Category Archives: February 2021

From the Director

Next meeting by Zoom on Feb 09 at 7:30.  We continue to dream of getting back together in Peyton Hall on campus, but for the next few months at least we anticipate running the meeting virtually with Zoom.  The meeting … Continue reading

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From the Assistant Director

by Larry Kane To all AAAP members, In mid January, I sent an email to the entire AAAP membership, announcing the establishment of the Gene Ramsey Memorial Observatory Reconstruction Fund in order to raise money that will go to the … Continue reading

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From the Program Director

by Victor Davis The February meeting of 2021 will take place (virtually) on Tuesday, 9th at 7:30 PM. (See Joining the Meeting with Zoom below for details). This meeting is open to AAAP members and the general public. Due to … Continue reading

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Minutes of the January 12, 2021 AAAP General Meeting

by Larry Kane, Assistant Director ●  The meeting convened at 7:30 PM via Zoom. ●  A presentation on the physics of a refracting telescope, including a history of several instruments, including our own Hastings-Byrne was provided by member John Church. … Continue reading

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How Did Hastings Design Our Objective?

by John Church PART I I’ve often wondered what actual methods Charles Hastings used when designing the 6-1/4” objective now sitting at the business end of our fine refractor in Washington Crossing State Park.  I’ll start by quoting Hastings’ own … Continue reading

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Annie Jump Cannon and the Creation of Stellar Classification

by Athena Basu Many of you are probably familiar with the Harvard System of Stellar Classification. In this system, the O B A F G K M sequence groups stars in terms of apparent color and effective/surface temperature. O describes … Continue reading

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Meet our new member Lisa Ann Fanning

My name is Lisa Ann Fanning – I live in Marlboro Twp., NJ. I have been very casually observing since 2019. My husband, Rob  and I, are avid birders, so my beginning efforts have been utilizing a Swarovski 65mm spotting scope … Continue reading

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Snippets

compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan Did an Alien Life-Form Do a Drive-By of Our Solar System in 2017? On Nov. 12, 2018, Avi Loeb, then the chairman of the astronomy department at Harvard, and a young research associate, Shmuel … Continue reading

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