Club Reports

About 25 members attended the club’s monthly indoor meeting.  Many thanks to the club members who presented some of their astrophotography work during the presentation portion of the meeting.  From single photos to time lapses, the galaxy (and beyond!) was well represented.   Club Business: BBQ: A club Barbecue is being planned for October 15.  Chris Cole is organizing.   At least 20 participants are needed to lock in the catering.   The club will provide barbecue, wings, ice cream,…

Chris Cole ran the meeting 32 members and guests signed the attendance log Speaker:   Dr. Chris Richardson, Assistant Professor of Physics, Elon University Dr. Richardson showed the explosion in the number of known exoplanets.  He used a graphic (right) to show all 786 known exoplanets… as of June 2012.  Now, in 2016 that number is over 3,000. Looking at the drake equation, most of the variables are reasonably well known, with the exception of the last variable “L” which describes…

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…

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…

  RAC met on January 29, 2016.  There were about 47 members and guests in attendence beginning at 7pm with a talk, “Unmasking Europa” by Dr. Rick Greenberg.  Many thanks Dr. Greenberg for agreeing to share his knowledge of this Jovian moon with us. After the meeting, a short business meeting was held.  Phyllis Lang reported club finances in proxy for Steve Izzo, club treasurer.  About 40% of the 2015 club members have paid dues for 2016.  Members have another…

Treasurer’s report 4 new members this month Financials were presented to the club. Telescope Loaner Program Many thanks to John Sadler for his efforts to go through the telescope loaner pool, clean out the storage shed, and revitalize the program. The blue Coulter 10.1″ dob is being offered up for sale via a silent auction.  Email John if you would like to bid on the telescope.  He will tell you if you are the high bidder or not.  One bid…

<strong>Telescope Loaner Program</strong> Telescope loaner program continues to be updated.  John S. is weeding through good scopes, those in disrepair, and those which might be better used outside the loaner program.  He is also putting together “kits” to make the scopes more complete and easier to loan out. The 17″ dob (which was donated to the club a long time ago) was sold to one of Fred’s friends, Michael Searle.  This was a difficult decision, but MIchael built a similar…

August 27, 2015 28 members and guests attended the meeting Lecture: Dr. Blondin, professor of physics at NC State, spoke about modeling the gas disk around X-Ray binaries The talk was recorded and available on YouTube.

July 23, 2015 About 30 members attended the meeting Lecture: Dr. Becker, a scientific historian, gave a wonderful talk on “Unraveling Starlight” which went through the life of William Huggins and his rise from an uneducated silk merchant to President of the Royal Society.  The talk was recorded and available on YouTube.