The Celestial Observer

 

Newsletter of the North Shore

 Amateur Astronomy Club

 

 

January, 2006

 

 

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From the President

Congratulations to members Jim Foy and Leor Zolman for being the recipients of this year’s Member Awards. They each left the December meeting with a gift check for $50.00. Jim is our Star Party Coordinator. If you’ve ever attended one of our many star parties you know that in addition to its being very rewarding, it is also a lot of work. Jim not only attends EVERY star party, he also does the indoor presentations. In addition, he coordinates the parties weeks in advance with the hosts. Leor is our newsletter editor. Every month, right on schedule, he reminds us of the deadline, beats our emailboxes until we submit, publishes and edits the paper, and then prints and delivers it! This is done every month, on time, whether or not he has the time or feels well. The work these guys do is inspiring and very much appreciated!

 

Club elections are right around the corner (Business Meeting March 3rd). The Board will be choosing an Elections Chairman and Co-Chairman at the next Board Meeting and they will be announced in January. At this time, I know of at least two positions on the Board which will be open. Once the Elections Chairman is chosen, we will begin with the nominations process. I encourage members to please consider serving on the Board. It is a great way to become more involved with the inner workings of the club.

 

On December 2nd I found two memos from the Veasey Park Committee on our office door. They want us to enter into a rental agreement by January 1st, and to begin paying rent for the use of the building for storage and meetings. It does not appear that they want us to pay for use of the parking lot for our observing, only for use of the building. The Board will be meeting on December 14th to discuss this situation, and will be meeting again with the Veasey Committee later in the month to negotiate. Please watch the list server, or attend the January meeting for news of this development.

 

Saturn returns to our early evening night sky in January and is in opposition on the 27th. There will be three nice conjunctions in January; a waxing gibbous Moon and Mars on the 8th, a nearly full Moon and Saturn on the 15th, and a waning crescent Moon and Jupiter in the early morning hours of the 23rd. Enjoy them, and have a Happy New Year!

 

Clear skies,

Kevin Ackert

President

 

 

NSAAC Welcomes Our New Members:

Greg Carpenter of Bedford, MA

James P. Bastable, Jr. of  Danvers

 

Barrie Sawyer,

Membership Coordinator

 

 

Minutes of the NSAAC Business Meeting,
December 2nd, 2005

President Ackert called the December Business Meeting of the NSAAC to order at 8:10PM. President Ackert called for introduction of new members: Tom Raushenbach and Jim Bastable.  There were 12 members in attendance plus 5 Board members.  There was an official quorum.

 

Secretary:   

The official minutes of the November business meeting were approved by acclamation.

 

Treasurer:  

Checking account balance is $99331.52 and the land fund account balance is $7980.89. 

 

Membership:  There were 3 new members since November 1st.                  

 

Committee Reports:

 

Merrimack College: 

Paul Koval has joined as a presenter at Merrimack.  We still need a fifth person to fill in on the odd Wednesday and when others cannot make their day for running the observatory.

 

Salem State: 

The observatory has been clouded out all month.

 

Go-On Committee:  

John Boudreau and Jim Foy’s CCD Imaging GO-ON will be rescheduled for a later date.  John Hobbs and Mark Mathews will present digital setting circles GO-ON at a date to be determined.  Chris Nicholl is the chairman of this committee and is looking for some more volunteers to help on this effort.

 

Star Parties:  

There will be a star party Dec 5th at Lynnfield High School with Dec 12th as the back-up day. On Thursday, January 5, 2006, there will be a star party at the Proctor School in Topsfield.  Jan 12th 2006, there will be a star party at the Knock Middle School in Newburyport. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary will host a star party on Saturday, February 11, 2006.  On Wednesday, March 15th ,2006, there will be a star party at the Sanborn School in Andover.  Finally, March 24th there will be a star party at the Amesbury School.  See the Star Party information in the newsletter for particulars and directions.

 

Young Astronomers Program:

The planispheres and booklets have been ordered.  Bookmarks will be ordered soon.  Sky and Telescope will give magazines and other door prizes.  The scope and binoculars will be ordered as soon as we contact Tony Costanzo.  The expected date is sometime in March.

 

Upcoming Events:

We received a thank you note from Sue Baeslack for our contribution to Birdseed day.

A revamped member’s image gallery is in the works for the website and will be going live very soon.  This work is being done by Michael Deneen.

 

Old Business: 

No movement on the new logo for the club.

 

New Business:

Volunteer rewards were presented to Jim Foy and Leor Zolman.

 

VMP winter festival will be on Sunday January 29th.  VMP has asked our club to be represented.  We could have someone doing solar observing and hand out fliers and show some equipment.

 

Election of officers comes up in March.  We will need a nominating committee and people to run for office.

 

Entertainment for the evening was Barrie Sawyer giving a presentation of the Earth Centered Universe Astronomy software.

 

Board Meeting will be set by e-mail.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM

 

Respectively submitted,
John Hobbs, Secretary NSAAC

 



Help Wanted

 

Below is a list of positions which need to be filled in our club. They are listed in order of their need. Please consider volunteering for one of these positions if you have the means. Please contact any Board member with questions about these positions.

 

Merrimack Observatory Staff: We currently have four volunteers to fulfill the first four Wednesdays each month. We need one backup staff person. The backup host would staff the observatory on these “Fifth Blue Wednesdays” and may also be called upon to substitute for one of the regular staff when they can not fulfill their evening.

 

Equipment Manager: This person would be in charge of managing the storage and usage of the clubs astronomy equipment. At this time, the position would require almost no effort as we really have little equipment which hardly ever gets used. The Board has decided to not purchase any new astronomy equipment for the club until this position is filled.

 

Young Astronomer Program Volunteers: Volunteers are needed to help with the Young Astronomer Program which is scheduled to be held sometime between January 1 and the end of the school year.

 

Star Party Helpers: As we enter the Star Party season, please monitor dates, locations, and telescope needs of the various star parties and help out whenever you can..

 

 

Star Party News

The first star party this month is Thursday, January 5, 2006 at the Proctor School, 60 Main Street, Topsfield, MA.  On a clear night 200 people will attend! The Museum of Science Skylabs will be at the school. The star party is the highlight of a week spent on astronomy. Telescope set-up time is 6:30 to 7:00PM.  A program on constellations and deep sky objects will start at 7:00PM and last about 30 minutes.  Naked eye constellations and telescope observations will follow the program.  The event will not be cancelled for weather.

 

Directions to Proctor School

 

FROM SOUTH OF TOPSFIELD

 

- OR -

–THEN –

 

·        Go through a traffic light and past 2 gas stations.  Continue for about 2 miles.  After the Topsfield Fairgrounds, at the intersection of Route 97 (traffic light and FleetBankBoston), turn LEFT onto Route 97 North.

 

·        Continue for 1 mile to first STOP SIGN.  Turn LEFT onto Main Street.

 

·        Go about 50 yards on Main Street.  Proctor School will be on your right.  Turn RIGHT into the parking lot (which is on the left side of the school).

 

·        Enter the school through the double doors facing the parking lot, directly under the roof-mounted satellite dish.  Office is to your left.

 

FROM NORTH OF TOPSFIELD

 

·        You will pass the town common (on the left, flagpole) and large white church (on the right).  CONTINUE STRAIGHT.

·        Go past the gray Victorian Town Hall on your right.

·        Go about 30 yards past the Town Hall.  Proctor School will be on your right.  Turn RIGHT into the parking lot (which is on the left side of the school).

 

 

The second star party is Thursday, January 12, 2006 at Rupert A. Nock Middle School, 70 Low Street, Newburyport, MA.  At least 200 will attend the star party!  The schedule for the evening is designed to minimize lines at the telescopes.  There will be three stations 1) program 2) telescopes and naked eye constellations 3) refreshments.  Each station will operate on 30 minute cycles with the groups rotating between the stations after each cycle.  The event will not be cancelled for weather.

 

Directions to Nock Middle School From Route 95:

Rt. 95 North, take EXIT 57, go right off exit (Rt. 113 E). At 2nd set of traffic lights (.3 mi.) turn right at Shell gas station onto Low Street.  The Nock Middle School is about 1 mile on the left.

 

Annual Membership Renewal Early Reminder

Annual membership dues are payable by the first meeting in March of each fiscal year.  You can download a renewal form from the NSAAC website or use the one included in next months mailed version of the newsletter.  Mail or hand deliver it, along with your payment, to the Club Treasurer.  If you are also renewing a magazine subscription, please provide a separate check made out to the publication and include the magazine's renewal form and return envelope.

 

The board has proposed to add a mandatory $5 late fee to all renewals made AFTER the March Business Meeting.  Members who fail to renew by the May Business Meeting will lose all of their membership benefits until they renew. The goal of this proposal is to lessen the workload of the Treasurer and Board members who every year have to contact unpaid members well into the month of May. Members will vote on this proposal at the January meeting.

 

Getting to Veasey Memorial Park

From Interstate 95 north, take the Route 133 west (54B) exit, and follow it into Georgetown Center.  Go straight through the light, now on Route 97N.  Go about 1.5 miles and take a left onto Salem Street (Tea Garden Restaurant at this intersection).  Stay on Salem Street and turn left onto Washington Street. VMP is down a bit on the right.

 

Directions to all of the NSAAC observing sites are available on our web site's “About” page at:

        http://www.nsaac.org/about.htm

 

 

Contact Information

For more information about the club and its activities, contact Barrie Sawyer,  Membership Director, email: membership@nsaac.org or contact Kevin Ackert, President, e-mail at president@nsaac.org.  If you have no email access, you may phone Kevin Ackert at (978) 663-5305

 

Our club web site is: http://www.nsaac.org.

 

The Celestial Observer is edited by Leor Zolman. Feedback, and member contributions are welcome. Contact: newsletter@nsaac.org.