The Celestial Observer
October, 2003
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From the President
It is a stroke of rare good fortune that this year’s
Mars apparition, seized upon so enthusiastically by the press, will be followed
in such quick succession by planets we know to be far more visually striking
(if not so celebrated in popular fiction). I expect that there will be few
headlines about Saturn next month, or Jupiter shortly thereafter, but wait
until the owners of some of those record numbers of new telescopes purchased
over the past few months get a peek at what else the autumn sky has in store.
Like most of you, I’ve been really impressed with
the numbers of people who’ve come out to see Mars through some of our scopes at
the various observing forums, formal and informal, that NSAAC members have been
participating in. At one lightly-publicized public viewing in Rockport we set
up three scopes and over 150 people turned out, many with children in tow, for
a look at Mars. Early in the evening the moon looked a lot better than Mars
did, but there was a kind of cosmic justice at work, since the people who
waited the longest at the back of the long lines were rewarded with the best
views. I had never seen lines like that. I had expected 25 people; I know that
other similar events were similarly overwhelmed.
The thought comes to mind, of course, that we
shouldn’t let this opportunity pass. We have a wonderful chance to keep some of
this public enthusiasm for astronomy going over the course of the next few
months by helping support the club’s scheduled star parties. We should do all
we can to prolong the current public interest in astronomy, so if you haven’t
made the effort yet, give it a try -- get out there and let someone else look
through your scope for an hour or two.
If you haven’t been noting the times and places of upcoming star
parties, contact Jim Foy at starparties@nsaac.org and he’ll be glad to fill you
in on the current schedule.
Our next business meeting is October 3rd; I hear that the entertainment that night will be especially uplifting, and I hope to see you there.
Mike Deneen
President
COME-ON to the OCTOBER GO-ON!!
Come one come all to the next star-star studded GO-ON, Friday,
October 17th on ... you guessed it ... DOUBLE STARS!!
The session will be led by Mike Townsend
of the NH Amateur Astronomy Club (possible joined by one of his colleagues ...
so we have double leaders, of course). They are well known double star
experts in our area and will act as our guides as we learn about the
importance of double stars in the early development of modern astronomy.
We'll have the opportunity to view a number of doubles through various
equipment (our own and theirs) and learn techniques for splitting the hard ones
as well as measuring their separation and position angle.
So save October 17th for this exciting
event (cloud date will be October 24th), and while you're at it save November
21st for the following GO-ON. More details to follow.
Hope to see you there.
The GO-ON Committee
(Chris Nicholl,
New Members
Toni
P. Dusseault of Rowley dusseault@comcast.net
Nick LaPlaca of
David Nochella of
James Officer of
Andrew Lyons of
Business Meeting Minutes for the
September, 2003 Meeting of the
President Deneen called the September Business
Meeting of the NSAAC to order at
Committee Reports:
Secretary: The minutes
of the August Business Meeting were approved as written.
Treasurer: The
treasurer’s report was approved as presented.
Upcoming Events:
Annual birdseed day at IRWS is scheduled for
Saturday November 1, from
Star Parties: There
will be a Star party at the
Unfinished Business: Motion was made to accept the board
recommendation as presented in last month’s newsletter to change the definition
of a quorum from a fixed number of 15 members to 10 percent of the active
membership. Motion was unanimously approved.
New Business: Membership
director Barrie Sawyer indicted that there were 5 new members.
Treasurer Ackert mentioned that Sky and Telescope is
increasing the subscription price of its magazine to $32.95. He needs five people to renew Astronomy
magazine during the month of September.
We need five people to renew at $29.00.
Program: Jim Amirault
gave a video presentation of his visit to Starfest last year in
Next Board meeting was set for Wednesday the 17th
of September.
Meeting adjourned at
Respectively
submitted,
Star
Party News
Our first star party is October 3 and 4 at
The
second star party is
Driving
directions to Vining School
Route 93 to 128 South to Route 3 North. Route 3 North to the
Star parties
scheduled to date
October 3 or 4 -
October 7 -
October 27 - Vining Elementary School
November 8 - IRWS – evening lunar eclipse
observations
November 15 - Castle Hill,
February 24 –
Jim Foy
NSAAC Picnic Summary
The 2003 NSAAC annual picnic was held on
Respectfully Submitted,
Dennis Gudzevich
Talk for October
We are changing the way that we are scheduling talks
to end some of the conflicts that we’ve had lately with outdoor events and clear
skies. Speakers from within our club are now only required to give their talks
if there are no events scheduled outside or if the night sky isn’t drawing
members outside on an irresistibly clear night. They may, of course, still give
their talks if they wish. Any speakers from outside the club will continue to
give their talks on their scheduled nights. We can’t ask them to forego their
talks for an observing session.
With that in mind, our speaker this month will be
Michael Deneen. Some of you may have heard of him. I’ve heard rumors that he
holds some office within our club. His talk is entitled: Mapping the Galaxy
with Star Clusters. The intro to his talk is as follows:
We know that our solar system is located on the
outer fringes of the Milky Way galaxy, and that the center of our galaxy is
located in the southern sky, near Sagittarius. How do we know this? This
evening's presentation will address the role that some of the most stunning
objects in the summer sky played in the mapping of the Milky Way. We will learn
about globular clusters, Cepheid variables, women astronomers, Harlow Shapley,
and an interesting cast of other characters
Please make every effort to attend this talk. It
will demonstrate to you how we try to interest people in the hobby of astronomy
at some of our star parties.
As a postscript, I am still looking for more
volunteers to speak at future general meetings about their scopes and other
astronomical subjects. The scope talks don’t have to be positive reviews. You
can talk about a scope you really hate. The purpose of these talks will be to
acquaint other members of the club with different scopes, binoculars, or scope
projects, so that they can make an informed decision as to whether they wish to
acquire, or make, one for themselves. We also accept volunteers to speak on
other topics, such as mounts, CCDs, photographic techniques, astronomy trips,
the ten things that got them interested in astronomy, etc. Giving a talk can be
a lot of fun. In addition, I’m looking for non-members willing to do a talk on
astronomy related subjects. If you know of anyone, please contact me at (781)
438-7375, or at dgudzevich@comcast.net, or at the general business meetings.
Dennis Gudzevich
Program Coordinator
Magazine Renewals
Astronomy Magazine Renewals:
All members whishing to renew their subscriptions to Astronomy magazine through
the club must do so during September and October. The discount renewal price is
$29.00. Your year subscription will be added onto your current last issue date.
Contact
Discovering Black Holes - Online
Course- 13 October - 07 December 2003
http://www.allearn.org/catalog.jsp?g=141
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click on the following URL:
http://www.allearn.org/catalog.jsp?g=141
Should
you wish to use this URL on your website please contact me via return email or
on my direct phone line on + 44 1865 286966.
With best wishes, Jeanette
McLoughlin, Project Officer
Getting to Veasey
Memorial Park
From Interstate 95 north, take the Route 133 west (54B)
exit, and follow it into
Better yet, visit our Web Site at: http://www.nsaac.org.