Co-chairman Mike Mantini hosted the meeting at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, 4th Floor ECC room. 29 members and visitors attended. The evening’s presentation was “Observing Galaxy Evolution at Intermediate Redshifts” by NC State Senior Mia De Los Reyes. A recording of the talk can be viewed on the RAC YouTube Channel, or directly, here.
1.Co-Chair Phyllis Lang talked about RAC’s ongoing education series at the museum. On a monthly basis a RAC volunteer delivers a presentation aimed for the general public. If anyone would like to help present at these sessions or would like to present a new topic, please email [email protected].
2. Speaking slots for general meetings have only been filled for another month or two. The club is looking for members to give talks. For more information or to get on the calendar, email [email protected].
3. Steve Izzo gave the treasurer’s report. Many members have not paid dues. After March 31 unpaid members may be removed from the roll. The club has $1022 in the checking and 13547 in the savings, plus $540 in the special purpose account.
4. Outreach/Observing committee provided an update. Mike Mantini discussed an outreach event at Douglas Elementary and Matt Lochansky spoke of an event at Sycamore Creek Elementary. There are upcoming private outreach events at Abbott’s Creek ES April 13, New School Montessori April 19, and Earth Day @ IBM April 21. We are always looking for volunteers to help coordinate these smaller events.
April 8-9 is the Statewide Star Party. RAC has two events April 8. Doug Lively is coordinating an event at Prairie Ridge Ecostation. The rain date for this event is April 9. Ron Monti is coordinating an event at Annie Wilkerson Nature Park.
Signups for these events are through the website. Go to the event page and find the volunteer signup.
5. Nominations for officer positions will be held in May and elections in June.
6. The club may need to start looking at alternatives to Big Woods for our observing. The site has lost darkness over the year and while the relationship with the forest service that manages the site remains strong, there is worry that can change quickly. More events at Howell Woods was mentioned as an alternative. It offers indoor facilities and other favorable conditions. The primary negative is distance for many members.
7. The imaging group is continuing their beginner series. The past two meetings focused on equipment and how to take images. The next meeting will discuss image processing. The imaging group is also running a morning/afternoon session April 16 for help processing images in PixInsight, a very popular program for astrophotographers. Information went out by email for this event.
