by Rex Parker, PhD  director@princetonastronomy.org

Two down, two to go.  If the law of averages holds sway, the two special members’ events planned for October should take place in fine weather, since rain and clouds dismissed the two big events we’d arranged for September.

• Astro Equipment Silent Auction & Picnic, Sunday October 18, 3:00 pm. The auction will go even if cloudy weather, but in even of rain the date is Oct 25.  Location is the Pavillion next to the Nature Center at Washington Crossing State Park.  AAAP members and family/friends are invited to participate.  See the detailed list of equipment to be auctioned below.  The club has recently acquired through donation several useful pieces of astronomy equipment, and it’s time to put these items in the hands of members.  This is your chance to pick up good a telescope, mount, eyepiece, book, and more, at unbelievably low prices.  Whatever doesn’t go at the auction will be sold on AstroMart.

• Field Trip to the US Naval Observatory and Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington DC, Nov 2. All day field trip with a special guided tour of USNO in the evening.  The lucky 19 AAAP members and significant others who replied “yes” in the Survey will receive e-mails with logistics and travel info.  Thanks to Ira Polans for arranging the tour!

Just couldn’t persuade the weather makers.  After so many clear nights in August and early September there was reason to believe in Jersey StarQuest Sept 11-12.  Yet it was not to be.  The new walk-in registration strategy with minimal advance work by members was the right one, as Saturday was rainy.  Despite Friday the 11^th actually being clear, dew was a big problem on the field after rainy days earlier.  Silver lining:  9-11 was a great night with large turnout at the AAAP Observatory at Washington Crossing – special thanks go to Team 6 and the Observatory Chairs for running an excellent deep sky show.  Similarly, the Sept 27 lunar eclipse session at the Observatory was announced to much interest by members and public.  Given the highly touted “blood moon” PR and the fact that this would be the last eclipse visible here for a few years, we aimed for a good turnout. Yet, again after a week of clear weather, the sky on the 27^th was pasty white and not a single glimpse of the moon was seen here.

Next Meeting at Peyton Hall (7:30 pm, Oct 13). Our tradition of interesting and inspiring speaker presentations continues this month with a talk by amateur astronomer Scott Nammacher, who will speak about building and operating remotely controlled observatories in upstate NY and more distant locations.  Check out the article by program chair Ira Polans in this issue and on the AAAP website http://www.princetonastronomy.org/

List of Astro Equipment to be Auctioned by AAAP

Oct 18 at 3:00pm at WC State Park

Auction is restricted to members and family and friends.

Caveat emptor, AAAP does not warrant any item.  The buyer may need to find additional parts to fully use some of the equipment.  For reference the estimated price when new is listed for some items, but this is not to suggest selling price.

• Telescopes
  • Celestron Omni XLT102 refractor (Model #21088), 102 mm D, 1000 mm focal length, Starbright XLT coatings. Matches CG4 mount, below.  $410 with mount
  • Explore Scientific AR152 refractor, air spaced double achromatic, f/6.5, 152 mm diameter, 988 mm focal length, doublet air spaced achromatic refractor, with Vixen-type mounting rings (fits any V-type dovetail). $750
  • Edmond 8 inch, f/5 Newtonian reflector telescope, model 4001, “classic” (late70’s -early 80’s), with unique Edmund tripod mount, with RA clock drive, all original. In very good condition considering the vintage, mirror looks good.
  • Meade 10 inch f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector telescope, model MTS SC10, “near-classic” (mid-80’s), with fork mount and pedestal (original); no electronics included although it appears the scope originally came with Meade LX3 drive.  In good condition, optics in good shape.  Could be adapted to other mounts.
  • Orion Newtonian Telescope (Astrograph), 10 inch diameter, f/3.9, with cooling fan, and Vixen-type mounting rings (can put on any V-type dovetail). $690
  • Skyquest 6″ Dobsonian Newtonian reflector, $310
  • Orion ED80 short tube refractor, 80 mm, f/5. Good scope to use as CCD autoguider or for lunar or wide-field observing.  $110
  • Polar finder scope, 6 degree FOV, 50 mm

• Mounts & Tripods
  • Celestron Omni XLT CG4 equatorial mount; matches Omni XLT scope above.  Includes counterweight bar and weights, controller for a motor drive with parts (uncertain if drive is complete;  new CG4 motor drive price $140).
  • Ioptron iEQ-G45-GTN equatorial mount with heavy duty tripod and hand controller, weights, power supply. $1800
  • Orion Atlas EQ-G mount, with heavy duty tripod, but no counterweight or bar. Includes hand controller and power cord. $1500 (with all parts)
  • Losmandy G11 equatorial mount, complete with counterweights and bar, drive motors, control electronics, hand controller. Very good condition. $2000.
  • Losmandy G11 equatorial mount, Gemini Go-To version 1, complete with counterweights and bar, drive motors, Gemini Go-To v.1 computer control electronics, hand controller. Very good condition.  $2500
  • Small equatorial mount head, inexpensive but could be good for small refractor such as the Orion ED80 above.

• Eyepieces & filters
  • Edmund RKE eyepiece collection, match the Edmund 8” Newtonian above.
  • Tele Vue Radian 18 mm 1.25″
  • Celestron Ultima LX 17 mm 1.25 – 2.0″ 70 degree fov
  • Orion Stratus 24 mm 1.25″ 68 degree fov
  • Orion Stratus 5 mm 1.25″ 68 degree fov
  • Orion Lasermate deluxe collimator, 1.25″
  • High Point 2x barlow, 1.25″
  • High Point 2x barlow, 2.0″
  • Explore Scientific 11 mm, 1.25″ 82 degree fov
  • Explore Scientific 4.7 mm, 1.25″ 82 degree fov
  • 6 lesser 1.25″ eyepieces
  • 7 color filters

• Books and discs etc
  • Several DVDs
  • Astronomy Magazine Infinite Cosmos series – many of these
  • Sky at night CD ROMs
  • “The Great Courses” on DVD, college courses
  • Intro to Astronomy
  • Black Holes Explained
  • Dark Matter, Dark Energy
  • Life in our universe
  • Physics and Our Universe
  • DVD Math Courses, Algebra through Calculus
  • Several dozen books on astrophotography, star maps, dark matter, black holes
  • More…