The meeting was held at the new Boxford Community Center at 10 Elm Street in Boxford, as well as via Zoom. There were 29 participants (26 in-person and 3 on Zoom). A quorum of members was present, and the Business Meeting was official.

Guests and new club members were asked to introduce themselves:

Cindy from Lowell, who likes anything in the sky since she watched E.T.
Louise from Georgetown, who is interested in anything with regard to astronomy. She fondly remembers the first time she saw Saturn at a Star Party

Officer Reports:

President – Kathi Freeman:

Kathi called for approval of the May Business Meeting Minutes, which were approved by acclamation. One member noted it was a “riveting read”.

Vice President – Justin Murray:

Justin reported no updates.

Treasurer – Ron Sampson:

Ron reported no updates.

Secretary – Tolga Yazicioglu:

Tolga reported no updates.

Membership Director – John Gall:

John was unable to attend, but provided a report to Kathi: we currently have 118 active members, 12 of whom are honorary. We have 5 new members since our last meeting.

At Large Board Members – Rob Braczyk & Rob Vincent & Matt Bowler:

Rob, Rob, and Matt were unable to attend.

Collins Observatory at Salem State – Dennis Gudzevich:

Dennis provided an update on the Collins Observatory, which has a Meade LX200 12” ACF. The observatory is typically open on clear Mondays 7pm-10pm when school is in session.

Back on 12/1 the main gear on the winch for the observatory broke (again!). Dennis reported that the Observatory is still closed, and will remain closed until the repairs can be made.

Two weeks ago Dennis and his Son went up to the Observatory to meet a vendor to look at the issues with the dome. The vendor identified that the speed reducer was broken, and the wheels on the shutter assembly have a flat spot. Trying to work through a solution; the school has no budget for repairs. Currently stuck until can get a new speed reducer (~$1200).

Star Parties – Brewster LaMacchia:

Brewster was unable to attend, but Justin noted that Summer/Fall calendar for Star Parties has been posted on the website. Justin provided a quick overview of upcoming events. Volunteers (with and without telescopes) are needed, so please sign up on the website!

Scope Clinic – Bryan Stone & Ron Sampson:

If you have anything on your telescope that you need help with, or if you need help with your telescope, Bryan & Ron can assess your scope, making recommendations, and performing some minor repairs.

Bryan gave an overview of the scope clinic, noting that the noting that the Scope Clinic has long been known as the ‘pride and joy’ of the club.

Tonight Bryan & Ron were given the privilege of working on an Orion XT6 Classic. Got a lot done - now properly collimated, and went through some other hacks the owners can do to increase the usability and ownership of the scope. Bryan cautioned them to not buy any more accessories until they can go stargazing with the club to try out members’ equipment.

Justin noted that you can contact the club with any method (Facebook, email, board member, etc.) to schedule a Scope Clinic.

Old Business:

Lifetime Honorary Memberships

In February, a Motion was made, seconded, and Approved to provide honorary memberships for anyone who has been an NSAAC member for 30+ years (not required to be continuous). Let Kathi know if you qualify and would like to take advantage of the offer.

Active Committees

Let Kathi, any BoD member, or Member at Large know if you’d like to join any of the current Club Committees:

Telescope Sales Committee
Justin provided a quick update that the committee has worked through the backlog of scopes needing to be sold. Nice work!
Young Astronomer’s Program
No updates.
Marketing & Social Media Committee
No updates.

New Business:

June Board of Directors Meeting

Next Board Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday 08 June at 8PM via Zoom. Reach out to Kathi if you’d like to attend.

Name Tags for Star Parties

Recent discussions with the BoD for name tags that would be visible, but not too bright, for Star Parties. Brewster found an option that looks very promising, that can be dimmed down with some simple resistor modifications. We can batch order these name tags from the vendor - $8 per piece. Email the BoD / Brewster if you’re interested.

Tag Team Stargazing

Bryan described “Tag Team Stargazing” which was discovered from a club in Connecticut. There are two people on each team, where the object of the game on a clear night is to try and find out which team can identify the largest number of Deep Sky objects without using any type of computer aid. No cheating and taking performance enhancers like parabolic steroids. The “Inaugural Champions” have been named (Bryan & Ron) and will take on anyone who has the guts and intestinal fortitude to challenge them. Reach out to Bryan to throw down the gauntlet.

Business Meeting was Adjourned by President Kathi Freeman at 7:55PM

Following the Business Meeting, we were joined in-person by Dr. Chris Mendillo from UMASS Lowell, who presented on PICTURE-D: A NASA Balloon Mission to Directly Image Exoplanetary Systems. The PICTURE family of sub-orbital missions has been advancing technologies to directly image exoplanets and their environments for the past 20 years.

Dr. Mendillo is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMASS Lowell an conducts exoplanet research in the Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology. He earned his ScB in physics from Brown University in 2005 and his Ph.D. in astronomy from Boston University in 2013. His primary area of research is the direct imaging of exoplanets and debris disks from space and balloon-borne observatories.

Respectfully Submitted,

Tolga Yazicioglu, Secretary

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