RAC Indoor Meeting Minutes 5/29/2026

Attendance 

  • In-person: 19
  • Zoom: 7

Date: May 29, 2026

Co-Chair: Dana Bostic

Special Announcements:

  • Budget Announced.  See Treasure’s Report below for details.
  • Officer Nominations announced.
    • Nominations will be accepted up to the June 26 indoor meeting vote. Please get them in as soon as possible to be added to the ballet.
    • Current Nominations:
      • Co-chairs: Dana Bostic, Blair Groden, Susan Herring
      • Treasurer: Steve Izzo
      • Secretary: Ann Murphy
  • Still time to nominate someone for an Officer position.

Next Meeting:

  • Approve Budget
  • Vote for Officers.

Meeting Presentation: 

Meeting Topic: The Astronomical League’s (AL) Programs Explained with a RAC Showcase

Speaker: Dean F. Herring

Meeting Description: Each Observing Program is designed not only to show you a variety of objects in the sky and to learn some science related to those objects, but to also familiarize you with night-sky navigation (the ability to find the objects in the vastness of space) and to learn some observing techniques that will enhance your viewing of the objects in the programs.

Astronomical League Report:

ALCOR AL Awards:

Awards for the May 29th RAC indoor meeting:

New/Holdovers:

  • Eric Allain – Lunar Eyes Only – Cert
  • Eric Allain – Lunar (Telescope) – Cert and Pin
  • Mohammad Adan Asif – Binocular Messier – Cert and Pin
  • Dean F Herring – Multiple Star OP – Cert and Pin
  • Mustafa M. Asif – Lunar Eyes Only – Cert

Dean’s AL Messier/Caldwell Monthly Challenge for 2026

  • Bethany Bennett – March/April (sent)
  • Blair Groden – April
  • Doug Lively – February
  • Chris Wittum – March

Hubble 35th Gold Laminated Certificate and Pin

  • Al Hamrick

Upcoming Events:

  • June 4 – The Hartwell
  • June 5 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor)
  • June 10 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh)
  • June 12 – RACOBS
  • June 20 – The Beginner’s Gateway to the Night Sky: Mastering the Binocular Messier Challenge” (RAC Class)
  • June 26 – Indoor Meeting with pre-meeting Social, voting for officers, and approving the budget.

Treasurer’s Report:

  • Memberships:
    • RAC memberships: 502
    • Cancelled Memberships: 0
    • Admin memberships: 1
    • TOTAL memberships: 503
  • Financials:
    • Checking: $845.43
    • Savings: $30,907.89
    • Special Purpose: $0.66
  • Budget announced for next meeting.  Next meeting, the budget will be voted on.
  • Items Changing:
    • Loaner Scope is $600/yr = $50/month   so change to $1200/year = $100/month
    • Social is currently $300/yr = $75/quarter  so change to $600/yr = $150/quarter
    • Astro League dues will be way up this year as the Membership total is already at 505.  Current dues needing payment by June 30th will be $3042.00 which is about $800.00 more than last year.
    • If we continue on this path we will break the 600 account max which will force purchasing the next MembershipWorks tier (1200 accounts) which is ~1400/yr basically double our current cost.

Outreach Report

The Outreach report is online:

https://raleighastro.org/blog/2026/05/03/rac-outreach-committee-report-april-2026/ is up-to-date regarding upcoming events, except that the Hartwell event was postponed to June 4.

  • April 11 – Wild Ideas Expo (with TLC) (Raleigh)
  • April 20 – Wake County 4-H Dark Sky Discovery Night (Raleigh)
  • April 20 – Girl Scout Troop 882 (Raleigh)
  • April 22 – Apex Friendship ES STEM Night (Apex)
  • April 24 – Statewide Star Party: American Tobacco Trail (Apex)
  • April 24 – Statewide Star Party: White Deer Park (Garner)
  • April 24 – Statewide Star Party: Imagination Station (Wilson)
  • April 28 – Durham County East Regional Library (Durham)
  • April 29 – Granville Academy Science Night (Creedmoor) – Cancelled due to weather
  • April 30 – Lincoln Heights Magnet ES (Fuquay-Varina

Upcoming Events:

  • May 7 – Martin Magnet Middle School (Raleigh
  • May 7 – The Hartwell (Raleigh)
  • May 12 – Martin Magnet Middle School (Raleigh
  • May 15 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor)
  • May 16 – James Creek Cider House (Cameron)
  • May 28 – Sycamore Creek Elementary School STEAM Night (Raleigh)

Safety:

Members interested in First Aid/CPR/AED training can register themselves by finding a convenient class here:

https://www.redcross.org/local/north-carolina/take-a-class/cpr-raleigh-nc

Loaner Scope Report

Available Checked Out In for Repair Available
Cassegrains 7 4 2
Dobsonians 6 0 6
Maksutovs 3 0 2
Refractors 1 0 1
Binoculars 2 0 2
Accessories 18 5 34
Outreach 3 0 3

Education Committee Report:

Next Class scheduled for:

  • Topic: The Beginner’s Gateway to the Night Sky: Mastering the Binocular Messier Challange
  • Date: June 20, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM
  • Place: Cherry Building + Zoom

Webmaster Report – No Updates

Web team Report: No Updates

Committee Reports

Social Events

SAVE THE DATE!

  • RAC Fall Picnic: Saturday September 5, 2026.
  • More details to follow.

Social Media: No Updates

A/V – No Updates

Imaging Report

  • Venus Lunar Occultation
    • ~15:45 – 17:15LT (Daytime)
    • 70deg – 68deg

    BE CAREFUL!  The sun will be about 35deg away.

  • Upcoming Topics
    • June: Transits, Grazes, Occultations
    • July: Globular Blitz

Key-Holders Report 

  • Application for Big Woods Key Holders Now Open
  • Email was sent out on May 28th with information and links to forms to fill out.
  • The application process will remain open until July 31, 2026.

Socialize after the meeting at Sammy’s.