Raleigh Astronomy Club 2008 Meeting Summaries
By Mark Lang

Jan. 11, 2008 – RACOBS was clouded out, so an indoor meeting was held.  A 20 minute long NASA video called “The Saturn Essays” was shown.  It included many stunning photos accompanied by music.  See:  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/cassini-essay-4/index-flash.html.  After the video, a discussion was held about the 2008 Astronomy Days.

Jan. 25, 2008 – Regular meeting night, but a special Astronomy Days presentation was given in the main museum auditorium.  Ian Hewitt ran the meeting.  Sanlyn Buxner from NASA gave a talk entitled “Touching Water Ice on Mars”.  Ms. Buxner is with the University of Arizona.  She discussed how the Mars Odyssey orbiter using gamma ray spectroscopy, detected the presence of water ice on Mars.  The Phoenix lander will follow up on those observations by digging in the soil to recover samples which will be analyzed by onboard instruments.  She also explained how the HiRISE orbiter helped find a suitable landing site for Phoenix.  Sanlyn showed some cool NASA videos that showed the launch, landing, and operation of Phoenix.

No business meeting was held since this was a special meeting.

Feb. 8, 2008 – RACOBS.  A nice crowd showed up at the BigWoods observing site.  About a dozen members with scopes  set up, and several guests without scopes came out.  About 10:00 the skies started getting cloudy which started running people off.  Some die-hards  stayed until 1:30am.

Feb. 20, 2008 –  A total lunar eclipse viewing was held at North Cary Park.  Early clouds probably prevented a large turnout, but even so about 30 people showed up.  Ten club members with scopes showed up to entertain and inform the guests.  In addition to the eclipsed moon, Saturn and it’s moons were shown.

Feb. 22, 2008 – Regular meeting with Bill Webster in charge.  Dr. Steven Reynolds from N.C. State University talked to us about “The Remnant of Kepler’s Supernova”.  Dr. Reynolds has recently been in the news and scientific publications about his work with Kepler’s Supernova.  In 1604 Kepler observed a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus.  Until very recently it was not clear which type this supernova was.  Dr. Reynolds and his team have proven that it was a new type 1a as opposed to a core collapse type supernova.  Long observing runs on the Chandra X-ray satellite produced data that led to the conclusions.  Dr. Reynolds told us about the different types of supernova especially those which produce lots of neutrons like SN 1987a.

In the business part of the meeting:

  • Richard Ossowski our education coordinator spoke about our public outreach needs.
  • A discussion was held about stopping the publication of the RAC Star Newsletter due to lack of input by members and continually rising expenses.  It was decided to stop the paper version and move to a online presence using the RAC website.
  • An extensive discussion was had about the 2008 Astronomy Days.  Although the event was again a success, a number of members were unhappy the event was more about space and less about astronomy.  The group discussed ways for more members to become involved in the planning process.  Ideas for new displays for next year were discussed.

Mar. 14, 2008 – Regular meeting with Ian Hewitt in charge.  Professor Gerald Cecil from the University of North Carolina gave a talk entitled “Achieving the Vision for Space Exploration – On-time and On-budget”.  Dr. Cecil’s talk focused mainly on rocket boosters.  He spoke of the Ares 1 and 5 boosters as the vehicle for the Orion capsule moon mission.  He also discussed the Altair lunar lander.  He characterized the mission as “Apollo on steroids”.  Using a series of slides, he showed the various boosters being considered by NASA, telling us of their pros and cons.  He also talked about the serious budget problems at NASA and how it would affect development and testing of the rockets.  In addition to moon missions, Dr. Cecil also potential missions to Mars and Jupiter such as the “Direct to Jupiter” program and the “space elevator” concept.

In the business meeting:

  • It was announced that Bob Melvin, founder of the RAC in the early 1980s had died in a car crash in Hawaii.
  • Jim DellaPenna gave a treasurer’s report.
  • Richard Ossowski gave an education update.
  • Ian Hewitt gave a RAC apparel update.  He announced that a link on the members only part of the web site can be used to order anytime you want.  No more bulk orders.
  • Michael Keefe is now the coordinator of all the RAC loaner telescopes.
  • Brian Reasor announced that this year’s Messier Marathon is being rescheduled to April 5.
  • In the museum meeting room, we are now back to using the projector rather than the large TV in the room.  It was hard to see and hear some presentation from the back of the room.

Mar. 28, 2008 –  RACOBS.  Cloudy weather forced a short informal meeting at the Museum.

Apr. 11, 2008 – Regular meeting with Ian Hewitt in charge.  Dr. Dan Reichart of the UNC Dept. of Physics and Astronomy was our speaker.  This was somewhat of an unusual meeting because Dr. Reichart led us in some live remote viewing of southern hemisphere objects.  Prior to the viewing, Dan gave an overview of the “Skynet robotics telescope network”.   He also discussed the SOAR telescopes, the Prompt telescopes, and a quick review of gamma ray bursts.  He then gave us a SkyNet demo while discussing queue scheduling.  Dr. Reichard slewed the telescopes with the attached CCD cameras to the object in the southern skies.  This was all done with a computer showing its video on the overhead projector.  We got to see in real time, the galaxy Centarus A, M42, the spindle galaxy, the Tarantula Nebula, the Southern Pinwheel, and by special request from the audience – Omega Centauri.

In the business meeting:

  • Phyllis Lang presented Brian Reasor with his Astronomical League Messier certificate.  Brian sketched all objects.
  • Nominations
    for Club officers were opened.  Election time is nearing.

April 25, 2008 – RACOBS was held at both the Morris Observatory site and the BigWoods site.

May 9, 2008 – Regular meeting with Bill Webster in charge.  Tonight’s program was given by two Enloe High School students in Vonnie Hick’s honors astronomy class – Jenna Jordan and Reba Hodge.   Using the Prompt 2 telescopes on Cerro Tololo Chile, Jenna and Reba were involved in a project to determine the spectral class of a star.   Using various filters including narrow band OII, RBG and luminosity, they took before and after photos and were able to determine the correct spectral class by using Wein’s law.  The girls also showed us some of their Trifid and Lagoon nebula images.

In the business meeting:

  • Dean Herring was awarded his AL Planetary award.
  • Education coordinator Dick Ossowski reviewed recent outings for schools and other groups.
  • Jim DellaPenna gave a treasurer’s report.  We currently have 41 family memberships and 78 individual memberships for a total of 119 memberships.

May 23, 2008 – RACOBS.  Bad weather prevented an outdoor observing session so an informal meeting was held at the Museum.  Mark Lang gave a slide presentation showing his recent trip to the North East Astronomy Forum (NEAF) in Suffern NY with Phyllis.  It was astro-gear lover’s heaven.

June 13, 2008 – Regular meeting with Ian Hewitt presiding.  Tonight’s talk was “Dark Energy and Other Mysteries” by Dr. Rich Hammond from UNC.  Dr. Hammond is the author of the book “The Unknown Universe”.    Dr. Hammond talked extensively on dark matter.  He covered what dark matter is or is not – WIMPS?, Machos?, black holes?, axions?, Jupitors? – and questioned whether the theory of gravity is wrong.  He talked about where to find dark matter – in galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and colliding galaxies all across the cosmos.  Dr. Hammond also discussed the dark energy problem.  To see his theories that explain the unknown expansion of the universe see:  http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.1277.

In the business meeting:

  • Elections – no new nominations for Club office were received so the current slate of officers were elected by acclimation.  They are the co-chairs Bill Webster, Ian Hewitt, and Doug Lively, secretary Mark Lang, and treasurer Jim DellaPenna.
  • Astronomical League observing awards were presented to Dean Herring for the Herschel II list, and Ian Hewitt for Double Stars.

June 27, 2008 – RACOBS was cancelled due to poor weather.  A short meeting was held at the Museum.

July 11, 2008 – Regular meeting with Ian Hewitt in charge.  Tonight’s program was “Using Deep-Sky Planner to Plan and Log Your Observations” by software author and publisher Phyllis Lang.  With computer and projector, Phyllis showed how to effectively use her DSP software with an emphasis on imaging.  This included how to plan your observations – what and when.  She showed us how her software links to planetarium programs like The Sky and how to effectively log what you see or photograph.  There were a lot of requests from the audience to show how to do planning or find various objects.

In the business meeting:

  • Key RAC members (not officers) were recognized for their contributions to the Club
  • The Rene Ward memorial fund was discussed.  How and when would the money be spent?
  • A review of the redesigned RAC website was given.  There is now the ability to have blogs, online articles, etc.
  • A report was given about the meeting with the 4H people and potentially using some of their sites for dark sky observing.  Recent fires on the NC coast have put most of this on hold.
  • The group was polled about finding new dark sky sites that were hopefully no more than 90 miles from Raleigh.  So far, no sites have been found and there is no consensus from the group about overnight stays, etc.
  • Astronomy Days – preliminary planning meeting are coming up soon.
  • A discussion was started about whether the Club should become an IDA member.  The conclusion was yes.
  • Since the property where the Morris Observatory is built has been sold, a discussion was started about looking for a new site before it was too late.  The Morris Observatory committee will address these issues.
  • The Observatory itself is still down due to mechanical problems, so it will be unavailable for the next RACOBS.
  • The group was reminded that an imaging sub-group meeting will be next Friday.

July 25, 2008 – RACOBS was held at the Jordan Lake BigWoods site.  About 15 people showed up on a night where the Milky Way was dimly visible (pretty good for July in NC).

Aug. 8, 2008 – Regular Meeting.  This meeting consisted of short topics from members.  The first topic was presented by Don Morris and Dan Lamson.  They presented a slide show of their recent trip to the Stellafane star party in Vermont.  Next up was Jim DellaPenna.  He demonstrated his new Hotech laser collimator.  Finally, Chuck Jaynes demonstrated the new features of the RAC website.  Chuck is the webmaster and had a lively Q&A session with members about its function.

In the business meeting:

  • A long discussion was had about the fate of the Morris Observatory.  A number of recommendations were made by the Morris Observatory committee and voted on by the Club.  They were:
    • Close the Observatory – approved
    • Dispose of the building in an appropriate manner – approved
    • Return the 24 inch mirror to the City of Raleigh – not approved in current form.  Study to see if the mirror has historical significance (see Sky and Telescope April 1960 letters to the editor and September 1960 want ads page 168) .

Aug. 22, 2008 – Special meeting instead of RACOBS.  Even though tonight was supposed to be a RACOBS night, two things helped convince us to cancel RACOBS prematurely.  One was Tropical Storm Fay which was putting lots of high clouds in the southeastern US skies, and the other was limited darkness times due to an early moonrise for Friday anyway.   The other was a surprise visitor in Raleigh this week – Dr. Colin Cox, father of Susannah Cox a co-worker of Mark Lang at the NC Dept. of Justice.

Dr. Cox works for the Space Telescope Science Institute as a senior scientific analyst.  He explained his primary job was working on the images returned from the Hubble Telescope.  It turns out that Hubble imaging works a lot like the CCD imaging we amateurs d
o – light frames,  flats, darks, and bias frames, then use specialized software to  produce a photo that is published.  All the photos Dr. Cox used can be found on the Hubble Heritage Project site at http://heritage.stsci.edu/.

Using his Mac computer and a projector, Dr. Cox showed the group multitudes of stunning Hubble images taken over the years. Most notably to me were many beautiful shots of planetary nebulae.  Also he showed photos of the light echo from V838 Monocerotis, a number of gravitational lens photos, and one incredible movie of Saturn’s moon rotating around the planet and rings.  There was extensive question and answer session where topics like the age and expansion of the universe were discussed and the future of the Hubble itself.

For a talk that came together in less than a week, the RAC had a record turnout for our normal meeting room.  Seventy one people signed the roster, and I’m sure there were a few more that were present.   We were joined by several members of the Wayne Co. Astronomy Club including Lisa Corbett who helped arrange the visit with Dr. Cox.

After the break, Bob Flook came in to discuss last year’s Astronomy Days at the museum.

Sept. 12, 2008 – Regular meeting with Doug Lively in charge. Tonight’s meeting was an Astronomy Days planning meeting.  Doug displayed a Powerpoint slide presentation and opened the meeting for discussion.  First topic was the current exhibits and what can be done to improve them.  Next up was a call for suggestions for new exhibits, i.e. what would the members like to do.  Finally, the group was asked about overall improvement of the event.

In the business meeting:

  • Jim DellaPenna gave a treasurers report.
  • The group adjourned to Rockola Café for a late evening snack and fellowship.

Sept. 26, 2008 – RACOBS was clouded out and only a few people showed up at the museum.  The meeting was quickly adjourned and most participants headed out to a local restaurant. Some went home to watch the presidential debate.

Oct. 10, 2008 – Regular meeting with Ian conducting.  Mark and Phyllis Lang gave a slide show of the inaugural Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show (PATS) held in Pasadena California.  To start, Mark showed photos he took while touring the Mount Wilson Observatories in the mountains near Pasadena.  He managed to get some shots of the 100 inch Hooker telescope.  The rest of the presentation showed the new things for sale by the vendors at PATS.  New telescopes, CCD cameras, and accessories were shown.  Mark also described the imaging conference held by Tony Hallas as part of the PATS conference.

In the business meeting:

  • Jerry Watson put together a historical video on the Morris Observatory.  He called it “A Wake for Morris Observatory”.
  • Phyllis Lang showed off the new Sky Quality Meter and the free software she wrote that  automatically reads the meter at predefined intervals.

Oct. 24, 2008 – RACOBS was clouded out.  A short meeting was held at the Museum and the main topic of discussion was the new Durham “light sculpture”.

Nov. 11, 2008 – A special meeting of the RAC and CHAOS was held at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill.  The meeting was to discuss joint plans for the International Year of Astronomy.  After the discussions, there was some viewing through the 24″ telescope and some remote viewing from Chile.

Nov. 14, 2008 – Regular meeting with Ian Hewitt in charge.  Tonight’s talk was “The future of Ground Based Astronomy in the US” by Dr. Andy Clegg of the National Science Foundation.  The NSF is a six billion dollar agency which funds many observatories in the US.   In addition to showing us the observatories currently funded by the NSF (NRO, VLA, Greenbank, VLBA, Arecibo, Kitt Peak, Cerro Tololo, Gemini North, and the Dunn Solar Scope) he gave us a tour of the new observatories that are either in construction now or are on the drawing board (Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile, Advanced Technology Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope in Chile, the Square Kilometer Array, and the Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope).  As a side note, there was a space shuttle launch during the talk, so Andy suspended his talk for a few minutes and we watched the liftoff live via the Internet on the big screen TV in the room.

In the business meeting:

  • Jim DelllaPenna gave a treasurer’s report.  He also reported that we now have 142 memberships.
  • The RAC is now a member of the IDA.
  • There will be no RACOBS meeting on November 28th if the weather is bad.
  • Steve Izzo announced he needs astroimage prints for Astronomy Days.
  • The RAC Yahoo! Groups will be the new home of our photo gallery.  We have limited space on the old server and will be moving to the new server soon.
  • Doug Lively announced a new Yahoo! Groups mailing list for Astronomy Days planning.  The next planning meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19.
  • There will be a multi-night observing session for the Boy Scouts at Camp Reeves in April 2009.  Robert Fitzgerald is heading up this effort.

Nov. 28, 2008 – RACOBS was clouded out and since the Museum was closed for the holidays, no meeting was held.

Dec. 12, 2008 – Regular meeting with Doug Lively presiding.  Tonight, Club member Jerry Watson gave the program which he titled “Alternative Atmospheres – Intriguing Meteorology of Other Planets”.   Jerry, our resident retired professor of Meteorology at NCSU, gave another installment of his excellent “meteorology on other planets” series of talks.  Tonight, he focused on Mars, Saturn, and Titan.  With the Phoenix lander still on Mars, Jerry detailed the site location of Phoenix, gave a survey of the meteorology instruments on the spacecraft, and showed images of dust devils and snow then talked about the winds, and very cold temperatures at the landing site.  Using Cassini data and images, Jerry showed us the hexagonal polar vortices on Saturn as well as the yellow sunlit clouds and the blue cold clouds at the poles.  Finally Jerry discussed Titan which is the only moon with a significant atmosphere.  He showed the purple haze in the atmosphere and the ethane based weather cycle there.  He talked about the methane in the atmosphere which is predominantly nitrogen.

In the business meeting:

  • Bob Flook of the Museum staff gave us a museum’s perspective of what will happen in January’s Astronomy Days.  He warned of parking restrictions due to budget shortfalls.  He also announced talks by Dr. Frank Summers and a science café
    talk by Dr. Steve Reynolds.
  • Steve Goodman gave an update on the Boy Scout’s involvement in Astronomy Days as well as the camporee at Camp Durant in April.

Dec. 26, 2008 – RACOBS was clouded out.   Due to the holidays, no alternative meeting was scheduled.