Meeting Minutes
March 2, 2005
19 Members Present
Steve LaFlamme started his presentation with a tribute to late
member Bob Heilman. Steve met Bob as a
teenager and was the main influence on Steve’s interested in Astronomy. Steve talked about Bob’s loved for gadgets. He showed many pictures including Bob’s
sliding observatory, and his Olympus SLR. He also had a picture of the Orion
Nebula taken by Bob. Steve’s final slide
was of Bob’s headstone which included a rendition of the Orion Nebula
picture. This was a great tribute to a
long time member and friend.
Next Steve talked about “Lazy Astronomy”. “Lazy Astronomy” as Steve describes it is
observing from the comfort of his house. He shared pictures of his observatory,
scope, mount, stellar cam and mission control.
Steve’s installation allows real time observing directly from his scope
to his video monitor in the house. In
doors, Steve has all the things he needs to view. He shared picture taken with the stellar camera. Pictures included the Moon, Saturn. Comet Macholtzs, the Black Eye Galaxy, Orion Neb (trapezium),
Ring Nebula, Eskimo Nebula, Hubble’s Nebula to name a few. Steve ended his presentation by inviting
those interested in “Lazy Astronomy” to join him. He will e-mail people when he is relaxing at
mission control
Business Meeting
1. Thanks to Skip's
wife, Linda for refreshments.
2. Reminder about smoking
please disposes of your butts appropriately.
Please come into meetings using the downstairs door.
3. Next month’s
topic, colminating a telescope.
4. Board meeting
Sat April 2nd, 5:00 P.M., Norwell Council on Aging. All members are
welcome.
5. Invitation to go
to Astronomy Day at the
6. Bill spoke of
the Observatory Planning meeting March 12th, at
7. May 14th will be
Astronomy Appreciation Day at
8. Chuck reported a
$2260 balance in treasury. Currently we
have 26 members. Tenney suggested that
maybe a letter could be sent to members who have not paid.
9. Louis
volunteered his house for our annual cook out.
July 30th is the tentative date.
10. Bruce mentioned
a tour to the ATM in Westford. We would be able to see scopes, facilities and possibly
do some observing. In addition we might
be able to visit the MIT radio telescope at Haystack. Saturday, June 11th was
set as the tentative date. 10 members indicated an interest in going.
Paul Grueter
SSAS Secretary