Minutes of the monthly meeting of Sangamon Astronomical Society held October 16, 2003, at 7:00 PM at Don Jardine’s home

Attendance:
Glenn Cunningham
Larry Hardy
Anthony Hopp
Darren Hulskotter
Don Jardine
Fred Pilcher
Mike Robertson
Jim Rosenthal
Rusty Tanton
Larry Trutter
Donald Walker
Matt Will
Clarke Woodruff

There are several members of the public who attended the meeting.

President Larry Hardy called the meeting to order and presided over the same. Larry Hardy briefly discussed the minutes of the September meeting. He also handed out the 2003 Star Party critique and is seeking comments from members. Please send Larry Hardy an email with your comments if you have any.

Club treasurer, Clarke Woodruff, presented the treasury report to the club. A motion was made by Fred Pilcher and seconded by Jim Rosenthal to approve paying the outstanding bills. The motion was passed. Larry Hardy handed out and discussed a paper that can be used as a basis for the next year’s budget. A motion was made by Mike Robertson and seconded by Don Walker to accept the treasury report. The motion was passed.

Nomination committee
Larry Hardy is asking for volunteers for this committee and may appoint members to the committee. If any member is interested in a board position, please email the club’s webmaster to let him know that you are interested.

Public Star Party planned for November 8th
Jim Rosenthal has volunteered to lead the effort for the November 8th Public Star Party. The moon will be in Earth’s shadow that night. Volunteers are needed for this event. If interested, please contact Jim Rosenthal. The webmaster will post the event on the club’s web site.

CCD AstroPhotography
Don Jardine is planning to do CCD astrophotography and he is in a need for a flip mirror system. Prof. Fred Pilcher immediately offered to pay for it. Larry Hardy will order the equipment and Prof. Pilcher will reimburse Larry Hardy.

Mobile Scope for Public Outreach
Tony Hopp discussed an idea to get a mobile scope that could be funded with local corporate sponsorship. It might be completely funded by the sponsorship so that it would not affect the available funds needed for the remote observatory (?). The mobile scope would be used for public star parties and for school events. The benefits of the scope is that it would bring the scope to the public instead of forcing the public havig to travel to a remote area and it would bring the club more exposure to the public. (Club Secretary’s note: there were a lot of discussion involved on this idea but I was unable to keep up. Please let me know if any important details need to be added to the minutes).

Double Stars Presentation
No one has a projector available so Jim Rosenthal was not able to use a projector for his presentation. He handed out several impressive lists of double stars to the attendees, including the Astronomical League’s Double Star Observing program. Only modest equipment, at least a 3" scope with 75x to 100x , is needed to observe double stars. Star color appears differently to several people which results in disagreements on color. However, there is a useful technique to determine color of the stars by slightly defocusing (or make blurry) the image. The colors are easier to determine that way.

Observing Night planned for October 25th
Mike Robertson announced that there will be an observing night on October 25th, if the weather permits. The location of the observing site has not been determined yet.

Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held at the Morgan Stanley office on November 20th at 6:30pm. Dinner will be provided (a caterer has not been determined yet). Also, Jim Rosenthal plans to continue his presentation (with a projector) at that meeting.