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Auburn Astronomical Society E-Newsletter February, 2010 In this Issue
We’ll hold our February meeting on Friday, February 5, at 7:45PM, in room 215 of Davis Hall, the Aerospace Engineering Building. The doors to the building automatically lock at 8:00PM, so if you’re running late, rap on the door nearest our meeting room and we’ll let you in. Riders from the Montgomery area are welcome to meet at the home of Russell Whigham, 518 Seminole Dr., and carpool over to Auburn. Plan to be ready to leave for Auburn at 6:45PM. Our new moon star party this month will be on Saturday, February 13, at Cliff Hill’s farm February 05, February meeting, 7:45 PM, in room
215 of Davis Hall
Winter Constellation
Class
Enjoy an evening under the beautiful winter skies of Auburn at the Mary Olive Thomas Demonstration Forest on Moore's Mill Road. Explore the winter constellations with Jennifer Lolley of the Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve. Learn some of the myths and legends surrounding these constellations, including Orion the Hunter, The Pleiades (Seven Sisters), Canis Major (Big Dog), Canis Minor (Little Dog), Taurus the Bull, Perseus and Andromeda and more. Rain date is Saturday, February 13th, at 7:00 p.m. Dress warmly and bring a flashlight.
Please join me in welcoming Abhijeet Deshpande, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, to AAS. Abhijeet writes: Thank you for welcoming me into the group. I am a proud member of the AAS now. I really enjoyed spending time with like minded people in the meeting. My father in law loaned me his old 60mm refractor telescope. The name of the manufacturer is Jason. The telescope has an equatorial mount. I set it up on the deck in my backyard, but was unable to see anything meaningful. The sky was clear and there were so many stars in the sky.We’ve also heard from Shaun Bice of Montgomery, who has expressed an interest in attending our meetings and star parties to get advice on entering the hobby of amateur astronomy. The
Crater Tours are Feb. 20 at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 and 1:00.(The
1:00 is almost full so please indicate an alternate time in case there
are no more availabilities.) The tours last about two hours. The first
hour is a lecture about the Crater and the second hour the group will be
loaded onto vans and taken to several locations within the Crater. The
cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. In order to reserve
your spots I must receive your payment first. You can mail a check or cash
to P.O. Box 117, Wetumpka, AL 36092. Checks can be made payable to WICC
(Wetumpka Impact Crater Commission). The sooner I receive payment the better
chance you have of being able to select your desired tour time. When you
send your payment please indicate which time you would like to attend the
tour. I will send you a confirmation card in the mail once I have received
your payment. Reservations must be made no later than Feb. 12. On the day
of the tour please arrive at the Wetumpka Civic Center, 410 S. Main St.,
about 15 minutes before your scheduled time. I hope you can join us and
if you have any additional questions please let me know.
Amanda
M. Brasington
Hope all is well for you! I’m enjoying Ole Miss, yet am very busy reviewing final drawings for our first research park building which will be completed in the summer of 2011. Celestron CM-1100 SCT w/ CI700 mount $2500.00 With Dual Drives. Includes all original equipment and packaging. Eyepieces and accessories:Call 256-431-8552 or email: sarah_ala@yahoo.com• Sirius plossl 10mm See a photograph of this telescope, and all of
the others for sale, on the AAS
Astronomical Exchange page.
Check out the Astronomical League’s YouTube videos
at http://www.astroleague.org/
Scroll down to the January 31, 2010 entry of Chris Go’s http://mars.cstoneind.com. Syrtis Major is rising on the left. Note the 1 hour animation. Celestron’s 50 Year Celebration http://www.celestron.com/50/documentary.php
Hubble Sees Suspected Asteroid Collision http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/02feb_asteroidcollision.htm?list125104 Bahtinov Focusing Mask Generator http://astrojargon.net/MaskGenerator.aspx
A bill will be introduced soon to form a legislative study group for the purpose of making recommendations to the legislature on regulating light pollution. This should give the subject a little more standing among rank and file legislators who have never considered it. We tried to get this done last session but were too late getting started and the bill was caught in the end-of-session snarl. I am writing you all to ask for suggestions, nominations, or volunteers to serve on the study group. This won't likely be much of a time commitment as meetings may be via electronic media if they occur at all. There are many model ordinances to use as resources available on the International Dark Sky Association website, and we have the basics of a model bill already started. If you have approached your legislator or senator about this topic and think they might be sympathetic, let us know. Some clubs have a light pollution committee or liaison person and we'd like very much to give knowledgeable amateur astronomers a platform to put their expertise to work.
AAS memberships ($20.00/$10.00 for full-time students) were due in January. Make checks payable to “Auburn Astronomical Society”. If you’re unable to attend the meeting, mail your dues to: Auburn Astronomical SocietyYour dues allow us to purchase DVDs for programs, continue our affiliation with the Astronomical League, and to buy, upgrade, and maintain our loaner scope program and tape/DVD library. We’ve never made a big deal about membership and encourage “AAS friends” to attend and participate in meetings, star parties, and public events. But, there are a few benefits restricted to members: • Discounts on purchases from Oceanside Photo & TelescopeIf this will be your first time to join, please print out the Membership Application form, and include it with your check. We need your address to ensure that you’ll receive your Reflector. Special thanks to those members who do not attend on a regular basis but still want to help us out by paying AAS. membership dues. Hoping to see everyone at the meeting, Russell
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