South Shore Astronomical Society
November 5, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. with 17 attendees.
Ray Geever, a former member of the club, stopped by to drop off some old club patches to show everyone.
Bill Luzader told us talked about holding star parties for elementary students in Plymouth. For four weeks they set up telescopes, two nights a week, at these elementary schools. Unfortunately, it was cloudy two of those nights. The other six nights were mostly clear and the event went well. He is planning to do this again in both March and May for eight nights in order to show elementary students at least three planets and the moon.
Bill offered to have the January 7, 2004 meeting at the Planetarium in Plymouth. He also talked about the Science Technology Education Program (STEP), which is trying to save the Planetarium in Plymouth. Their goal is to raise $100,000 and they already have $15,000.
Bill spoke to the manager at Saturn automobiles in Hanover who is willing to donate a Saturn for us to use in the July 4th parade in Plymouth. This parade is a good way to advertise the club. We must register by April if we are interested.
We then discussed the auroras, which were visible on Thursday October 30, 2003. The members who saw said that they could see it clearly and that it was bright red in color. Some technical disturbances were noticed, however, because of the auroras.
Bruce Gerhard went to Boston Telescope where he was able to view the sunspots, which he said were spectacular. He then described the newest Teleview telescope and a discussion of articles in the December Sky and Telescope followed.
Andy Anderson showed the group a t-shirt he had made. On the front it said South Shore Astronomical Society and had a graphic along with the club’s web address. On the back it had another graphic, his name, and the words “Keep looking up”. He offered to make t-shirts for anyone who is interested.
This lead to a discussion on ways we can identify ourselves as a group. A number of possibilities were discussed. Membership cards were voted for by a show of hands. A committee is being formed to handle this. It was suggested that everyone think about it and bring their ideas to the next meeting. Suggestions could include the membership cards, t-shirts, and any other ways of identification.
Nominations were held for next year’s officers and board members. Nominations were:
- President: Tenney Doble
- Vice President: Louis Gentile
- Treasurer: Charles McCarthy
- Secretary: Eileen Koury
- Board of Directors:
- Andy Anderson
- Paul Grueter
- Bill Luzader
Since everyone is running unopposed, these are the officers for next year.
There will be a board meeting in either January or February. Board meetings are open to all members. It was suggested that we use the Council of Aging for board meetings so that no one has to play host. Since we give a yearly donation to the Norwell Council of Aging this is a possibility. A donation of $100 was suggested. This is what has been done in previous years. A thank you note must also be sent.
Chuck reminded us that dues are due at the next meeting. The price for annual membership is $35. The cost for a one-year subscription to Astronomy magazine has stayed the same as last year, $29, but Sky and Telescope has increased to $33.
It was decided to discuss the essay contest at a later meeting.
There will be observing sessions this Saturday, November 8, for the lunar eclipse, and the two Saturdays on either side of Thanksgiving. It was suggested that we advertise public viewing sessions in the local newspapers.
The Leonids peak on the 13th and the 19th of November.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
After the meeting, Steve LaFlamme gave a presentation on the TV using Microsoft TV picture viewer. It was a compilation of some of the things he has worked on for the last five or six years.