Chris Cole ran the meeting
14 people signed the roster
Mark Lang acting secretary
Speaker: Dr. Rachael Smith
Topic: Astronomy from the Stratosphere – Observing with EXES on SOFIA
Synopsis:
The first 30 minutes of Dr. Smith’s talk described her experience on the SOFIA aircraft itself. She took lots of photos and wore a GO-PRO camera and shared her images. She showed how the Boeing 747 was modified to house the 2.5 meter telescope in its own airtight room and how the rest of the plane was modified for the scientists. The intent of the airborne observatory is to go to the stratosphere at around 45,000 feet and get above the water vapor which limits what can be done from the ground. There were a lot of questions during this part of the talk.
In the second 30 minutes, she focused more on the science of the mission. She is observing W3IRS5 which is a proto-planetary system. The research is looking at sulfur dioxide in the system. She showed lots of charts and graph showing various chemical compounds found in star and planet forming nebulae.
In the business meeting:
All officer positions are now open. Steve Izzo will not be running for treasurer again. There were no self nominations.
Since the Museum will no longer be open on Thursday nights in the summer for Science Thursday, it looks like RAC will be using the Science Cafe but the doors will not be open after 7pm. Everyone should be one time.
Steve Izzo announced that there were no treasurer’s updates since last meeting. The club currently has 127 members.
Chris Cole announced that the next imaging meeting will focus on results from the Mercury transit of the Sun.
