Sangamon Astronomical Society

The Next SAS Meeting Will Be May 15th at C.H. Lanphier Observing Park @ 7pm

Upcoming Events May 15th @ 7pm SAS Monthly Meeting C.H. Lanphier Observing Park September 25th - 28th Illinois Dark Skies Star Party 2008 at Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park		Venturing is a program of the Boy Scouts of America for both young men and women, ages 14 through 20, who have completed the 8th grade. Venture Crew 2001Discovery is sponsored by the Sangamon Astronomical Society (SAS), and crew members will have the opportunity to make new friends, participate in many club activities, develop leadership and star-gazing skills, and most of all, to have fun! The cost to join is $15 per year. When you decide to join or renew, you will be giving yourself an opportunity to learn more about astronomy and the exploration of space. Our next crew meeting will be Saturday, February 9th beginning at 11 am at the Lincoln Library, 326 South 7th Street, (the corner of 7th and Capitol,) Springfield, Illinois. This month we’ll be meeting in the Carnegie North Room, which is located on the 1st floor. We meet at the Lincoln Library the 2nd Saturday of every month, 11:00 am until 12:30 pm. This Saturday we’re going to have a short meeting previewing the February sky *followed by the viewing of the All Time Classic Sci-Fi Movie 2001: A Space Odyssey!!* This is the where our masthead Space Ship Discovery came from plus many futuristic Space Exploration concepts. Our meeting time will be extended because of the film length is 148 minutes including an intermission! Pizza will be served! Sincerely, Jim Rosenthal Crew 2001 Discovery Advisor Executive Board Member Sangamon Astronomical Society Answers to Questions: (217) 787-6760 jmrspld@insightbb.com P.S. Parents are welcome and bringing a friend is great!
		The Illinois Dark Skies Star Party 2007 is now in the histroy books. Thanks to everyone who attended. We hope you had a great time. The picture on the left was taken at IDSSP 2006 by Tom Auchter. NGC 1027, IC 1805 and IC 1795 Heart Nebula Constellation Cassiopeia 2h 32m 41s +61° 27' 25" Astro-Physics 130 f6 Astro-Physics 900GTO SBIG STL11000M Luminance 4x15min Red 1x15min Green 1x15min Blue 2x15min
		On November 11th 2006, two member of the SAS attended a Boy Scout Pow Wow to help Boy Scout leaders learn about some basic astronomy concepts. This information will help Scout leaders teach thier scouts and help them earn their badges. The Boy Scouts hold an annual Pow Wow where Scout leaders come together from all over the region to learn about the subjects they will be teaching Scouts throughout the coming year.
		On November 8th 2006, the planet Mercury made a transit of the Sun and members of the SAS were on hand to let the public take a look. Six SAS members set up a variety of telescopes with solar filters at Centennial Park in Springfield. Several people showed up to view this rare event.
		SAS members where invited to come out and talk at the Chatham Area Public Library on October 11th 2006. About 40 people showed up to learn about Constellations and Planets in the night sky, Astrophotography and Telescopes. Attending were approximately 25 Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts with leaders who learned about Constellations and Planets and how to find them in the night sky. This was a lively talk with lots of great questions from the group. Also attending were approximately 15 adults who learned about Astrophotography and the difference between different types of scopes. The SAS would like to thank Mike Starasta of the Chatham Area Public Library for inviting us out.
		The Illinois Dark Skies Star Party 2006 has come and gone. We all had a good time and despite some early clouds and some daytime rain, the night skies were clear and we had some good observing. Click on the Star Party button on the left to see some pic's of the event.
		Earlier this year the SAS was contacted by a Springfield woman who had a telescope and some astronomy magazines that she wanted to donate to SAS. SAS Members Mike Robertson and Ray Watt went over to meet with the woman. Her husband who had recently passed away, had been an avid amateur astronomer. The woman said he would have wanted the scope to go to good use. The SAS was given a 6 inch Criterion Dynascope complete with it's original GEM and a number of Sky and Telescope magazines that the husband had kept. Over a period of several weeks this spring and summer, Don Jardine, Ray Watt and Gary Woerner worked on refurbishing the scope. It is now ready for use at our public star parties.
		The members of SAS held their annual Astronomy Day event on May 20th at Centennial Park in Springfield IL. The event lasted from 4pm to 11pm. We had families stop through during the day to get a glimpse of the sun through our solar filters and we had quite a crowd at night fall to get some great views of Jupiter and Saturn among other objects.
		SAS has been donated a 1967 16in Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope and 10 foot ASH Dome. Restoration and land acquistion is currently in progress.. Please consider a donation to help in the cost of moving the scope and dome. We are a 501C3 (non-for-profit) so we can give you a receipt if you need one.
		Here is a picture of what our new scope looks like. This picture is from an 1967 Sky and Telescope advertisement.
		The members of SAS did a presenation to the 6th grade students of Grant Middle School on April 18th. 16 students and several adults were on hand to learn about the scale of the universe and look through a number of SAS members scopes. Though the clouds rolled in toward the end of the evening, we still able to view various stars and the planet Saturn.
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