B.C.A.A.S. MEETING MINUTES
April 13, 2006
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 by Dave Brown, with 24 in attendance. Mark gave us an update on the renovation of the Planetarium. It will close after the last show on June 3, and they hope to reopen on October 21. However, renovations will not affect the lobby, so we can have our meetings there.
Plans for the club trip to Cherry Springs State Park were discussed. We will meet at Dave Brown’s home at 8:30 on Saturday morning, and depart by 9:30. After stopping for lunch around 12:30, we will arrive at CSSP in time to set up camp and scopes, nap, etc. before observing. We will leave Sunday morning and stop for breakfast in Galeton. Lots of photos will be taken, to be shown at a future BCAAS meeting.
Star Watches: The program at Nolde Forest wasn’t well advertised, and there wasn’t a large attendance. There will be a public star watch at Kaercher Creek Park near Hamburg on May 5 (rain date June 3). Kathy Manzella would like to have a star watch for the Reading School District at Albright College Stadium during the first week of May. Keith Minnich needs volunteers for a star watch at Wyomissing Hills Elementary School for a large group of children and their families. This is scheduled for May 12, with a rain date of May 19. In the past, over 200 have attended, so we need as many volunteers as possible.
Night Sky Network: Barb noted that the last NSN teleconference on the Stardust mission, and Stardust at Home project was very interesting. She gave a short demonstration of some of the activities in the newest NSN toolkit, “Telescopes: Eyes on the Universe”.
Milestones: Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the first Space Shuttle launch. Next week is the 16th anniversary of the Hubble.
On Linda’s behalf, Barb gave the Treasurer’s report – there is a balance of $$$$$.
Mike Bashore noted that an article in Night Sky Magazine referred to Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann, which is a comet that is breaking up and the pieces will be visible in May.
After the break, we enjoyed the Planetarium Show “The Point of No Return”.
Respectfully submitted
Barbara Geigle, Secretary