by Gene Allen, Secretary

Director Rex Parker opened the meeting remotely via Zoom at 1930. There were 23 attending in Peyton Hall. He shared an astrophoto of Omega Centauri that he captured from a remote telescope he operates in Chile and pointed out the recent lunar landings of the Athena and Blue Ghost probes. While it fell over and died, the Athena probe landed closest yet to the south pole at 84.6^◦S, just 62 miles from the pole, and he reminded us of the Lunar South Pole Observing Challenge, still ongoing since 2023. Launched on the same rocket as Athena, the Lunar Trailblazer orbiter lost communication with controllers the day after.

Program Chair Victor Davis introduced our speaker for tonight, J. Richard Gott III, Emeritus Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. His talk, Journey to the Cosmic Web and Back to Earth, was delivered remotely via Zoom. It included a brief presentation of much of the material in his books The Cosmic Web and Welcome to the Universe in 3D which he co-authored with our Assistant Director Bob Vanderbei.

Fifteen minutes of questions and a break followed the talk.

At 2102 Merchandise Facilitator Rich Sherman gave an Unjournal Presentation about his trip to visit the Kitt Peak National Observatory an hour south of Tucson. Rich shared what he saw on the most complete five hour, three-scope daytime tour.

Rex convened the business meeting at 2115 with 13 attending in Peyton Hall.

Outreach Chair Bill Murray reported on completed outreach events at the Plainsboro Reserve and Montgomery High School. Rex added his thanks for those who supported the Sky Gazing event at the IAS. Bill reminded us of the total lunar eclipse before dawn this Friday and the partial solar eclipse on March 29. Bill also reported that the proof of insurance document needed to reopen the AAAP observatory at the UACNJ facility at jenny jump had stil not been received from Treasurer Michael Mitrano.

A field trip to the National Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport is under development.

An appeal was made for a member to organize the upcoming election of officers, and an immediate volunteer was appointed on the spot. Nomination Chair Dan Opdyke will serve in that role for 2025.

Observatory Co-Chair Dave Skitt reported that Alistair Adcroft and Josh Koslove have earned their keys and the 2025 Team Assignments will be adjusted soon. It seems that one leg of the power to the observatory has failed so that only half the circuits are poweredbut a request for service has been issued.

Victor Davis displayed the donated UniStellar eVscope 2 and described his experience with it to date. It is intended to become available in our telescope loaner program that is still awaiting someone to volunteer to organize it.

Rex asked us to be sure to see his article in Sidereal Times about Albert Michelson and the amazing accuracy of his calculation of the speed of light in 1879. He subsequently invented interferometry, which is the basis for radio astronomy today.

The meeting was adjourned at 2140.

As of March 9, we have 212 active members. So far in CY2025, renewals number 27 and expirations number 15, giving us a 64% retention rate. We have added 6 new members.

Submitted by Secretary Gene Allen March 14,