aviatrix/RASpicnic.htm. Earl Budke had a large photo of a Mars landscape. The Mars rovers have passed 600 days of operation--and they were only designed for 90. He also showed a blowup of one of Saturn's moons. Earl is willing to do Mars talks for groups. Jack Fox showed some pictures of sunspots and the moon, that he took with his digital camera, a Nikon 990. Ken Wilson updated us on the last SMV skywatch--it was cloudy initially, but about 50 people showed up, regardless. The SMV is going to help us advertise a new feature for the next skywatch--we're going to let people take their own pictures of the moon with their digital camera. Several people observed the Perseids Meteor Shower last month, and some saw some fairly bright ones, but everyone pretty much agreed that the show wasn't all that great this year. John Barnett invited people to view Mars with him on Nov. 4 and 11, at the observatory. He'll be there at 8 pm on Fri 11/4 or 8 pm on Sat 11/5 (rain date for Friday), and 8 pm on Fri 11/11 or 8 pm on Sat 11/12 (rain date for Friday). John Raymond observed the nice conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and Spica last week. Roger Rigby took his scope to a Boy Scout event, but it was cut short by a rabid beaver. Jerry Vaughn caught a view of Venus and Jupiter, with some palm trees in the foreground--but he forgot to bring the pictures. He was recently in Honolulu. Jim Petty and Randy Tatum were at the observatory last Sat., doing some solar observing. John Raymond, Jim Petty and Jack Fox volunteered to help Terry Barker with the Wyndham skywatch, coming up next week. Sue brought in several library books for checkout. Roger Rigby created our first visitor's table--this is a place where he can greet visitors and give them some club material. Roger also greeted our visitors--Calvin Pletcher, Dexter Wade, Jim Bortle, and Virginia Eckert. Frank Carney gave the book report for the month: He covered two books by Brian Green, The Fabric of the Cosmos and The Elegant Universe. Both were about cosmology, and one of the topics they discuss is the "theory of everything," which is what many people think Einstein was trying to do before he died. It's basically, a theory that will unite electromagnetism, light, and gravity. Frank thought the books were lighthearted and easy to read. Some of the chapter headings were: The Univers and Reality, Time and Experience, Of Snowflakes and Space-time, and Quanta in the Sky of Diamonds.

Terry Barker, gave the main presentation, on The Space Elevator. This is one of those far out concepts that sounds impossible on first impression, but the more Terry researched it, the more viable it became. The Space Elevator would be made up of a cable that extends 20,000 miles, from a base platform in the ocean, to outer space. This would allow robot carriers to transport material to space on a 24 hour basis, using a fraction of the resources that it takes to get items into space via a rocket. You can find a complete description of the concept, including the Power Point Presentation that Terry used at www.spaceelevator.com.

Skywatches and other events:

Oct. 7-8, Skywatch, Malvern Hill Oct. 7, Skywatch, Clover Hill Oct. 10, pre-meeting dinner, 6:00 pm, Pizza Hut Oct. 10, RAS meeting, 7:30 pm, SMV Oct. 21 SMV Skywatch Oct. 23, NRAO Open House Oct. 28-29 East Coast Star Party, Coinjock, NC. Nov. 5, VAAS, Roanoke, more info at www.vaas2005.org/ Fall picnic by Terry Barker

We're having it Saturday, Oct. 8, at 4:00 pm, Rockwood Park. The park is close to the intersection of Hull St. and Courthouse, on Courthouse, just west of the intersection. Susan Brubaker is coordinating the food, and she has all that information on her web page, www.pipeline.com/~aviatrix/RASpicnic.htm.

2006 board nominees by Terry Barker

The nominating committe, made up of myself, Gary Cowardin, and Jerry Zaun, announce the 12 nominees for our 2006 board. We'll be voting on these people in November.

Terry Barker John Barnett Jim Blowers Jim Browder Gary Cowardin David Credicott Jack Fox Joe Hetmanski Jim Langley Jim Petty Roger Rigby Jerry Zaun

And we owe a big thank you to the board officers who are leaving--Norm Guenther, Dave Medici, and Jerry Vaughn.

NRAO Open House

On behalf of Dr. Fred H.Y.Lo, Director, the staff of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory cordially invites you and your family to attend an Open House to be held Sunday, the twenty-third of October, two thousand five, from eleven until four o'clock in the afternoon.

Please join us at our newly remodeled facility at, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, Virginia.

This will be a day for family and friends, community leaders, students and teachers, astronomy enthusiasts, and the general public to visit the NRAO Charlottesville facilities and learn about our mission and science. There will be scheduled lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, and hands-on activities for all ages.

The favour of a reply is requested by Saturday, the first of October to Ms. Billie Rodriguez (434) 296-0221 or by email to mailto:openhouse@nrao.edu.

For additional information, a scheduled of events can be found on-line at www.nrao.edu/open-house.

Dues are due by Jim Blowers

Your 2005 dues can be paid to our treasurer, Jim Blowers, at any of the meetings, via PayPal, or by mail. Please use the form enclosed in this newsletter.