The Celestial Observer
Newsletter of the
Amateur Astronomy Club
March,
2006
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From the President
Members approved the rental agreement with
Election Chairman Jim Foy presented the slate of nominees for
the 2006 Board of Directors at the February meeting. We were one person short
of having a full slate of candidates when someone volunteered for the remaining
position. Although there is now a full slate, additional nominations may be
taken right up until the election. Please contact Jim Foy to submit a nomination,
or do so at the March meeting. We must have a quorum at the March meeting
in order to hold the election, so please plan on attending.
Membership renewals are due in March. We now have a $5.00 late
fee in place for renewals paid after the March meeting, so if you can’t make
the meeting be sure to send in your dues prior to the meeting. Renewal forms
are available on our website.
It seems that we’ll be able to hold the Young Astronomer Program
in April or May. The registration form is almost complete. The give-a-ways
are in. A specific date needs to be decided and then we can advertise the
event.
A year ago I was writing about enhancing our equipment program
and the possibility of our getting to use a portion of the cottage at VMP
for a clubhouse. Now we are storing our equipment in a garage and paying rent
to hold our meetings. I guess it just goes to show you that you never know
what the future holds. Perhaps a year from now the Site Search Committee will
be announcing our new venue! Our membership is strong with 115 at last count.
We are the second largest amateur astronomy club in
On March 13 the Moon will be engaged in a Penumbral eclipse
as it rises. The Vernal Equinox will usher in the Galaxy Season on March 20.
The Moon will have several nice conjunctions including Mars on the 6th,
Saturn on the 10th, Jupiter on the 19th, and Venus on
the 25th.
Clear skies,
Kevin Ackert
President
NSAAC Welcomes Our New Members:
Rick Lizotte of
Clay Ventre of
Membership Coordinator
Final
Renewal Notice
Just
a reminder that annual dues must be paid by
Annual Elections for BoD
Our annual elections for the Board of Directors will be held
at the next General meeting, Friday, March 3 at
The current slate for the election is:
President - Kevin Ackert
Vice-President - Russ Pinizzotto
Treasurer - Theresa
Earle
Secretary - John Hobbs
Membership Director – Jim
Koerth
Members at Large - Ron Sampson & Rick Margolies
Please note that in order to vote, members should be present
and “be of good standing” with their dues paid for 2006. Renew today!
Membership renewals will also be accepted before the meeting. [Editor’s
note: printed renewal forms are being distributed with the printed copies
of this month’s newsletter. If you do not receive the Observer in hard-copy
form, please print out and submit the online version located at:
http://www.nsaac.org/renew.shtml
Minutes of the NSAAC Business
Meeting,
President Ackert
called the February Business Meeting of the NSAAC to order at
Secretary:
The official minutes of the January business meeting were approved by
acclamation.
Treasurer:
Treasurer gave his report
Membership: There was 1 new member since January.
Committee Reports:
All events were clouded out. Still need a fifth volunteer for the odd
Wednesday night and for substitutions.
The observatory has not been open due to bad weather.
Go-On Committee:
No other GO-ON events scheduled. The astrophotography go on will be scheduled
at a later date.
Star Parties:
Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary will host a star party on
Young Astronomers Program:
President Ackert circulated the draft of the registration form to be used
for the event. He needs to finalize
the date with
Site Selection Committee:
Committee has not met yet. Some one suggested looking into the property
of the Trustees of the Reservations.
Upcoming Events:
VMP Winter Festival was held January 29th and Jim Foy represented
the club.
The member’s image gallery is up on the website. Contact Mike Deneen if you want to add to the
site.
It is membership renewal time and is due at or before the March business
meeting.
Old Business:
A motion was made to approve and sign the new rental agreement with VMP.
After some discussion the Motion was approved with one abstention.
Positions are still available for members to fill. See the newsletter for particulars.
New Business:
It is Election
Time. Election Committee chairman Jim
Foy announced that we have volunteers for all positions. The slate of candidates is: Kevin Ackert, president:
Russ Pinizzotto, Vice President; Teresa Earle, Treasurer; John Hobbs, secretary;
and Jim Koerth; membership director. Volunteers for Members at large are Ron Sampson
and Eric Margolis. Anyone can still
be nominated or written in for a position up until the elections are held.
There is still time if anyone wishes to contest a position.
The clubs email aliases (info@, president@, etc.) have been receiving a lot of spam. The webmaster is looking into a program as we have on the list server to filter and get rid of this spam.
There was discussion
of what to do about dues for people who sign up as members after the March
meeting. Let the board members know
what you think about this issue so they can discuss it at a Board meeting.
Entertainment for the evening was a presentation on digital setting circles on an SCT given by John Hobbs.
Board Meeting will
be
Meeting adjourned at
Respectively submitted,
John Hobbs, Secretary NSAAC
Star Party News
The first star party this month is
Directions
to