B.C.A.A.S. MEETING MINUTES
September 8, 2005
President Dave Brown called the meeting to order at 7:35, with 26 in attendance.
Reflections on a great observing weekend: Several members of the club attended the Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park. The weather and seeing were terrific for the entire event, and Dave Brown won one of the door prizes.
Upcoming Events: 1) On Friday, September 9, there will be a public Star Watch at the Kaercher Creek Park, with a talk beginning at 7:00, and observing afterward. Dave Brown and Barb Geigle will give talks. 2) There will be a program for Cub Scout Pack 410 at Cornwall Terrace Elementary School beginning at 7:00 pm on Friday, September 23. Hanna Salvatore will give a talk and Barb Geigle will give a demonstration with a Night Sky Network toolkit. Volunteers are needed to bring their telescopes. If the weather is bad, there will be talks only indoors. The school is at 3100 Iroquois Avenue in West Lawn, just a few blocks off of Route 724. 3) Dave will contact Mike Brown to schedule a public Mars Watch at Blue Marsh Lake on November 5 at 6:30 pm. 4) Ron Kunkel will be giving two talks for the Schuylkill Valley Schools at Camp Mead on September 27 and 29. There won’t be any observing. 5) The Lehigh Valley Club is having their annual Megameet, which is a free, no-frills star party at Pulpit Rock, September 30 to October 2. A flyer was handed out. Everyone is invited to attend. For details and directions, check their website, www.lvaas.net.
Old Business: Dave apologized for the confusion regarding the August 26 Star Watch at Blue Marsh Lake. As the sky had clouded over at 5, he assumed the event would be held on the rain date the next night. However, 15-18 people still showed up. Fortunately, Mike Bashore was there and gave an impromptu talk. Hugh thanks to Mike!!
Treasurer’s Report: Linda reported a balance of $9,228.59. She distributed the first order of Astronomy Calendars. She will be sending in another order shortly – if anyone wants a calendar, please contact her immediately. The price is now $6.50. Linda also announced that her father, Clarence, is in the hospital. He had a stroke, and is undergoing rehabilitation. She passed a card around for everyone to sign.
FYI: Dave noted that a possible 10th planet has been discovered, designated 2003 UB313. It is 97 AU from the Sun with a 560 year orbit. It is 1 ½ times the size of Pluto. He also noted that the SETI screensaver program has 5,436,301 users accounting for 2,376,325 years of CPU time.
Night Sky Network Teleconference: Barb announced that there will be a Teleconference on September beginning at 9:00 pm, with Dr. Steven Squyres. Dr. Squyres is the Chief Scientist for the twin Mars Rovers program. After his talk, participants will have a chance to ask questions. Any time after 8:45 pm you can call the toll-free number, 1-877-917-1549. An operator will ask you for the passcode, “Night Sky Network”, and you will be asked to give your name, your club name, and the number of people listening with you. You might also be asked for the call leader, Michael Greene. All club members are welcome to participate. There is no PowerPoint to download. Barb also noted that she has copies of the September/October issue of the magazine “Night Sky” available.
Presentations: Dave read an article printed in the paper “Fishwrapper” entitled “Did God Create Evil” that was written by Albert Einstein. After the break, Dr. John Loomis, who is retired from Kutztown University, gave a program on the history of cosmology. Filled with amusing anecdotes, his talk was very entertaining and informative.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Geigle, Secretary