by James Poinsett, Secretary

Minutes of the December 2016 Meeting of the AAAP
• Director Rex called the meeting to order
• Ira introduced the speaker for the evening, Dr. Eric Gawiser from Rutgers University. His lecture was titled “The other 95%, Revealing the Dark Universe”.
• After a short break the meeting resumed with a re-cap of events from 2016.
    o Outstanding public outreach
    o Great speaker programs
    o Upgrades at the observatory
    o Improved website
    o Night Sky refresher classes
    o Third Mercury transit in 3 centuries for the HB Refractor
    o A successful Jersey StarQuest
    o Fate of the Jenny Jump Observatory
    o RIP Gene Ramsey
• Updated Sky10 has been installed on one computer so far, minor issues are being worked out.
• The Paramount mount has been cleaned and lubed and is working excellently.
• The ladder for the Mewlon scope is in place and works well.
• The website is good, always looking for new ideas. Online registration and payment is being set up.
• A discussion was held on reaching members and non-members.
• A date was proposed for the next board meeting, an email will circulate and a decision will be made.
• It is time to put In place a plan for the Jenny Jump observatory and execute it.
• John Church talked about the August 21st solar eclipse. A site has been picked in Oregon, near the town of Monmouth. If you plan on going contact John for details on the site.
• There are still a couple of openings for speakers for the rest of the year, contact the program committee if you have any suggestions.
• A brief discussion was held on a possible field trip to view a launch from the Wallops launch center in Virginia.
• Meeting was adjourned.