First Quarter 2010 Meeting Summaries
by Mark Lang

Jan. 8, 2010 – RACOBS – A group of  10 very hardy members and a couple of visitors headed out to the Lake.  The weather conditions were brutal – cold, windy, and some clouds.  Some observing happened during holes in the clouds, but by 9:30 everyone had left due to the bad conditions.

Jan. 22, 2010 – Regular meeting.  Filmaker Stephen van Vuuren from Greensboro, talked with the Club about how he is making an IMAX movie called “Outside In” in his basement.  The film is being made entirely from still photographs, mostly from NASA but he is interested in most any image he can get his hands on.  The film is about “why explore space” and will go from the Big Bang to the present day.  He has been working on the project since 2004 and hopes to have it ready to show in a couple of years.  There is no narration or dialog.  Stephen describes the film as almost 3D.   He is using innovative techniques to create almost full motion video from the still photos.  He already has commitments from several theaters to show the movie when complete.  There were a lot of questions from the membership.  If you would like to know more about his project, visit his website at:  http://www.outsideinthemovie.com.

In the business part of the meeting, Jim DellaPenna gave a detailed expense report on the Club’s finances.  Jim also reported that in 2009 the Club lost 35 previous members but gained 49 new members.  There was discussion of the upcoming Astronomy Days on Jan. 30 and 31.  Ian Hewitt announced there would be a Club observing event in March, probably on the 13th.  There is a good chance it will be a Messier Marathon, but other suggestions are welcome.  It was announced that the annual Tri-Star event in Greensboro will be on March 6th.

Feb. 6, 2010 – Astronomy Day.  Due to snow and sleet, the Jan. 30-31 Astronomy Days at the Museum of Natural Sciences was postponed to Feb. 6.  In addition, due to logistical reasons, the event was shorted to one day from two.  A somewhat smaller crowd of 6700 people attended.  Part of this may have been due to the fact that this was a year round school snow make-up day.  Also, Club turnout was smaller than usual because quite a few RAC members were down in the Florida Keys for the Winter Star Party.  Even with limited help, the Club pulled off this event admirably.  Steve Izzo and Mike Malaska each had talks in the main auditorium.  Sadly, all the planned NASA exhibits were missing due to the change in dates.  Thanks to all Club members who helped make Astronomy Day a success.  Here is the list of exhibits:

Discover Amateur Astronomy

The Solar System

Telescopes on Display

Bring Back the Night

The Speed of Light

Our Sun’s Nearest Neighbors

Astrophotography

Thermal imaging

Ancient Navigational Instruments

Your Age and Weight on Other Planets

Solar System Imaging

Internet Astronomy

Since it was cloudy with snow flurries, there was no solar observing on the plaza.

Feb. 12, 2010 – RACOBS was again clouded out this time by snow!  Since the conditions were due to get bad, the indoor meeting was also cancelled.