StarQuest 2014 – Volunteers Needed

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright

Welcome astronomers

Welcome Astronomers. Credit: M. Wright

Save the date! We have reserved the Hope Conference Center for the weekend of September 26 to 28 for StarQuest 2014. This weekend is in the sweet spot between the hot, short nights of summer and the chilly, frosty nights of fall. We had to settle for the first weekend after new moon because the previous weekend was already taken. Even with the new moon up in the early evening, darkness will be longer than in the summertime.

To make StarQuest 2014 a full-blown celebration of astronomy, we need members to join in the planning. Ludy D’Angelo, Kate Otto, Jim Poinsett and I have already stepped up. How about you? If we have enough volunteers, we can have a swap meet, a raffle, a Saturday afternoon lecture and other interesting activities. If not, StarQuest 2014 will only be an observing event. If you are interested in helping, please send me an email or talk to me at the next meeting. Let’s make StarQuest 2014 one to remember.

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Treasurer’s Report

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Mitrano, Treasurer

As of November 29, 2013, paid membership for the current fiscal year is now at 53, which is very close to the membership level of a year ago. If you have not yet paid your dues, this giving season is the time to do so.

After the payment of our annual insurance premium that will be due in December, our year-to-date surplus will be about $700.

On a cumulative basis, the surplus is about $23 thousand.

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Minutes of the November 12, 2013 Meeting

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright, Secretary

Director Jeff Bernardis opened the meeting and announced that the club has 2014 Astronomy calendars for sale at $10 each.

Program Chair Kate Otto introduced the speaker for the evening, member Rex Parker who presented “Galaxies, Comets, and Pixels from the High Desert” in which he talked about his recent astrophotography workshop with Adam Block at the University of Arizona’s Mt. Lemmon Sky Center. He showed images that he took with the 32-inch R-C Schulman Telescope and SBIG STX16803 CCD Camera and discussed the astrophotographic possibilities when using this equipment under dark skies. Members asked many questions about creating the images and the facility. Jeff suggested that the club should consider organizing a trip to Tucson.

After a brief break, Jeff convened the business portion of the meeting.

StarQuest – Michael Wright announced that the Hope Conference Center has been booked for September 26-28, 2014 for StarQuest. Ludy D’Angelo has agreed to cater the event if the club decides to self-cater again. Volunteers are needed to help organize the event if the club wants to have a speaker, raffles and other activities; otherwise, it will be only an observing event. Jeff suggested that a request for volunteers be published in Sidereal Times.

Sidereal Times – Mike W. announced that the deadline for Sidereal Times is Nov. 28. Also he needs the speaker’s information so he can send out the press release on Nov. 26.

Treasurer’s Report – Michael Mitrano said that there has been no substantial change in finances since the report in the November Sidereal Times. Dues are now past due. In January, he will send a reminder letter to any delinquent members, which usually brings in the remaining dues.

Program Chair’s Report – Kate Otto announced that the December speaker will be Derek Pitts, Director of the Franklin Institute’s Fells Planetarium. A Princeton graduate student will probably speak in January. John Grunsfeld, veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and former NASA Chief Scientist, has been invited to speak next year.

Simpson Observatory – Observatory Chair Gene Ramsey reported that he would be hosting 15 students from the Lawrenceville School at Washington-Crossing. He is training two new keyholders, who he expects to finish their training soon. This still leaves us about five short of the goal of having five or six keyholders on each team.

Gene requested permission to install a window in the computer room door, which sparked a debate about the need for a window in the door and a discussion about alternatives such as a camera. Jeff put the question to a vote and an overwhelming majority approved it.

Jeff said that the installation of the Gemini mount was cancelled. It was suggested that the work should be postponed until the spring due to the weather. Ludy reminded that the work was postponed last fall until the spring, and it still has not been completed. He urged that it be done now. The work was scheduled for November 26. Mike W. agreed to email a reminder.

Rex commented that public nights this year were very well attended. Jeff said that he would thank keyholders for their work in the next Sidereal Times.

Jen Skitt asked for help repairing the stereo system because it doe not produce any sound. Ludy volunteered to look at it. Gene confirmed that the microwave and cart were removed from the observatory.

New Observatory Donation – The dome, OTA, mount, camera, computer and other equipment was picked up from the donor. The dome is divided between Jeff’s garage and John Giles’ storage. John Miller has the computer. Ludy has the mount and OTA. Jeff said that the club should decide what to do with the donation so we are not imposing on these members to store the equipment. Gene asked if the scope has been tested. The answer was “No”. Ludy said the OTA is a Fastar version of the C14 that allows a camera to be mounted in place of the secondary mirror. It is very clean and appears to be well stored. The Paramount is almost brand new. Jeff said the dome is in pieces, and we do not know whether we have all the required hardware to reassemble it. If the club was to sell it, we would have to offer it as-is, which would command a lower price.

Rex questioned whether there is a committed group within the club that will see the project to completion. Jeff said that he was confident that the planning committee would have completed construction of the observatory, but he could not say whether they were still willing to do so after their plan was rejected. Rex said he thought the plan was fine but the concern of the membership was the commitment to complete the project.

Rex suggested the club look at alternative plans such as swapping out the existing C14 for the new one or mounting a C14 and the Hastings-Byrne on the new Paramount on the Hastings-Byrne’s pier. John Church and Rex debated whether it was feasible. Mike W. suggested that rather than try to engineer a scheme at this meeting, someone should prepare a list of alternatives for the next meeting. The best three or four alternatives could be select from that list and then their feasibility studied in detail. Jeff requested that members email potential alternatives to him.

Michael M. asked if the camera could be brought to the observatory so it could be tried on the existing C14. Rex suggested that it be tested on his scope. Ludy agreed to coordinate.

Outreach Report – David Letcher reported that the next outreach event on the calendar is Science Night at the Newell Elementary School in Allentown, NJ on Friday, November 15, 2013. The school is on High Street (CR 539).

Website – John Miller requested permission to increase the storage on the server from 1GB to 10GB, which will increase the annual cost from $39 to $77. The officers present agree to his request. John is also setting up a Flickr site to host the club’s photograph collection.

Jenny Jump Observatory – Bill Murray reported that the rotten wood was replaced and painted, and the electrical enclosure was repaired. He is going to put the equipment back on the scope. Chris Calli of UACNJ has agreed to monitor the observatory. Bill suggested that the club consider refurbishing the scope. One task that should be done is recoating the mirror, which would cost $100 to $200.

Jeff adjourned the meeting.

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Mangalyaan – India’s Passage to Mars

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Prasad Ganti

pslv-c25-25In the wake of the recent launch of MAVEN, the latest NASA mission to Mars, India’s space program is largely unknown to rest of the world, at least in the popular media.  At the beginning of November, India launched a spacecraft atop its Polar Space Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The destination is Mars, which is very challenging even for developed countries like US and Japan and a rapidly developing country like China. By the virtue of the sheer challenge, this launch is another milestone in India’s space history.

Mangalyaan or Mars craft was launched flawlessly and is now orbiting the Earth in a highly elliptical orbit.  The first critical maneuver will be the final boost to fling it towards Mars on December 1, 2013.  The second one will put it in Mars orbit on September 24, 2014. We could lose the spacecraft in either of these times. Until it reaches Mars, India will be waiting with bated breath, watching every day for news that the spacecraft is still alive and on course.  In addition to the bragging rights, the mission will help India get more sophisticated space launch business from other countries. Also, nationalities apart (I am proud of my motherland India and my adopted land US), overall it is good for humanity.

Ever since India launched the Aryabhata satellite in 1975, it has come a long way by building and launching more sophisticated satellites, and developing its own launch rockets with increasing payloads and higher orbits.  There has been no dearth of critics.  Some belittled the achievements by comparing the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) with NASA; some questioned India’s economic priorities; and some called India’s competition with China an Asian space race.  Clearly, ISRO cannot be compared with NASA, which has lot more resources and technology at its disposal even in times of dwindling space budgets.  Past space missions have helped India with communications, weather forecasting, and remote sensing and have created a business launching satellites for other countries.  Rather than being a pure science mission, Mangalyaan will add to India’s core technical capabilities.  I do not think Indian’s rivalry with China is a space race.  China is better in some spheres like putting a man in space, but lost the mission to Mars.

trajectory-design1

Like my physics professor used to say, we all are “prisoners of gravity”, meaning that Earth keeps us chained to its surface.  Escaping from Earth needs lots of fuel and powerful engines to generate the thrust.  Fuel is most of a rocket’s mass at launch time. By the time the rocket leaves the Earth’s atmosphere, which is about 60 miles above the Earth’s surface, most of its fuel is exhausted.

Most of car-sized Mangalyaan’s mass is its own fuel.  It has its own motors and fuel, separate from that of the launch rocket, PSLV.   The rest of the mass is scientific instruments, antennas, solar panels, etc.  Once in orbit around Earth, the satellite needs very little fuel to maintain its orbit, but the orbit must be adjusted to higher orbits of different shape before slinging it towards Mars. Consider this like an Olympic hammer thrower spinning faster and faster before flinging the hammer.  The spacecraft needs fuel for this purpose.  Once thrown towards Mars, the engines are shut down on the long journey.  Remember that Mars is not stationary during the trip. It is moving around the Sun like the Earth does.  The path which the spacecraft takes is carefully calculated to intercept Mars.

pslv-c25-20Mangalyaan is spending more time in Earth orbit before going to Mars. It gets incremental boosts during this time because the launch rocket was not very powerful. A PSLV rocket was used, which is meant for low orbit and low payload launches. The Geostationary Space Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is more powerful and can launch heavier payloads to higher altitudes, but there were a string of recent GSLV failures. The next GSLV test is sometime in December.

Once Mangalyaan approaches Mars, in September 2014, the engines are switched on by remote commands from Earth because it must slow down. There are no brakes on its wheels and no wheels either! Fuel is burned to generate reverse thrust to slow it down.  Slowing will enable Mars’ gravity to capture it.  If this capture fails, the spacecraft will fly beyond Mars and end up as space debris.  Mangalyaan does not have enough fuel to try a second capture like an airplane circling an airport and coming back for landing.  Once captured, some minor adjustments are required by burning more fuel.    Scientific observations using the onboard instruments can start after this stabilization exercise.

Mangalyaan will only orbit and will not land on Mars.  Landing is a very complex exercise needing a whole new level of sophisticated technology. Maybe Mangalyaan 2 will do it!

The spacecraft has its own intelligence in the form of computers and software because everything cannot be commanded from Earth.  Radio waves take 20 minutes to reach Mars from Earth, which means that each command would take 20 minutes to reach the spacecraft, and each response would take another 20 minutes to return. Direct control is not possible.

mars14In 2008-09, India successfully launched a lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1 or Moon Craft 1, which discovered evidence of water on the moon.  Mangalyaan was developed from technology tested during the Chandrayaan mission.  Five solar-powered instruments aboard Mangalyaan will gather data to help determine how Martian weather systems work and what happened to the water that is believed to have once existed on Mars in large quantities. Mangalyaan will also search for methane, a key chemical which can give clues about existence of life.

Only the European Space Agency, USA and USSR have succeeded so far. Good luck to Mangalyaan!

Photo Credits: ISRO
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How to Buy Your First Telescope

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright

Around the holidays, astronomers get asked by friends and family members about how to buy a first telescope.  In fact, the club received just such a questions last week from someone whose interest was sparked by a visit to our observatory.  I’ve put together this brief guide to help answer that question based on my research and experience.

Every experienced astronomer has an opinion about how to pick your first telescope. Here’s a sampling of some prominent ones:

Sky and Telescope Magazine
Astronomy Magazine
Ed Ting
Astronomical Society of Las Cruses
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
Universe Today – Fraser Cain
Joe Roberts: here and here
Weber State University
Jay Reynolds Freeman

In addition to the above opinions, here are my own:

  • Before shelling out for a telescope, explore the night sky with your naked eyes and binoculars. Get outside and enjoy. Learn the constellations. This will test your enthusiasm for the hobby and give you a good introduction.  If you still want a telescope after a couple of months, then go ahead.
  • Find out what you will be able to see in a telescope.  The color photographs in astronomy books and magazine and found all over the Internet are produced using long exposures and large observatory telescopes or the Hubble Space Telescope. Views through an amateur telescope are very different.  Check out the sketches at Astronomy Sketch of the Day or the book Turn Left at Orion.  The pictures are more representative of what you will actually see.
  • Buy a reputable brand.  Meade, Celestron and Orion are the big three companies for beginner scopes.  This does not mean that other brands are bad.  Some companies like Tele-Vue and Takahashi specialize in high-end scopes more suitable for experienced observers.
  • Don’t buy a department store telescope. They are junk.  If you’ve received one as a gift and cannot return it, Joe Roberts explains how to correct their problems. Save your money until you can afford a quality scope.
  • Size counts. Buy the biggest aperture that you can afford.
  • Make sure that the mount is sturdy and stable.  A shaky mount will ruin the best optics.
  • Consider portability.  If you have to transport your scope, a smaller, lighter scope may be more appropriate because it will get used more. Also, available storage space may be a constraint.  Dobsonian mounted reflectors are often recommended as first scopes; however, they are bulky and heavy. I elected to buy a Meade ETX-90 for my first scope because I did not have the storage space for a Dob.
  • Include accessories in your budget because you are going to want eyepieces, filters, a finder, a cover, a dew shield, carrying cases, etc.  that usually do not come with the scope.
  • Consider buying used equipment.  Often good used equipment can be bought economically from someone who has upgraded to a better scope and no longer needs their first scope.  Astromart and Cloudy Nights run classified ads for amateur astronomers selling scopes.  I bough both my scopes and many accessories from Astromart ads.  Be sure to read their advice.
  • Go to a star party and try out some scopes. Most astronomers will let you look through their scope and tell you all about it.

GOTO mounts (a.k.a computer controllers) deserve a special mention because they are controversial. Some feel that reliance on GOTO mounts prevents users from truly learning the night sky. They prefer that observers star hop to objects and thereby learn the layout of the sky. Others feel that the convenience of GOTO mounts allows users to enjoy the night sky faster and avoid frustration finding faint objects. Should you pay extra for the convenience of the GOTO, or should you spend the money on more aperture?  The answer depends on your goals and needs.

So you decide to go slow and try using binoculars first.  How do you choose a suitable pair?  Binoculars are specified by magnification and objective size.  For example, 7×50 binos have a 50mm objective lens (the big ones in front) and magnify seven times. Weight is the most important feature because you have to be able hold them steady. Also, the size of the objective lenses is important because bigger ones will gather more light and let you see fainter objects; however, bigger ones are heavier.  You have to balance weight vs objective size.  Magnification is secondary.  7×42, 7×50, 8×40, 8×45, 8×50 or something similar would be a good choice for astronomy.  One other thing: make sure they have a focusing wheel.  I once had a pair that had a lever for quick focusing.  The lever made it difficult to get a good focus on stars and planets.

Highpoint Scientific, a NJ vendor, has pages for roof-prism and porro-prism binos.  These pages will give you an idea of reputable brands, weights and prices.  Also, you can hold some binos to see what would be a comfortable weight if you visit local sporting goods stores.

I hope this guide helps someone make the right choice this holiday season.  If I missed something or you have other opinions, I invite you to improve this article by posting a comment.

Clear skies and warm evenings to enjoy them.

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The Best of Sidereal Times

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright, Co-editor

When we scanned back issues of Sidereal Times for the 50th Anniversary Dinner, Surabhi and I found many lost gems buried in the archive. Occasionally, we will republish some. This is the first installment.

In December 2004, Ron Mittelstaedt wrote an article called Cold Weather Observing. With the recent cold snap presaging cold nights of winter, readers will probably find his advice useful.

Cold Weather Observing

Please click the image to read the article.

If anyone remembers any noteworthy articles that we should republish, please leave a comment.

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NASA’s MAVEN Orbiter Soars to Space to Study History of Mars Water

Posted on November 30, 2013 by ST Editors

by Dr. Ken Kremer:  Universe Today & AAAP

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) space probe thundered to space on Nov. 18, 2013 following a flawless blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 1:28 p.m. EST atop a powerful Atlas V rocket.

IMG_1870_2b_MAVEN launch_Ken Kremer

MAVEN launches atop Atlas V booster Credit: Ken Kremer

“Hey guys, we’re going to Mars!” gushed Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN’s Principal Investigator at a post launch briefing for reporters.

The countdown went off absolutely perfectly culminating in a spectacular and on time lift off that rumbled across the Florida Space Coast to the delight of cheering crowds assembled for the launch.

The $671 Million MAVEN spacecraft separated from the Atlas Centaur upper stage 52 minutes after liftoff, unfurled its wing like solar panels and thus began a 10-month interplanetary voyage to the Red Planet.  The spacecraft will reach the Red Planet on Sept. 22, 2014.

“We’re heading out to the Red Planet right now,” said MAVEN Project Manager David Mitchell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center at the briefing, after the 5,400-pound spacecraft was safely soaring through space.

MAVEN’s purpose is to discover the history of water and habitability stretching back over billions of years on Mars and answer key questions about the evolution of Mars, its geology and the potential for the evolution of life.  Mars was once wet billions of years ago, but no longer.  Now it’s a cold arid world, not exactly hospitable to life.  MAVEN will measure current rates of atmospheric loss to understand how the Red Planet may have lost its atmosphere and water over billions of years.  Over the course of its one-Earth-year primary mission, MAVEN will observe all latitudes at altitudes ranging from 93 miles to more than 3,800 miles.

“We want to determine what were the drivers of that change?” said Jakosky.  “What is the history of Martian habitability, climate change and the potential for life?”

Read my Universe Today story for more about MAVEN:

Astronomy Outreach      by Dr. Ken Kremer

AAAP: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ: Dec 10, 8 PM,  “Upcoming Cygnus/Antares ISS Rocket Launch from Virginia.”

Rittenhouse Astronomical Society: Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA: Dec 11, 8 PM, “Curiosity, MAVEN and the Search for Life on Mars” and  “Antares ISS Rocket Launch from Virginia.” 

Rodeway Inn: Chincoteague Island, VA: Dec 17/18, “Cygnus/Antares ISS Rocket Launch from Virginia.”

Dr. Ken Kremer:  Universe Today & AAAP

Please contact Ken for more info, science outreach presentations and his space photos. Email: kremerken@yahoo.com   website:  www.kenkremer.com, http://www.universetoday.com/author/ken-kremer/

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From the Director

Posted on November 7, 2013 by ST Editors

by Jeff Bernardis, Director

Based on the teaser that Rex showed at the last meeting, I am full of anticipation – both at Rex’s upcoming talk, and on the actual events to come in the sky over the next few months.

For those who were not there last month, Rex showed a video clip – perhaps 20 seconds in length – that showed comet ISON on its inward trajectory towards the sun. Although only a few seconds in length, it represented about 30 minutes of real time, and in that brief time, the movement of the comet against the background stars was readily observable. It was a fantastic video, and I look forward to the remainder of the story that Rex will provide us at the next meeting.

I also look forward to the comet itself. I wrote about this earlier, but in summary, the comet is currently inward bound. It is observable, but it won’t be at its closest to earth until after perihelion sometime around Christmas. Although there is some question about what will survive perihelion, this comet has the potential to be brighter that Hale-Bopp.

Changing subjects to the continuing saga of the observatory donation, we have acquired all of the items from the donation and will move forward with the testing the OTA to decide whether or not we want to swap it with the current C14 at Washington Crossing. The camera equipment, although somewhat dated, is also high quality and something that members of the club can readily use.

The real area of concern for me is the dome itself. When we picked it up, it was disassembled. The pieces are scattered to John Giles’ storage locker and to Ludy’s and my homes. Even not considering my own personal situation here, I do not want the club imposing itself on John and Ludy for an extended period of time. We need a resolution as to what to do with the dome – and selling it is an option – in the near term, hopefully before the end of our club year. We have never seen it in its assembled form, so we cannot represent that we have every nut and bolt needed to reassemble it. It would have to be sold “as is” which, to some extent, will compromise the price we can command.

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From the Program Chair

Posted on November 7, 2013 by ST Editors

Kate Otto, Program Chair

AAAP’s next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. in Peyton Hall. Member Rex Parker , PhD. (Indiana University, 1985, Biochemistry) will present “Galaxies, Comets, and Pixels from the High Desert” in which he will talk about his recent astrophotography visit to Arizona.

Rex Parker

Rex Parker

Rex is an avid amateur astronomer, astrophotographer and former director of AAAP, which he joined in 1993.

As member of the Hopewell Township Environmental Commission he helped write the township’s Outdoor Lighting Ordinance to help prevent light pollution near the AAAP observatory.

Professionally, Rex has been engaged in pharmaceutical research and cell & molecular biology for over 25 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb, currently as Senior Research Fellow in Cardiovascular Biology at the BMS Hopewell site. He has over 40 journal publications and led the discovery of the diabetes drug Saxaglitpin/Onglyza at BMS. His work includes biotechnology applications of optoelectronics and image processing, which fits perfectly with his long-standing interests in astronomy, astrophotography, and astrobiology. The observatory that he built in his backyard is equipped with a Paramount-MX, Celestron C11 and Takahashi-FS-128 telescopes and an SBIG-ST10XME camera. He enjoys CCD imaging deep sky objects & planets.

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From the Outreach Chair

Posted on November 7, 2013 by ST Editors

by David Letcher, Outreach Chair

Well, star party season has started with our usual visits. Monday evening, October 28 saw us at the Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick showing Ms. McCarthy’s astronomy class a few sky objects. Unfortunately, there was a thin layer of clouds that prevented us from seeing a lot of objects but we were able to see Venus, the double double in Lyra, and a couple of globular clusters. Thanks to members Jeff Bernardis, Mary and Pat Hayes, David Zahler, Victor Davis and yours truly for volunteering!

Saturday evening, November 2 will see Gene Ramsey and some others visit South Hunterdon High School and do some stargazing with the school’s astronomy class.

Friday evening, November 15th will see a number of volunteers visiting Newell Elementary School in Allentown, NJ. This evening is part of their “Science-Live” night. The visit is one of our regular star parties and is very well attended! Let’s hope for clear skies and lots of volunteers!

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Treasurer’s Report

Posted on November 7, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Mitrano, Treasurer

StarQuest is behind us and member dues continue to come in. At this point, 41 members have paid – one person less than at the same date a year ago. If you’ve not yet paid, please send your check to the PO box.

Expenses have been modest so far this fiscal year, and year-to-date surplus is about $1,600.

On a cumulative basis, our surplus is nearly $24 thousand.

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Minutes of the October 8, 2013 AAAP Meeting

Posted on November 7, 2013 by ST Editors

by Michael Wright, Secretary

Director Jeff Bernardis opened the meeting by welcoming and recognizing new members.

Jeff announced that former Director Kirk Alexander recently passed away in his home in California after a battle with cancer. John Church remembered Kirk as one of the best AAAP Directors and noted that Kirk organized the 40th Anniversary Dinner. Rex Parker remembered Kirk had a 7-inch Questar on a Losmandy G11 mount that he brought to StarQuest.

Program Chair Kate Otto introduced the speaker for the evening, member Ken Kremer who gave an informative presentation entitled, “NASA’s LADEE and Cygnus Blast Off from Virginia” Ken presented eyewitness accounts of the recent historic rocket launches to the moon and the International Space Station from America’s newest spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. He updated us on the latest NASA missions including MAVEN and the government shutdown’s impact on NASA’s operations.

After a brief break, Rex Parker gave a preview of talk that he will give at next month’s Member’s Night about imaging Comet ISON at recent astroimaging workshop that he attended given by Adam Block of the University of Arizona.

Jeff convened the business portion of the meeting.

New Observatory Donation – Plans are in the works to pick up the equipment from the donor’s storage facility on Saturday, October 12, 2013. Dome pieces will be stored in John Giles’ shed. Jeff had hoped to coordinate the pickup at this meeting, but will email or call the volunteers who were not in attendance.

StarQuest – Jeff observed that StarQuest was a success this year and asked for volunteers to organize next year’s event. Mike Wright said that he is willing to organize the event if Ludy will cater it again. Rex Parker suggested that the club hold it in the summer time. Gene Ramsey said that StarQuest was held in the summertime for few years. It was moved to the fall in the hope that weather would be better. The results have been mixed. Michael pointed out that it does not get dark until late in the summer. He will check with the conference center about availability on new moon weekends.

Assistant Director’s Report – Larry Kane reported that there is a “Friends of Washington-Crossing Park” group forming to support the park. The park administration asked AAAP to participate so Larry will be representing the club.

Secretary’s Report – Mike reported that he is setting up email boxes for the officers and committee chairs so they do not have to publicize their private email addresses. Also, he is creating a mailing list that can be used to broadcast emails to the membership. This will avoid the need to download the roster or maintain address books. Mike will maintain the mail list. Jeff said he liked the idea of a mail list for keyholders also.

Program Chair’s Report – Kate reported that the November will be a member’s night. Derek Pitts of Franklin Institute’s Fells Planetarium has agreed to speak in December.

Simpson Observatory – Observatory Chair Gene Ramsey confirmed that the Gemini mount will be installed on Saturday October 26, 2013 by himself, Rex and John Church.

Gene reported that recently 50-80 students and parents from the Chapin School visited the observatory. He requested that members bring their scopes to the observatory on nights when large groups are expected. Large school and scout groups are expected on October 11 and October 19, 2013. Gene said that new member Dan Vorgity, a teacher at South Hunterdon HS, brought his students to the observatory on August 30, 2013. He thanked Bill Murray for helping collimate their telescope that night. Dan said the administration, parents and students are excited about the new astronomy course that he is teaching. He thanked Gene and the club for their help.

Gene said he would like to get rid of the microwave and cart in the observatory. No one objected so he will dispose of it. He suggested that the club sell or donate the 8-inch Dobsonian and solar scope stored in the observatory. Jeff said that it’s important to have scopes available for member’s use so we should keep them.

Outreach Report – Jeff reported that the only outreach event on the calendar so far is Science Night at the Newell Elementary School in Allentown, NJ on Friday, November 15, 2013.

Jenny Jump Observatory – Bill Murray reported that 200-300 people completed the repairs to the observatories at Jenny Jump, including AAAP’s observatory. The rotten wood was replaced and painted, and the electrical enclosure was repaired.

Jeff adjourned the meeting.

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