by Gene Allen, Secretary

Director Rex Parker opened the meeting in Peyton Hall and on Zoom at 1930 with 38 in attendance.

The first ten minutes of his introduction were missed because the university had failed to arrange for the doors to be unlocked for us and someone had to stand by to admit latecomers.

Rex commented on the astroimaging subgroup and issued two observing and imaging challenges:
Comet C/2023 A3, perhaps visible to the naked eye.
Saturn, which is now at opposition with its rings nearly edge on.

He reported that the NJAA Open House and Flea Market is on September 14.

Program Chair Victor Davis introduced Princeton Professor Dr Neta Bahcall and her lecture, Lighting Up the Dark: Where is the Dark Matter?

Questions and a break followed her talk. There were 38 in attendance and 49 online.

Rex reconvened the meeting at 2111 with 16 in attendance. He asked “What did you do on your summer vacation?” of an astronomical nature. When no one spoke up he offered that he had been in Munich and saw an orrery very similar in construction and vintage to the Rittenhouse Orrery on the north wall of the central lobby of Peyton Hall.

Assistant Director Bob Vanderbei shared images of the aurora he captured from his home in Harlingen with his iPhone 14. He said the aurora was barely discernable visually but the photo really made it impressive.

Victor reported that he had been approached by an individual seeking a new home for his Meade 16” Newtonian telescope with a pedestal and clock drive. It is an observatory class scope for which we have no room and there was no interest in accepting the donation. A member of the Lehigh Valley club was in attendance and said he would see if they had any interest.

Merchandise Shop Lead Facilitator Rich Sherman pitched summer clothing articles before changing out the listings to winter gear.

It was suggested that we plan some more astrovideo evenings like last year. Observatory Co-Chair Dave Skitt reported that he and Jennifer had been to three stores looking at carpet choices and getting prices. He was considering carpet squares which interlock as an alternative. Discussion ensued and the Board members in attendance (Rex, Bob, Michael, Victor, Dave and Gene) subsequently voted to approve purchase of carpet squares for the observatory in excess of $1000. Dave went on to say he and Jen would be scheduling Keyholder training sessions again soon and he was also interested in setting up a solar observing session.

Secretary Gene Allen reported that Webmaster Jeff Pinyan was making good progress designing the new club website. He said the functionality was truly impressive and detailed just two of them. There is a button on the top of the left hand menu bar on every page that shows the status of the observatory (pending in amber, open in green, and closed in red) and links to the observatory page with the maps and other info. The speaker page has a scrolling band of past speakers across the top that link to their videos.

The meeting was adjourned at 2201.

Submitted by Secretary Gene Allen
September 11, 2024