By Gene Allen, Secretary

Your secretary was out of the country during the June meeting and the Board was unable to find anyone willing to record minutes of the meeting. The only record we have is a synopsis by one attendee. It will have to serve as the minutes.

As has been our custom for many years, the June meeting is held in the Trenton planetarium. Dr. Jacob Hamer, Assistant Curator of Planetarium Education at the New Jersey State Museum presented the planetarium’s sky show and the film “Spark: The Universe in Us” as well as his live presentation “Tides in the Solar System and Beyond.” It was well attended with about 45. 

Dr. Hamer was also able to project Assistant Director Bob Vanderbie’s slides of a nebula taken with his new ZWO Seestar S30 Pro. We also had a surprise guest – Sherry from ZWO, who heads their ZWO customer service center located in NJ. Bob had invited her, and she talked about their operation of the service center. They are coming out with a new S50 Pro around August.

As of June 12, 2026, we have 207 members. In CY2026, 25 new members have joined, 48 members have renewed and 26 members have allowed their memberships to expire, giving us a 65% retention rate. The retention rate for first year members is worse at only 45%.

Submitted by Gene Allen,
Secretary of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton
June 12, 2026