by Gene Allen, Secretary

Director Rex Parker opened the meeting on Zoom at 1935. There were 44 attending on Zoom. He pointed out the upcoming launch of the SPHEREx orbiter on February 26 and reviewed the line up of planets in the night sky. He shared a few astrophotos of southern deep sky objects that he captured from a remote telescope he operates in Chile and then his agenda for the business meeting.

Rex expressed kudos and appreciation to Treasurer Michael Mitrano for having served the AAAP faithfully and well in that role for the past 18 years. Michael intends to retire and has asked to be replaced, so we are now seeking someone with an accounting background and experience with Quickbooks to step into that position.

Program Chair Victor Davis introduced our speaker for tonight, Kimberly Burtnyk, the LIGO Laboratory Technical Editor and Web Content Director. She has been on staff there for 11 years, and gave us a virtual tour of the facility. Her presentation detailed how the observatory equipment works and what it has discovered since its first gravity wave detection in 2015. After her talk she fielded questions for 25 minutes and then took her camera into the control room of the facility for a 20 minute tour where she had the operators offering explanations and fielding questions. There were 50 attending on Zoom throughout her talk.

The tour finished at 2123 and Rex launched right into the business meeting without a break.

Outreach Chair Bill Murray reported that we now have 10 volunteers to support the IAS Star Party on Friday, February 21, but with 100-200 attendees expected, more telescopes are needed. Cloud dates are the preceding night of February 20 and February 23.

Rex explained that High Point Scientific had acquired stock from bankrupted companies Meade, Orion, and Coronado, and would be making them available at 40-60% discounts over the next few weeks.

An appeal was made for a member who is or was an educator to design and coordinate an astronomy program for young students. He or she would get help to put the program into use.

Observatory Co-Chair Dave Skitt reported that Keyholder Training would resume in March, depending on the weather. Since Co-Chair Jennifer Skitt has been less available lately, Bill Murray offered to assist Dave with the training. The 2025 Keyholder Duty Schedule will be published soon.

Our stalled Loaner Scope Program needs both a facilitator and some storage space somewhere handy in which the collection can be organized and from which scopes can be distributed. The observatory is overly crowded already, and trying to add a shed of some sort in the park would be a long and likely unsuccessful effort. Repurposing the vacant Nature Center building is not a valid prospect and the house on the corner of Bear Tavern and 546 is uninhabitable, as are the barns next to the soccer fields. Dave reported that, for example, a 10×10 storage unit at a facility nearby on Reed Road costs $169/month without climate control, $189 with. The question was raised about the prospect of available space on Princeton University.

The meeting was adjourned at 2200. Attendance on Zoom decreased from 35 to 28 during the business meeting.

As of February 8, we have 213 active members. So far in CY2025, renewals number 18 and expirations number 11, giving us a 62% retention rate. We have added 3 new members.

Submitted by Secretary Gene Allen
February 14, 2025