Second Quarter 2009 RAC Meeting Summaries
by Mark Lang

April 10, 2009 – Regular Meeting. Tonight’s presentation was “Russell W. Porter – Innovator, Designer, and Builder” by Gayle Riggsbee of the Charlotte Amateur Astronomers.  To put things into perspective in terms of today’s prices, Gayle informed us that 100 years ago it took one year’s salary to purchase a telescope.  Back then, the few manufacturers were W&D Mogey who produced medium quality scopes, Clark Telescopes which were very expensive, and Brashear Telescopes which were also expensive.  Russell W. Porter changed all that.  He was called the father of amateur astronomy in the US because in 1920 he started telescope building classes which included the grinding the mirrors.  Porter was born in 1871 in Springfield Vermont.  He studied engineering at Norwich University and the University of Vermont, but also studied architecture and art at MIT.

In Porters early years, he was an adventurer going on trips to the Artic.  Porter was interested in instruments so he became a navigator in addition to being an artist on his 6 trips.  He eventually settled in Port Clyde Maine where he went to work for his friend and fellow amateur astronomer James Hartness whose company eventually manufactured the famous garden telescopes – all bronze 6″ f/4.  In 1925, Porter wrote articles for Scientific American Magazine about telescope making.  These articles became the basis for the three volume “Amateur Telescope Making”.

In his later years, Porter met George Ellery Hale and helped him work on the 200″ telescope project.  He worked on the dome and the split ring mount.  He is famous for the cut-a-way drawings of the observatory.  Porter designed the Palomar 48″ Schmidt telescope and he also designed Griffith Observatory near Los Angeles.  His last years were spent in Pasadena California.

In the business part of the meeting, Ian Hewitt, who also ran the meeting tonight, made several announcements:  Club patches, magazine giveaway, thanks to the members who helped with the April 3 & 4 observing sessions, a potential outing to Pettigrew State Park, and the Boy Scout event in two weeks at Camp Durant.  Ian also announced that the Club now has a Facebook page and Twitter account.

It was announced that dues are due.  Also, all the current Club officers have been nominated for election again.  Any newcomer is also welcome and encouraged to run for Club office.

There was an analysis of the Club dues structure.  In a previous meeting, it was suggested that since there was a surplus of funds in the bank that dues should be reduced.  There was an accounting of Club expenses and revenues and the officers recommended that the dues not be changed.  After plenty of discussion, the group accepted the status quo.

April 24, 2009.  RACOBS meeting.  The outdoor meeting was cancelled due to potentially bad weather which really turned out to be not so bad. Only a couple of people showed up at the Museum, so the meeting was effectively cancelled.  We should have gone observing.

May 8, 2009 – Tonight there was a regular indoor meeting with Bill Webster in charge.  Since the business meeting included elections, Doug Lively agreed to give a short presentation tonight.  Thanks Doug for doing this on little advance notice!  His talk was on lunar features which included derivations of the names and quizzes for the audience.

In the business meeting, Robert Fitzgerald presented a summary of the BSA event which he coordinated.

  • There were 322 boys at the event
  • It was Featured on WUNC-TV on 5/7 on the NC Now Program
  • The RAC Segment should be posted on the web by Tues 5/12
  • Robert has received almost 1000 emails from parents thanking RAC and indicating that they thought this was great.
  • There were 10 RAC scopes there and 17 from other clubs
  • There were many pictures taken and these will be posted to the web.

Bill Webster thanked all those who participated.  Robert Fitzgerald also shared something he got at Winter Star Party.  There is some new Lunar software being released that is offering a trial/discount if ordered by the end of May.  Robert indicated that he will post this to the web.  Robert said he has seen the software and it is “very cool.”  Products include a program to tell how to pronounce the names of lunar features.  Robert  also indicated that he has a copy of the Public Television documentary “400 Years of the      Telescope”  DVD, which is available for anyone in the Club to borrow.

Bill Webster then solicited for any other nominations for club officers.  No additional nominations were received.  Bill reviewed the slate of candidates for office and a vote
was held.  All present voted yes for the candidates
.  The co-chairs are Ian Hewitt, Bill Webster, and Doug Lively.  The treasurer is Jim DellaPenna, and the Secretary is Mark Lang.

There was a discussion about the CHAOS proposal to start a star party with RAC.  There
was general agreement on to move forward with looking at doing this.  Some of the details that were discussed:

  • Location – Possibly Camp Reeves or Durant (better facilities at Durant).  Some discussion of Medoc Mt Park as a backup.
  • Timeframe – wanted to insure that we did not compete with other Star Parties (Southern Star, MASP).  General agreement that March would be the best time.
  • Length – General agreement that a long weekend/4-day format would be best for the first year.
  • Food Service – Talked about having the Scouts provide this or an outside vendor.
  • Scout Council – If we want to do something with the scouts, we need to engage right away as spring planning is underway.

Next, there was a discussion about the scheduling of RACOBS vs Indoor meetings.  It was determined that instead of deciding the RACOBS by the meeting where there was some darkness early (even if only a little), but to go by the moon phase, and then by         darkness early.  Ian Hewitt reviewed the scheduled meetings for June, Aug, September, October, and January 2010.  The group decided to exchange the dates in June and October, but leave the rest unchanged.

Frank Westmoreland made a suggestion that when leaving the message on the answering machine about the indoor meeting, we also have a note about the next observing session.  The group agreed with this suggestion.

Richard Ossowski gave a quick update on the upcoming education events, several of which are at Blue Jay Point.

[ed. note:  Thanks to Ian Hewitt and Becky Treadwell for the May 8 meeting notes.]

May 22, 2009.  RACOBS.  For the second month in a row, the weather played tricks on our outdoor observing plans.  In the afternoon, the weather looked good so the message went out that the observing session was “on”.  However, clouds came in during the evening and spoiled the session.  The meeting was cancelled.

June 12, 2009 – Regular meeting with Doug Lively in charge.  Tonight’s speakers were Club members Dean and Sue Herring.  Their presentation was “Galileo’s Italy”.  Dean and Sue had recently completed a trip sponsored by Astronomy magazine to see Galileo’s Italy.  Sue took the floor first and showed us many of the photos she took during the trip.  This included many photos of ancient Rome, the Vatican, Tuscan, and Pisa.  Astronomy magazine editor David Eicher was a member of the tour group.

Dean followed next by showing a replica of Galileo’s telescope and giving us a history lesson on its development.  The first scope was 3x, later 8x, and then 20x and 30x magnification.  It was made with two convex lenses and gave an upright image, but the image quality was poor.  Dean also brought a replica of Newton’s reflecting telescope.  Dean showed two Astronomy Magazine videos about Galileo and the invention of the telescope and what Galileo observed.  Dean also explained about the AL’s Galileo Club that he and Dick Ossowski are currently working on.  Dick showed a video about some of the other inventions by Galileo.

In the business meeting, treasurer Jim DellaPenna gave a report of the Club’s finances.  Mark Lang, standing in for Phyllis Lang the Astronomical League’s ALCOR, presented Dean Herring with his AL Deep Sky Binocular award.  Ian Hewitt gave an update on the plans for the joint star party with CHAOS, and it looks like each organization will pursue their own event.  CHAOS is working towards a public viewing probably at Eno River State Park in Durham, and RAC is hoping to have a traditional star party in March.  Bill Webster informed the group that the NC Museum of Art wants to have a public observing session in the fall at their site in west Raleigh.  Planning is ongoing for that event.  There were several items given away at the meeting including IYA bookmarks and NASA eclipse books.  The next indoor meeting will be a Club swap meet/garage sale.

June 26, 2009 – RACOBS was cancelled due to uncertain weather.  A very small group met at the Museum and discussed the upcoming swap meet scheduled for the next meeting.  The group adjourned to Fosters for food.