B.C.A.A.S. MEETING MINUTES
September 11, 2008
The meeting was called to order by Dave Brown with 22 in attendance. Our annual picnic was held on August 14 and of course it rained! Our star watch at Kaercher Creek was held on the rain date of August 30; however only 3 guests attended. Several members attended the Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park – Lane Davis showed some of his photos.
Dave will give a lecture on September 18 at the Schuylkill Valley Library. The rain date is the following Thursday. Ron and Dave will be giving presentations at Blue Mountain Camp for middle school children in October. The Lehigh Valley Club is having its annual Megameet September 26-28 at Pulpit Rock. Local clubs are invited. This is a no-frills star party – no speakers, no fees. There is no water, so you must bring your own. There may be limited food service. Check the LVAAS website for more information.
Dave noted that he was contacted by both the Chairman of the Board and Director of the Museum. Apparently an antiquated phone system sent voice mail into an unattended mail box, which is why phones calls have not been returned. Our fee for using the museum for our meetings has been reduced to $250. The interest we earn on our CD just about covers this. There is also mutual interest in providing a lecture series, perhaps 3 per year in March, June and October. These would be held on Friday nights instead of our regular Thursday night meetings, as the Museum is open on Friday evenings. The Museum would advertise these lectures, and we would also look for a sponsor. If this works out, our fee to the Museum would be waived.
There was discussion about our membership in the Astronomical League. For a long time, the League was a valuable resource for astronomy information; however, the internet has made this unnecessary. There was concern about our being able to keep our liability insurance, but we were told that the insurance would be the same as long as we are non-profit. It was noted that individuals can get a membership in the League, and a subscription to the ‘Reflector’ is $6 per year. The Board had voted 4 to 1 in favor of dropping the membership. Barb Geigle made a motion to drop our membership, which was seconded by Bret Cadmus, and the vote was unanimous to drop membership in the Astronomical League.
Barb reported that the Night Sky Network will have a teleconference on September 25 at 9 pm. The speaker will be Dr. John Weiss of the CICLOPS/Space Science Institute. His talk is entitled “Our Holiday Snaps of Saturn” and will include Cassini information and images. Barb will email details when they become available. Also, if anyone attended the LCROSS webcast on August 28th, or missed it and wants to see it, you can see the archive on the web at: http://quest.nasa.gov/lunar/ASP. The activity guide can be downloaded at http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc ID=291. The Night Sky Network will also be providing materials and activities for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.
Barb, representing the PA Outdoor Lighting Council, presented a plaque to Chip and Maxine Harrison at the Black Forest Star Party. Chip is the manager of Cherry Springs State Park (as well as all of the State Parks in 2 counties), and Maxine is President of the Cherry Springs Dark Sky Fund.
Linda reported a balance of $4,187. A check for $250 will be sent to the Museum. She will be sending an order for the Astronomy calendars at the end of September. If anyone wants one, get in touch with her as soon as possible. They are $6.50 each. Subscriptions for ‘Astronomy Magazine’ are still $34 and ‘Sky and Telescope’ is $32.95. You can contact Linda for these as well.
Tonight’s speaker was Dan Brown. He and his new wife visited the Mauna Kea Observatories on the island of Hawaii with Inge Heyer, who has spoken at our meetings several times. He showed lots of great photos, along with interesting stories of their trip.
Respectfully submitted
Barbara Geigle, Secretary