Meeting Minutes July 26, 2024
RAC Indoor Meeting Minutes July 16, 2024 Co-Chair Dana Bostic hosted the meeting in-person at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, as well as virtually using the Zoom platform. 21 meeting participants attended in-person, 11 attended via Zoom. Presentation: Exploring Saturn’s Moon Titan by Presenter Michael J. Malaska Business: Upcoming Events: 8/2/2024 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) 8/7/2024 – The Willard 8/16/2024 – RAC Indoor Meeting 8/17/2024 – Artspace Summer Celebration (Raleigh) 9/6/2024 – First…
Meeting Minutes June 28, 2024
RAC Indoor Meeting Minutes June 28, 2024 Co-Chair Anastasia Vail hosted the meeting in-person at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, as well as virtually using the Zoom platform. 21 meeting participants attended in-person, 10 attended via Zoom. Presentation: Peter Birren joined us via Zoom to discuss his book “Objects in the Heavens” and how to use it to get the most out of your observing. Business: Upcoming Events: June 29th: Astronomy on Tap Star Party June 30th: RAC Ladies…
RAC Outreach Committee Report – September 2024
Updated 2024-09-21 Recent events: August 14 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Dean, Susan, Mark, Benjamin, Jesus, and Steve B Attendees: ~40 Recap: Steve B – Despite some technical difficulties, about 40 participants got to view the Moon, Antares, and a few other southern sky objects through a telescope and binoculars at the Willard last night, and we distributed out several handouts on astronomy. This was a smaller crowd than typical which is a little surprising given…
RAC Outreach Committee Report – August 2024
Recent events: August 2 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast Upcoming events: August 14 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Postponed from August 7 due to weather; previous volunteer registrations voided. Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: telescopes: 0/3 floaters: 0/3 August 17 – Artspace Summer Celebration (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: solar telescopes: 1/2 floaters: 1/2 RAC table: 0/2 August 25 – East Regional Library (Knightdale) Coordinator: Doug L Doug will…
RAC Outreach Committee Report – July 2024
Recent events: June 7 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Coordinator: Ana V June 19 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Tony, Chris, Jesus, Dave, Dean, Susan, and Steve B Attendees: ~80 Recap: Steve B – We had a good event at The Willard Rooftop summer solstice party tonight. They arranged for some influencers to be photographed looking through our volunteer’s telescopes before dark. The near-full moon was out and the haziness made…
RAC Outreach Committee Report – June 2024
Updated 2024-06-24 Recent events: May 3 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast May 11 – Artspace Galactic Family Day (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Annelies, Tony, Jacqueline Attendees: 111 Recap: Annelies – We had a great day at Art Space today! Expert Tony joined me with his solar telescope. I brought my M1 Polaris with solar filter. Member Jacqueline was able to help as a floater and a new friend by…
RAC Outreach Committee Report – May 2024
Updated 2024-05-23 Recent events: Apr. 24 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: 3 telescopes (Matt, Chris, Bill), 1 floater (Steve) Attendees: 30-40 Recap: After a rainy afternoon, the clouds cleared an hour or so before sunset. We were able to see Jupiter and Uranus briefly after sunset. Orion nebula, globular, and open clusters were also viewed, along with a beautiful near-full moon rising over downtown Raleigh. No luck observing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the light haze near the…
RAC Outreach Committee Report – April 2024
Recent events: Mar. 23 – Food Lion Galaxy Nights at Tappahannock, VA Mar. 24 – Eclipse 2024 Primer (virtual) Apr. 5 – SWSP/First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres Apr. 13 – Food Lion Galaxy Nights at Sumter, SC Upcoming events: Apr. 24 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: telescopes: 2/3 floaters: 0/3 Apr. 25 – Githens Middle School STEAM Night (Durham) Coordinator: Matt L Volunteers registered: ? Apr. 27 – Astronomy on Tap Star…
August 28, 2022: Skywatching at the Art Museum
Date: August 28, 2022 Time: 8:30 – 10:30 pm Location: NC Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC Volunteers: Bethany Bennett, Steven Blake, Dana Bostic, Mike Keefe, Barton Meeks, Matt Lochansky, Tony Verdone, Chris Wittum Event Attendees: 80-100 Overview: The event was coordinated through the NC Museum of Art, as part of their Summer series in the museum park. We were located by the “Tilted Gyre” – the set of 3 giant ring sculptures. We arrived at 7pm – earlier than usual…
August 12, 2022: Perseid Skywatching at Dix
Date: August 12, 2022 Time: 9:00 – 11:00 pm (and later) Location: Dix Park, Raleigh, NC Volunteers: Steven Blake, Johnny Horne, Mike Keefe, Barton Meeks, Ann Murphy, Emily Ann Kolvitz, Matt Lochansky. Lijoy Samuel. Tony Verdone, Frank Westmoreland, Richard White, Chris Wittum Event Attendees: 4000-5000 Overview: The weeks leading up to the event were showing very strong registration. With beautiful weather, they all turned out for the event. The storm front passed ealier in the day leaving temps in the…
June 15, 2022: Stars for Ft. Bragg
Date: June 15, 2022 Time: 9:00 – 11:00 pm Location: Smith Lake Recreation Center, 5144, Smith Lake Rd, Fort Bragg, NC 28310 Volunteers: Steve Blake Dana Bostic (author) Steve Goodman Mike Keefe Barton Meeks Bob Muzzi Rob Parsons Ed & Joan Radomski Chris Wittum Matt Lochansky did all the upfront work, but was unable to attend. Event Attendees: 104 Overview: This site is at the Smith Lake Recreation Center for Fort Bragg. It is just across the lake from Simmons…
June 4, 2022: Mini Star Party at Three Bears Acres
Three Bears Acres with Triangle Land Conservancy Date: June 4, 2022 (This was the rain date, originally June 3) Time: 8:30 – 11:00 pm Location: Three Bears Acres, Creedmoor NC Volunteers: Dana Bostic Rob Parsons Chris Wittum Ann Murphy Matt Lochansky Ana Vail did all the upfront work, but was unable to attend. Event Attendees: ~30 Overview: This site, the former site of Three Bears Acres in Creedmoor (Granville County), was recently acquired by the Triangle Land Conservancy. To my…
April 8, 2022: Public Observing at Prairie Ridge Statewide Star Party
Prairie Ridge Statewide Star Party Date: April 8, 2022 Time: 8:30 – 11:00 pm Location: Prairie Ridge Ecostation, Raleigh NC Volunteers: Steven Blake Doug Lively Chris Wittum Brian Reasor Tony Verdone Frank Westmorland Event Attendees: 176 Overview: We setup near the research building closest to the parking lot, with good views > 15 deg elevation in all directions. Viewing conditions were party cloudy until ~9:15PM, at which point a cloud layer from the southwest moved in. Only the Moon was…
April 1, 2022: Public Observing White Deer Park
Aspiring Engineers Public Observing at White Deer Park Date: April 1, 2022 Time: 7-9pm Location: White Deer Park, Garner NC Volunteers: Steven Blake Nick Helmer Jossilin Lochansky Matt Lochansky Ann Murphy Rob Parsons Tony Verdone Event Attendees: ~75 Overview: We had a good night with clear skies. Temps were in the 60s much of the evening. We set up on the field by the Nature Center with a decent view towards from the NW to S, then to the SE…
Can RAC Help with My Telescope?
Can RAC Help with My Telescope? Short Answer, Yes! First, a shameless plug for the club: If you’ve got your first telescope and need some help, you are a perfect candidate to become a club member. With membership you get access to our club email list and can find a mentor to help get you started in the hobby. Additionally, you gain membership into the Astronomical League, which through their observing challenges helps progress you in the hobby and keeps…
