The Celestial Observer
January, 1999
| The Celestial Observer |
Are you ready for your 15 minutes of fame? If so, the club can provide the opportunity.
We're about to begin a program in conjunction with MediaOne that will result in several club members being on television over the course of the next year. In early December several members met with Janet Catia of MediaOne's offices in Stoneham. Janet outlined a program for us that has MediaOne undertaking professional production of a half hour television show on astronomy for use on their system. The club will be responsible for developing program content and for providing staff for both on and off camera activities. But most of the production would be undertaken by her staff.
Ralph Pass has indicated a strong interest in taking the club lead on this effort. In addition, we will need several other people to get involved in order to spread the workload a round. If you are interested in this activity there are several things you should do. First, come to the January meeting. We have arranged for Janet to come and give a brief presentation to us concerning this program. Hopefully, she will bring along some of the video footage shot of Barrie Sawyer making a presentation at St. Patrick's School in Lawrence. This is where she first came into contact with the club.
The second thing to do is to get in touch with Ralph. He'll be looking for help in a variety of areas including concept development for different shows, people to serve as on-screen hosts, and people to help generally and in the background. This is your opportunity to get your name in lights and to make a significant contribution to astronomical education.
For my part, I've always been intrigued by some of the jobs that roll by as the credits are playing at the end of a movie. Perhaps I can be the key grip. Or, maybe I can get to be best boy, whatever that is.
There have been no Sibel sightings this month. There were predictions of such an event scheduled around the first of the month, but our elusive object failed to appear. Some people are forecasting a significant apparition in the month of March - on the evening of the 13th -which happens to coincide with that tenth anniversary dinner. I hope you will all be on hand for this mystical event.
John Gall
Salem State College
The College has been closed down for the holidays, but is expected to open early in January. Please call 978-542-6452 on Monday evenings around 7 pm to see if there is an event taking place. If you are a regular assistant at these events and you want a parking pass for Lot A, please see John Gall.
Merrimack College
Clouds continue to hamper the third-Thursday-of-the-month observing sessions. The next event is scheduled for Jan 21, 1999.
VMP
Locks have been installed on the doors to the club offices. Please see either John Gall or Dave Fournier if you need access to the offices. There is no work day currently scheduled.
Tenth Anniversary Party
Like the events which took place just after the big bang, our plans for the club's Tenth Anniversary Party are starting to coalesce into a stellar occasion! A buffet dinner starring lasagna is in the works, our SHAREequipment has been reserved, music and entertainment is being lined up - all for the evening of March 13th, so make sure to mark your calendars! Anyone wishing to volunteer time or ideas, please give Ilane a call in the afternoons or evenings at (781) 596-0556 or email imw@tiac.net at any time.
Those who subscribe to our email service know that Ilane has been conducting a search for music to accompany the festivities on the night of the thirteenth. This listing started with a compendium of classical composers and compositions but quickly moved to into more contemporary themes. We went from Mahler to Ziggy Stardust in two days ! If you're not on the email list, and you can make a contribution to the evenings play list, please get in touch with a Ilane at the above number.
As part of the 10th anniversary event, we are attempting to keep costs down to members. In that way we hope we can get more people to attend. For this reason the executive board unanimously voted to have the club contribute three hundred dollars towards the evening's event. We will take this item of business up at the January meeting. This money, together with donations which we will be accepting the door, will be used to defray the expenses of the evening.
Another reminder that if you'd like to get involved with this efort, that please get in touch with Ilane at the phone number and e-mail address listed above.
Club Goods
We have T shirts and other items that no self respecting astronomer should be without. See Dennis Gudzevich for them. 1999 calendars were a hot selling item at the December meeting. See Chris McCarthy if you need one - if he has any left.
Business Meeting Minutes for the Meeting of December 4th 1998
The meeting was that approximately 8:05 p.m. with several new members and guests in attendance.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the business being minutes as printed in the most recent celestial observer. A correction was made to the calendar section of the December celestial observer. The motion to set the business minutes passed.
An extended discussion of Rob Nelson's resignation from the club took place. Several people expressed sincere interest in having him rejoin as soon as he feels ready. They also expressed in a strong desire to have the club institute policies to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Rick Shanahan read into the record a statement concerning Rob's many contributions to the club. (See later for the text ).
The Treasurer's report was made and accepted. The observing corps, consisting of Salem State represented by Rick Shanahan, the share program represented by John Gall and Merrimack College, represented by Greg Pearce and Ralph Pass updated the membership on their activities.
Club activities for the previous month including a assistance at bird seed day, the Spofford Pond School, Whittier School, and Collins Middle School star parties were discussed. Events for the upcoming month, including a trip to MediaOne, a star party at VMP, Merrimack College and Salem State College were discussed .
The membership was reminded that we are still looking for help for the 10th anniversary dinner and to be aware that astronomy day will be coming up in the spring. See Dave Fournier if you would care to participate in Astronomy Day.
A call was put out for an interim secretary to serve until the April business meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:10 p.m. and was followed by a demonstration of various software programs and book reviews.
John Gall
Secretary UP
Nominating committee
Elections for club offices for the upcoming year will soon be upon us. We need someone to volunteer to serve as chair of the nominating committee. The in great benefit of this position is that you cannot nominate yourself for office. Please see John Gall if you would care to take on this duty.
From Ric Shanahan
I think it is appropriate to express the thanks of the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club to Rob Nelson for many years of leadership and service to our membership. Rob worked very hard to make this Club what it is today, one of the fastest growing, thriving and dynamic group of individuals involved with Amateur Astronomy in this area. Without his efforts and guidance there would be no Salem State Public Observing Program, no optical or drive system upgrades to the SSC Telescope, little or no SHARE system funding, no portable SHARE system, no Veasey Observing site and new meeting place, no NSAAC office or storage area, a reduced public star party program, and probably a much diminished general membership. He also worked very hard to expand the number of members who actively participate in all of our Public Outreach Programs. Rob and Teresa generously opened their home and hosted some of the annual NSAAC Club Picnics. Rob's patient but tenacious efforts to increase the awareness of light pollution and light trespass have made a significant difference at both the Salem State and Veasey Memorial sites, resulting in better viewing for all. His energy and tireless efforts are very much appreciated and will be sorely missed.
Directions to the NSAAC Observing Site
The NSAAC meets regularly on clear Friday nights in Groveland, MA at Veasey Memorial Park, 201 Washington Street. Observing begins around dusk throughout the year. If the sky is only marginally clear, members may not be present to observe on that night. Monthly business meetings are held on the first night Friday of the month at 8:00 p.m.
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 a short distance down on the right
For more information about the club and its activities, call Barrie Sawyer, Membership Director at 978-922-0489 or contact John Gall, President, e-mail at M104@aol.com. Better yet, visit our Web Site at:
http://www.nsaac.org.
Please support those who support us.
Star.net is our internet service provider, please look them up if you need internet service. Additionally, the Phoenix Press in Groveland provides printing services for our monthly newsletter. Please consider them for any printing needs you may have.
Lastly, we'd like to make special note of those people who have made generous contributions in support of the SHARE program, including Putnam Investments, Lucent Technologies and that inestimable gentleman, Harry Chase at F. C. Meichsner Co, in Boston. If you need to equip a telephone company see Lucent. If you need a telescope, see Harry.
Once in a Blue Moon ?
January is a "blue moon month", as is March. So where does this term come from ? Some tidbits from the internet:
Names of moons at certain times of the year have been around a long time, and almanacs are especially wont to list twelve of them. The Harvest Moon is the best known of these, lighting up the fields sometime after the fall equinox, enabling work to continue late into the night. Blue Moon is different from the monthly or seasonal moon names as it isn't restricted to a time of year. It is a movable feast.
People have been saying that "according to folklore" the second moon in a calendar month is a "blue moon." So, they say, this is the origin of the phrase "once in a blue moon." Don't believe them! "Once in a blue moon" is old, about 150 years old, but the two-full-moons-in-a-month meaning of "blue moon" is a lot younger than that. The older meaning may be wishy-washy and the newer one solid and technical, but don't let anyone tell you they have replaced one with the other.
Meaning is a slippery substance. The phrase "blue moon" has been around a long time, well over 400 years, but during that time its meaning has shifted. I have counted six different meanings which have been carried by the term, and at least four of them are still current today. That makes discussion of the term a little complicated.
The earliest references to a blue moon are in a phrase remarkably like early references to the moon's "green cheese." Both phrases were used as examples of obvious absurdities about which there could be no argument. Four hundred years ago, if someone said, "He would argue the moon was blue," the average sixteenth century man would take it the way we understand, "He'd argue that black is white." This understanding of a blue moon being absurd (the first meaning) led eventually to a second meaning, that of "never." To say that something would happen when the moon turned blue was like saying that it would happen on Tib's Eve (at least before Tib got a day near Christmas assigned to her). Or that it would be on the Twelfth of Never.
But of course we all know there are examples of the moon actually turning blue; that's the third meaning--the moon visually appearing blue. When the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa exploded in 1883, its dust turned sunsets green and the moon blue all around the world for the best part of two years. In 1927 a late monsoon in India set up conditions for a blue moon. And the moon in Newfoundland was turned blue in 1951 when huge forest fires in Alberta threw smoke particles up into the sky. Even by the mid-nineteenth century it was clear that although visually blue moons were rare, they did happen from time to time. So the phrase "once in a blue moon" came about. It meant then exactly what it means today--that an event was fairly infrequent, but not quite regular enough to pinpoint. That's meaning number four, and today it is still the main one.
From MUN Folklore & Language Archive, Memorial University of Newfoundland St John's, Newfoundland A1B 3X8 Canada