[sac-board] Minutes of January 2004 Regular Meeting

  • From: "Joe Macke" <joe01@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "SAC Board" <SAC-Board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 15:06:30 -0700

Here are the minutes for the regular meeting.

Saguaro Astronomy Club
Minutes of Regular Meeting
January 8, 2004

The meeting was called to order at 0238UT.

There were 43 attendees at the beginning of the meeting.

1. President Thad Robosson welcomed the membership and asked if there were
any guests present.  Six people identified themselves as guests.  They were
invited to sign the guest book and would receive a copy of the January
SACNews.

2. Treasurer's report, Paul Dickson, hasn't had a chance to update the books
since November.  At that time the club had $4000 in the checking and savings
accounts combined, $60 in liabilities.  Since then $200 has been spent on
the Sentinel porta-potty and purchasing the remainder of the club T-shirts.
There are still shirts available.

3. Steve Coe announcements.  Two star parties are scheduled for Sentinel,
hoping for good weather for at least one.  January 16 and 17 and February 20
and 21.  Unfortunately the January dates overlap the club's regularly
scheduled party on January 17 at Flat Iron.  So if you are unable to drive
to Sentinel, Flat Iron is an option.  There is also a novice group meeting
scheduled on March 13 at Flat Iron.  Directions are in the SACNews or
contact Steve.

Since the club financed the porta-potty at the clouded-out star parties at
Sentinel, Steve established a donation can (a can can?) for the Sentinel
two-nighter.  It costs $90 for two nights.  If enough money is collected,
Steve will evaluate the weather and decide whether to order it by Wednesday
of the week in question (the last day possible.)

4. Rich Tejera announcements.  Some mailed hard copies of the SACNews were
returned by the USPS as undeliverable.  Rather than argue with the brain
surgeons at the post office, Rick brought them to the meeting for those who
attended.  Rich encouraged all those who can get the SACNews electronically
to do so and avoid this kind of thing in the future.

5. Jennifer Keller announcements.  There is a memorial service for Vicki
Quave-Ketelsen (Dean Ketelsen's wife) will be held tomorrow (January 10) in
Tucson.  A copy of the obituary and directions to the service are on the
desk.  Also a copy of an article from the Arizona Daily Star about the
recent death of Dr. Luis Vega is also on the desk.

6. Thad Robosson called for suggestions from the membership for day field
trips.  Trip ideas or any other suggestions regarding the club are welcomed.

7. Jack Jones announcements.  There are still All-Arizona Star Party and
both sand and blue club T-shirts available, $15.  There are also some books
left, $1 for big ones, $0.50 for small.

There is a star party at Eagle Ridge Elementary School, 19801 N. 13th
Street (take 7th Street exit from Loop 101 South, it is between Beardsley
and Union Hills.)  This is in association with the school's science fair
January 15, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM (0100UT to 0300UT.)  The school is having
speakers and if any members would like to give a talk it can be arranged.
There will be a raffle at 7:30 (0230UT.)

8. Other upcoming events, the next regular club meeting is February 6 at
7:30 (0230UT.)  The "Single's Night" star party February 14 at Flat Iron.

9. A.J. Crayon announcements.  The Deep Sky Group meeting is also January 15
at A.J.'s house (directions in the SACNews.)  The group formerly discussed
the objects in the now-ended "Fuzzy Spot" column by Ken Reeves in the
SACNews.  At the last D.S.G. meeting the group talked about what to discuss
at the meetings and thought perhaps a worthwhile topic would be "what makes
a good observation?"  Steve Coe has agreed to discuss the NGC descriptions
(in March) and how to decode them.  If any member has ideas about what to
discuss, pleas attend the meeting.  This is a good time to replot the
direction of the group.

A.J.'s new SACNews column "Last Call" appeared for the first time in the
January issue.  A.J. will post the constellations and/or objects to be
observed on the mailing list and observers send their observations to A.J.
who will compile them for the column.  One goal of the column is to allow
comparisons between different types of scopes and allow members to learn
about observing by reading other's descriptions.

10. Gene Lucas show-and-tell.  Gene had two groups fo stereo images.  One
set was composed of six analglyphs.  These are the red/blue images that
require the stylish glasses.  The other group was seven left/right images by
Akira Inaka who was the subject of a recent article in Sky and Telescope.
Gene also mentioned that there were still a few copies of the RASC
Observer's Handbook available for $15 and they will be at the EVAC meeting
on Wednesday.

There was a short break at 0314UT before the evening's speaker, there were
61 attendees at this point.

At 0336UT, Jennifer Keller introduced Fulvio Melia as the speaker.  He spoke
on the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, the evidence for
its existence, observational technology being used to image it and
technology anticipated that will allow imaging of the event horizon.

The meeting adjourned at 0505UT.

Joe Macke, Secretary



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