Tonight’s talk was “Current Research on the Origin of Dark Matter” by Dr. Michelle Shinn from the Jefferson National Lab in Newport News Virginia. In addition to being a physicist, Dr. Shinn is also an amateur astronomer and member of the Back Bay Astronomers. One of the interesting observations Dr. Shinn talked about tonight was that “regular matter” observed in spiral galaxies would not be enough to make them stable. There must be some kind of other matter present. She…
Regular meeting Sept. 24, 2010 – RAC Club Swap Meet. Tonight was a regular indoor meeting at the museum, but it was a bit unusual as it was a departure from our normal meeting format of a talk and then a business meeting. Tonight was our second and hopefully annual Club swap meet. Members brought equipment that they wished to sell. Other members and guests came hoping to pick up some used bargains. The Club raffled off several items including…
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
RACOBS Sept. 10 A really nice crowd of 32 people showed up at BigWoods for RACOBS (Raleigh Astronomy Club Observing Session). Although the skies only partially cooperated, the humidity was low and the temperatures were very comfortable during the evening hours. Tonight’s crowd was made up of mostly visual observers with a couple of imagers mixed in. Lots of Dob type Newtonians were in use, with a few refractors, and several Schmidt-Cassegrains also. We were treated to some nice views…
(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,…
Hello, It’s been a while since I blogged, I will get back on schedule and start posting some new entries regularly…. We have a lot of events coming up this fall and hopefully will get some good weather. Details can be found on the web site, but they include: September – Dark Sky Weekend at Pettigrew state park October – Public observing at the NC Museum of Art and the Mid Atlantic Star Party November – Public observing at Howell…
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…
(This article originally appeared in the Q1 2007 STAR Newsletter and was written by Brian Reasor. -I) Messier Marathon 2007 by Brian Reasor Thanks to all who came out for the RAC 2007 Messier Marathon at Howell Woods. Everyone seemed to enjoy the event. Skies were clear, although seeing suffered some due to wind, and it got down to about freezing overnight. We had, by my count, 16 people and maybe a few more who showed up after dark. Most…
(This article appeared in the first quarter 2007 STAR Newsletter. -I) Astronomy Days 2007 By Ian Hewitt It was January again (seems to come around every year) and you know what that means! New Year’s? Playoff Games? No! Astronomy Days!!! This year, RAC had another great event and you all deserve a big hand of applause! This year everyone focused on updating many of the exhibits to help keep the event fresh and it resulted in an attendance of 16,695…
