Club Reports

Oct. 8, 2010  RACOBS.  Weather cooperated so an outdoor observing session was held at BigWoods.  There were 14 RAC members and 6 visitors present.  Some Club members were at the Mid-Atlantic Star Party which held down attendance somewhat.  Sky conditions were good allowing nice views of the planets and deep sky objects.  One highlight of the evening was a transit of Io across Jupiter. Nov. 12, 2010 RACOBS.  A crowd of around 20 people with around a dozen scopes showed…

RAC Treasurer’s Report Dated 9/19/2010 Regular checking account activity since 8/27/2010: Two checks totaling $194.37 were made as follows: $67.03 to Doug Lively for the 8/27 speaker dinner. $127.34 to Chuck Jaynes for annual Ipower website service fees. No deposits were made. Regular checking account balance————————–$3,465.20 Spec. Purpose checking account balance———————–$10.00 Savings account balance———————————–$8,488.65 Total all funds on hand———————————-$11,963.85

(I Apologize for the delay in posting this. -Ian) Meeting was called to order at 7pm.  Attendees:             Ian Hewitt             Doug Lively             Michael Keefe             Jim Dellapenna             Mark Lang Officer Meeting Minutes – There was unanimous agreement among the officers that these would be published to all members after all officers meetings. Speakers/Meetings – There was a brief discussion concerning speakers.  Ian reminded the group  that there are 12 Regular Meetings in 2011 which require speakers. The…

Aug. 13, 2010 – RACOBS meeting.   Weather prevented an outdoor observing session so an indoor roundtable discussion was held.  Approximately 18 members showed up with the pre-announced topic of  “Top 10 best and worst astronomy experiences” on their minds.  Each member shared his/her story.  Even a couple of our junior members shared their stories.  After the meeting, most of the group went to Tripps to eat. Aug. 27, 2010 – Regular meeting.  Host Mike Keefe introduced tonight’s speaker Dr. Brand…

July 9, 2010 – RACOBS was clouded out so a meeting was held at the Museum.  This time, rather than an unplanned meeting, Steve Izzo brought his computer and showed his favorite summer objects that he has imaged.  He also projected views from The_Sky planetarium program to show where the objects were located.  Many of the 17 members present shared their favorite objects visible in the summer sky. July 23, 2010 – Regular Meeting.  Roy Campbell, an artist on the…

Second Quarter 2010 Meeting Summaries April 9, 2010 – RACOBS. A good sized crowd made it out to BigWoods under conditions that turned out quite good in spite of the pollen.  There were about 20 people present, quite a few of whom were first time visitors. April 23, 2010 – Regular Meeting. The meeting tonight was entitled “The Birth and Death of Stars” by Dr. Fabian Heitsch.  Dr. Heitsch is an assistant professor in the Physics and Astronomy department at the University…

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…

Fourth Quarter Meeting Summaries By Mark Lang Oct. 2 and 4, 2009.  The public observing sessions at the Museum of Art were both clouded out.  They may be rescheduled at a later date. Oct. 9, 2009 – Special meeting “The Rene Ward Memorial Lecture”.  This special meeting was held in the main auditorium of the Natural Sciences Museum.  To start the night off, Jerry Watson gave a narrated PowerPoint presentation about Rene Ward and her connection to the Raleigh Astronomy…

Third Quarter 2009 Meeting Summaries By Mark Lang July 10, 2009 – Regular meeting – RAC swap meet.  This was the first RAC swap meet.  Members brought their astronomy gear that was no longer wanted or needed and tried to sell it to others.  A few telescopes and accessories were sold.  There were also drawings for door prizes which included some nice books.  A cake and refreshments were also provided.  Turnout was light due to it being a summer night,…

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…

First Quarter 2009 Meeting Summaries By Mark Lang Jan. 9 – Regular meeting with Ian Hewitt in charge.  Tonight’s meeting was a member slide show.  To start off, Ian showed us some of his Mars and Saturn images taken recently.  Mark Lang followed by showing his astrophotography which consisted many times of objects which move like comets, asteroids, and Barnard’s star’s motion over the last three years.  He also showed some lunar eclipse shots and shots taken with his “barn…

Raleigh Astronomy Club 2008 Meeting Summaries By Mark Lang Jan. 11, 2008 – RACOBS was clouded out, so an indoor meeting was held.  A 20 minute long NASA video called “The Saturn Essays” was shown.  It included many stunning photos accompanied by music.  See:  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/cassini-essay-4/index-flash.html.  After the video, a discussion was held about the 2008 Astronomy Days. Jan. 25, 2008 – Regular meeting night, but a special Astronomy Days presentation was given in the main museum auditorium.  Ian Hewitt ran…