AANC Board Meeting Minutes 2007

CLUB REPORTS

Conference Committee Meeting—Doug Brown's Notes: AANCconNotes20070603.pdf

Attending [official attendance list in Doug Brown's Notes]: Doug Brown, Ed Pieret, Carter Roberts, Ken Frank, Alan Gould, Darryl Sanford, Mike Koop, Dean Drumhiller, Mike Portuesi, Walt Heiges, Mohsen Janatpour, Mike Ryan, Dave Harris, Michael Kran, John Dobson, Vivian White, Liede-Marie Haitsma

Agenda
AANC-Con Organizing Committee
6/3/07 9:30 AM, CSM Planetarium
Conference Call 866-744-9692, Passcode 634-6737
Time Topic
5 min Agenda Review
5 min Action Items
45 min Sub-committee plans and status reports
5 min Next Steps

Details of Action Items discussed: Update roles, Develop initial action plans (teams), AV setup, Theater availability, Food facilities and rules, Raffle permission, Find webmaster (revised: Michael P can handle this), Provide web content (registration, program, speakers, raffle).

There was discussion of each subcommittee progress and remaining work to do. Michael P suggesting "uncombining" website and communications/publicity.
New Communications and publicity group: Vivian (chair) Michael Kran, Moehson, Darryl, Ken, Alan, [Michael P via website]

Doug asked if we can have an August Conference Committee meeting. It will be Aug 26.

Conference Committee adjourned 10:52am

AANC Board meeting:

Mike moved, Liede-Marie seconded to approve AANC grant for Inter-Collegiate Astro-Imaging Competition - Las Positas College Astronomy Club (Livermore, CA). Motion passed.

Carter nominated (moved) Richard Ozer as interim treasurer. Several seconds. Motion passed unanimously.

Adjourned 11am.

Conference website - http://www.aancstars2007.org/directions.shtml

From Michael Portuesi: Below is list of the content I require from the team leads in order to fill out the website. ...I'll accept this information in just about any format, but plain text is preferred. If you spend hours in MS Word doing fancy formatting, I'll just end up stripping it all out so I can format it the way the website requires. So please don't worry about presentation. Content is mainly what I require.

Conference Registration
list of benefits for registering
cost
ordering links
availability at conference

Schedule/Events
For each event, please provide:
Start time
End time
Location on campus
Title of event
Short description - who is this suitable for
Organization sponsoring event
Any fee/ticketing required to gain admittance

Speakers
For each speaker, please provide:
Speaker photo (preferably a head shot)
Name (PLEASE check spelling carefully)
Institution or company they represent, if any
Title of talk
Blurb describing talk
Bio blurb

Raffle
Ticket cost
Time of drawing
List of prizes
Local sponsors

Pin/T-shirt info
Pictures of merchandise
Pricing - and what comes with a conference registration?
Ordering links

Vendors
For each vendor, please provide:
Logo image
Name of vendor
Address/link to website
Any notes ("donated XXX telescope to raffle", for instance)

Volunteers
Provide names to be listed here, and any special thanks certain people might require

FROM DEBBIE DYKE:

Designs for AANC con 2007 T-shirts and pins.

...I've come up with a couple of T-shirt ideas and several pin ideas (based on the shirt designs).... I wanted to vary the logo a bit from the College of San Mateo so as to try and avoid any confusion from our conference and their fund raising program. I'm assuming we'll be doing the Cafe Press thing in terms of t-shirt production. White or light colored shirts would work best. The pins will be "printed" just like the one I did for AstroCon in Berkeley. That allows for the color gradient in the hands and a smaller text size. In the PDF, you'll see a gold box around the image--that's to represent the gold edge of the pin. --Debbie

AANC Grant Proposal - 29 Apr 2007

Title: Inter-Collegiate Astro-Imaging Competiton 

Name of requesting organization: Las Positas College Astronomy Club
(Livermore, CA)

Name and contact info of person preparing the proposal:

Michael Kran
106 Barbaree Way,
Tiburon, CA 94920

Email: michael.kran@kran.com
Home phone: 415-888-3293

Date of proposal: April 29, 2007

Grant Request, Brief description of how the grant funds would be used:

            We are seeking $175 in prize money to encourage entrants in an inter-collegiate astrophotography competition.

The Las Positas College Astronomy Club has decided to promote an inter-collegiate astrophotography competition.  The participation of Dr. Richard Nolthenius of Cabrillo College, Eric Harpell of Las Positas College, and Alice Pevyhouse of the College of Marin has been solicited and each has responded with enthusiasm.  Ultimately, the success of the competition depends on the participation of the college students, not just their professors.  Therefore, we have decided that a monetary award for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place to help generate interest in the competition.  Once that initial interest is generated, students will discover the satisfaction that success brings in the challenging field of astrophotography. 

We currently have a Las Positas College only Astro-Imaging Competition for the current Spring 2007.  The submission deadline is May 16th at noon.  The winner will be announced ten days later on Saturday, May 26th.  We are NOT asking for any grant for this current one-campus competition. This grant request refers only to our future, three-college competition for fall 2007. 

We are seeking a grant for $175 to allow us to award $100 for the 1st Place, $50 for the 2nd Place, and $25 for the 3rd Place. The image submission deadline is early December and the award will be given in mid-December.

Explanation of how the grant benefits amateur astronomy:

With this second competition we have stretched beyond the walls of our own college, and are reaching out to build community among astronomy students in the Bay Area colleges, and stimulate interest in the fledging programs at two of these colleges. We will also be stretching the limited resources of the club.

With the expansion in the number of schools participating, the LPC Astronomy Club had decided to expand of the number of awards from just one (1st Place only) to three (1st, 2nd and 3rd Place), we seek your financial support to expand our activities to other community colleges in Northern California and increase awareness of the hobby and science of astrophotography among college-aged amateurs.

Ultimately, in the years to come, we hope that a positive student reaction will encourage more California community colleges to teach astrophotography, a subject that elegantly combines aesthetics in the photographic arts with physics, electronics, mathematical algorithms, optics, post-capture image processing, and an understanding of weather and its impact on seeing.  It is a rich field to stimulate scientific inquiry and aesthetic creativity and is almost unique in unifying two different student populations (arts, and sciences) into a single endevor. We believe encouraging bringing together these future artists and scientists can only enrich all.

Designation of a person who will report to the AANC Board on Grant spending and Grant Activities:

I, Michael Kran, will report back to the AANC Board on grant spending and grant activity including, but not limited to:
    -when the grant funds are spent,
    -how they have used,
    -what benefit the grant has been,
    -any obstacles overcome or lessons learned.

Date by which the recipient organization expects to report to the AANC Board on Grant spending and Grant activities:

I will have a report prepared for presentation the third week of January 2008. 

Our Club is already sponsoring an imaging competition.  It is currently limited to students at Las Positas College.   We only have a 1st Prize, which is $100.  I have personally funded this prize to stimulate more interest in imaging on the LPC campus.  It has already bred a friendly competitiveness among the student of Astro 9 – “Astrophotography”.  It is the first time this course has been taught on the LPC campus.  However, I am glad to report that the competition has not interfered with or diminished the openness of students to help other students improve.  Tips, traps and techniques are shared freely on our class website.

Through the generosity of Bill Drelling and the astrophotography group of the East Bay Astronomical Society, Bill has assembled a panel of four members to act as external judges to evaluate the student submissions, select a winner, and provide constructive feedback to the students.  It is, in part, because experienced outsiders are judging the whole school that the students of LPC have been drawn closer together, rather than forced apart through competition.

I will be hoping for the same positive impact resulting from our future, inter-collegial competition.  I cannot anticipate in advance if Bill Drelling and the members of the astrophotography group of the East Bay Astronomical Society would be willing to again generously donate their time to judge the fall images. I have not yet broached the subject with EAS.

Nonetheless, I intend that the fall judging will be performed by a panel of external judges that have no association with any of the participating schools.  I assured Bill that this Spring 2007 competition would generate no more than 30 images to judge.  This fall’s competition will have three times as many schools, and I cannot anticipate the total number of submissions.

We are learning about the single-college competition now, and will apply lessons learned to multi-college competitions in the future.  We anticipate holding astro-imaging competitions beyond fall 2007, and to reach out to additional Northern California community colleges.  Cautious growth will allow us to apply lessons learned at each step as we expand.  Our objective is to stimulate interest in the rapidly advancing field of astrophotography within the California community college system, its faculty, and the student population.

We feel AANC is uniquely positioned as a cross-club, Northern California association.  We welcome suggestions from the AANC Board or its members.

MOUNT DIABLO ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY:
MDAS board meeting (5-7-07) the main topic of discussion was the 50th Anniversary Celebration of MDAS for June 9th on the Lower Summit Parking Lot of Mount Diablo; this is a Public Night and we will be having cakes with the MDAS logo, talks about the history of MDAS/MDOA, and the rangers will also discuss the park and its various programs; we are also giving out door prizes; and the Warming Room will be open and films shown on space programs; everyone involved with the park is invited, and notification has been placed in the local newspapers.


MOUNT DIABLO OBSERVATORY ASSOCIATION:
MDOA board meeting (5-23-07) and what was the main topic was the situation with regards to the installation of wires underground to the generator and fuel tank for use on the Warming Room; the need to dig a ditch in the parking lot to install said wires has created a need for an Environmental Impact Study to be done by the State, the rangers will be checking into this and will get the necessary paperwork; the Impact Study could take about 3 to 4 months, and as a result the Warming Room will be using a portable generator for light.
Richard Ozer wants to set up a Yahoo-group email address for MDOA members.
And also, Richard Ozer would like to install Photoshop into the telescope with regards to the Special Interest Group to do imaging in the future; those interested in imaging on the scope will have to be trained on the scope usage.

MOUNT DIABLO INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION:
MDIA board meeting (5-24-07) Ranger Dan Stefanisko reported that there is going to be a virtual website installed (same used by realtors to view homes); they have a program in mind; the amount of the website is in question at the moment but once they have it, it will be placed under the MDIA website. Dan passed around an example of what will be on the site and it looks great! I asked if the Observatory/WR would be shown and he said “yes”. There will be icons to the various areas of interest.

Then Craig Mattson spoke; there will be a webcam installed at the Summit Visitor’s Center; he is using other funds as he is no longer waiting for Save Mt. Diablo/Chevron to come forth; there will be a DSL connection.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP:
Thirty-one members; the Observatory will be used for imaging in the future as soon as SIG members are trained on the scope;
Richard Ozer would like to install Photoshop into the telescope on Mount Diablo for imaging purposes.


OUTREACH EVENTS:
The Outreach events involving schools are coming to a close; Summer is here and schools are closing; it’s been a wonderful school year for school outreach…again, thank you Jim Head for getting everything together; it was fun and we had over 1500 students/teachers/parents participating in the events. During the summer months we’ll have scouting groups coming up Mt. Diablo to view through scopes and binoculars, and the Warming Room will be used to teaching and films. Each year it’s getting bigger and better, and with the help of Marni and Jim, the popularity of MDAS Outreach is growing…two thumbs up for Marni and Jim!
Library displays and tabling are continued by Liede-Marie Haitsma and have caused those interested in Astronomy to check out MDAS whether by going to the meetings and/or going to Public Nights.

[From: Liede M. Haitsma]

Hercules Stargazers Club Report

May 12, 2007 -- Despite great weather, our stargaze was cancelled due to other commitments by the regular observers. Instead, Dave H. and Steve F. looked at a possible alternative dark site in the area off Highway 4.

May 19, 2007 -- Dave H. and Timo K. arrived in time to observe the Venus-Moon conjunction before thin clouds obscured the entire sky. After a brief discussion about our continuing dark site search, Dave checked out another possible site in the Hercules area.

Our next scheduled stargazes are June 16, July 14, and August TBA.

Submitted by Dave Harris

ASP Updates

We're happy to welcome a new Executive Director, Jim Manning from Space Science Telescope Institute (MD). He will be taking over the reigns in July. Mike Bennett is retiring to spend more time sailing and enjoying life. The annual award winners have just been announced and include Andy Fraknoi, who will receive the Richard H. Emmons Award for excellence in college astronomy teaching. The ASP is now offering SEED Grants for scientists who would like to do education outreach.
Applications due June 30th. All the details and more news here:
http://www.astrosociety.org/

Hope that helps. I am going to try to make it down to San Mateo tomorrow, but may have to call in. Could you please tell me the number to call for that? You can reply to this address or leave me a voice
mail at 415-279-2932

Thanks!

~Vivian White

SFAA Club Report

The SFAA's membership has been grownig at a good clip, mostly due to I suspect our annual Yosemite and Fremont Peak trips.
Our SLAC tour bumped up the volume too.
Vivian is gearing up for the onslaut of membership as we are changing over to a June one time membership due date as most other AANC clubs arlready do currently, making the treasurer's job easier.

Michael Portuesi has pdf'd our snazzy new membership application adding a new Cassini jpg as well.

Pubic Astronomy - ISAN was a mixed blessing; Mt. Tam had so so conditions, 9th & Irving did well as did Ghirardelli Square with John Dobson and me had an assortment of sidewalk planet gazers from Sonoma to Spain. It did get the word out though. Many fliers were passed out and lots of eyeballs saw the visible planets and Moon.

Normal SFAA telecope clinics start one hour before the SFAA City Star Party and are open to the general public. For more details, see http://www.sfsidewalkastronomers.org/clinic.html.

Our FPOA outing is June 15-16
Yosemite is July 13-14 http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/events/annual_yosemite.php

We have a great lineup of speakers for this year http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/lectures/

Ken Frank

1. Called to order by Walt at 9:30 am

2. Roll call - Alan Introduction of new members
Doug Brown, Ed Pieret, Ken Frank, Alan Gould, Darryl Sanford, Mike Koop, Dean Drumhiller, Mike Portuesi, Walt Heiges, Mohsen Janatpour, Mike Ryan, Dave Harris, Michael Kran, John Dobson, Vivian White, Liede-Marie Haitsma, Richard Ozer, Steve Nelson.

New member: Chanan Greenberg

3. Approve minutes - Mike moved Chanan seconded to approve minutes. Passed. Liede-Marie later pointed out the Richard Ozer was not listed as attendee, but he was.
Last AANC meeting notes can be found here:
http://aanc-astronomy.org/AANCminutes/AANCminutes.html

4. Treasurer's report Richard, Walt, Alan
Richard Ozer is acting treasurer. All AANC officers are now signtories to the Washington Mutual AANC account. Walt will try to get us access to Franklin money fund (Rancho Cordova).

5. Old business - None

6. New business

AANC Award nominations

AMATEUR

Liede-Marie Haitsma/MDAS - nominates Jim Head/Outreach Representative for the AANC Amateur Award. Member of MDAS since 2003 and is in charge of outreach. Programs for schools.

Ken Frank (SFAA) nominates Michael Portuesi.

PROFESSIONAL

Walt (SVAS) nominates Chris Hulbe for Professional Award. Sacramento City College and Sacramento State U.

Mike Portuesi (SFAA) - nomimates Phil Plait of Sonoma State U (now in Colo). Runs daily blog. Bad Astronomy website. Dedicated to debunking bogus astronomy assertions.

SPECIAL

Ken Frank (SFAA) nominates Dean Drumhiller, CSM.

COMMERCIAL

Richard Ozer nominates Michelle Stone from Plettstone Telescopes.

Please remember to turn in your nominations for this years outstanding individuals supporting and fostering Amateur Astronomy
for Amateur Professional Commercial Special
http://aanc-astronomy.org/awards-AANC.html

Upcoming FPOA StarBQ - /Doug Brown - In 2 weeks will be the Star-B-Q, featuring the Pereseids. Vice Chair of Astronomy Dept at Santa Cruz is featured speaker. FPOA will submit request for 1/2 of expenses to be paid by AANC at next meeting.

AANC Award nominees Walt clubs, e-mail list, request for award nominees

Honorarium proposal for Speakers - Ken - Jane Houston Jones would appreciate an honorarium to cover travel expenses. Ken moves that we allocate $350 honorarium for Jane Jones. Liede-Marie seconds. Motion passed.

Ken was given info from John Westfall re the upcoming August 27-28 Total Lunar Eclipse. Westfall gave presentation at MDAS recently. Michael Portuesi is working on an eclipse article now for the SFSA website.

7. Club reports

8. Adjourned 10:03

AANC "Reach for the Stars" Committee Meeting

Conference Committee Meeting—Doug Brown taking notes

Meeting Notes: Powerpoint | PDF

Richard Bennion gave report on RealSky Show http://www.realskyshow.com.

Adjourned 11am.

Conference website - http://www.aancstars2007.org/directions.shtml

Designs for AANC con 2007 T-shirts and pins.

To... Archives of AANC Board Meeting Minutes

CLUB REPORTS

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE (LHS)
From Alan Gould
Saturday Night Stargazing on LHS Plaza for free every 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, weather permitting. For live view, indication of current weather conditions, see LHS View web cam - http://sv.berkeley.edu/view
Planetarium shows every day this summer: 1 pm Flying High (ages 4-7; an imaginary trip to space); 2:15 pm Target Earth (ages 6-adult; about probabilities and effects of collisions of asteroids or comets with Earth); 3:30 pm Constellations Tonight (ages 6-adult; learn to use your own star map to find the constellations)
LHS open to public 10-5 daily. Admission: $9.50 adults; $7.50 ages 5-18 yrs old; $5.50 children 3-4yrs old.

MOUNT DIABLO OBSERVATORY ASSOCIATION:
From: Liede M. Haitsma
Ranger has completed and mailed out the Project Evaluation Form regarding the ditching for the propane tank; this will take about three months (+/-) to process; form was sent last month (May); hoping that the Warming Room will be up-and-running by the end of the year.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP/IMAGING:
There are 32 MDAS members plus 2 out-of-state people; the Observatory is beginning to be used for training on the computer and the telescope by interested MDOA and SIG members for imaging purposes; Richard Ozer is doing the training.

MOUNT DIABLO ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY:
October-MDAS will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary with a club potluck.
November-MDAS will be having its swapmeet/auction
Outreach-a few scouting events; school outreach will be up-and-running again once school opens in August/September; library displays continue to be put up each month in various Contra Costa libraries; Public Star Parties draw large groups now that the temps are warmer on Mt. Diablo.

Hercules Stargazers Club Report

Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:50:03
From: David Harris

Stargazes held at Foxboro Park, Hercules:

June 16, 2007 -- Two scopes set up from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.. A clear sky, but bad seeing due to air turbulence. A few visitors from the neighborhood.

July 14, 2007 -- Two 10" Dobs set up from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., and a few more visitors from the area. Many objects seen, including M13, Jupiter and moons, The Ring Nebula, M8, M20, M81 and M82.

Next Stargazes -- August 4, September 8, October 13, and November 10.

SFAA Club Report

SFAA Club Report for Sunday July 29, 2007

CSP (City Star Partys) have been mostly a wash. The fickled finger of fog comes in at the inappropriate time. We've even discussed conducting sidewalk astronomy when the weather is suitable vs scheduled times because of our bad luck. On a lighter note,
our New Moon Yosemite was a great hit for 40+ SFAAer's...especially the Saturday eve Pot Luck. Check out the pix http://www.planitarium.net/sfaa/yosemite/ and see the show & tell breakfast club. Our seeing was "mushy" on Friday according to Mojo, who gave his fine talk to a filled Glacier Point amphitheatre. Dave Frey brought his 18 AND 20" to Yosemite for all to gawk. Saturday brought clouds and sucker holes, but fine observing of Ganymede's transit. Vivian is squaring away the finances. Joe is working on the web pages, the Board is getting me organized. Fall Astronomy Day is fast approaching. Tim Ferris' "Seeing in the Dark" will air September 19th in conjunction with fall astro day on our local PBS stations.
Mt. Tam program: http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843
has been quite a hit for the past 2 months. Over 300+ in attendance on both occasions.
Mt. Tam party dates for 2008: May 5, June 7, July 12, August 9, Sept. 6, Oct. 4
August 15th speaker is incoming new director, Ryan Wynn of the Morrison Planetarium. Don't miss it! Come early...say 7 pm for a good seat at the Randall. SFAA speaker schedule for the rest of the year: http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/lectures/
Our SFAA Coronado PST, housed at the Randall got a workout for Sun, Wind, Water day. Ken Frank gave a talk in the theatre "Hot Stuff, the Sun", while Susie of the ASP made sundials and demonstrated limb lightening, albeit no sunspot activity, but lots of proms via the PST. SFAA Night on Fremont Peak June 15-16th was a huge success and we got praise from Ron Dammann for helping out public night.
John Dobson Day and Night is August 25th. John will again be assisted by Ken for
Telescope making at the Randall in October. John also will give his flavor of cosmology as well.
Finally SFAA awards dinner is January 19th at Delancy Street. Sign up soon with Vivian. Views are great, transportation easy. Join in on the fun.

Ken Frank

San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) Club Report

SJAA is again hosting CalStar in October at Lake San Antonio in Monterey County. See our website for details. http://www.sjaa.net (The Ephemeris SJAA newsletter is at http://ephemeris.sjaa.net). We are hosting Lunar Eclipse viewing at our local park. We are recognizing our very large and successful scope loaner program after Mike Koop left.

1. Called to order by Walt at 9:35 am

2. Roll call - Alan Introduction of new members
Doug Brown, Ed Pieret, Ken Frank, Alan Gould, Darryl Sanford, Mike Koop, Dean Drumhiller, Mike Portuesi, Walt Heiges, Mohsen Janatpour, Mike Ryan, Dave Harris, Michael Kran, Channan Greenberg, Vivian White, John Dillon, Liede-Marie Haitsma, Richard Ozer.

3. Approve minutes - Mike R moved Mike K seconded to approve minutes. Passed.
Last AANC meeting notes can be found here:
http://aanc-astronomy.org/AANCminutes/AANCminutes.html

4. Treasurer's report. Richard. We got $240 Conference Registrations. Walt will add Richard to online banking access for WAMU. Balance in WAMU is $2573.72 minus $21.40 pastage spent by Walt. There will be $45 due to Mike P for website costs. Walt will try to get us access to Franklin money fund (Rancho Cordova). Golden State Star Party has joined AANC.

5. Old business -

Summary of AANC Award nominations

AMATEUR

Liede-Marie Haitsma/MDAS - nominates Jim Head/Outreach Representative for the AANC Amateur Award. Member of MDAS since 2003 and is in charge of outreach. Programs for schools.

Ken Frank (SFAA) nominates Michael Portuesi. President of SFAA two years. AANC Board. Does Sidewalk Astronomy website and conference website.

PROFESSIONAL

Walt (SVAS) nominates Chris Hulbe for Professional Award. Sacramento City College and Sacramento State U.

Mike Portuesi (SFAA) - nomimates Phil Plait of Sonoma State U (now in Colo). Runs daily blog. Bad Astronomy website. Dedicated to debunking bogus astronomy assertions.

SPECIAL

Ken Frank (SFAA) nominates Dean Drumheller, CSM.

COMMERCIAL

Richard Ozer nominated Michelle Stone from Plettstone Telescopes.

Voting results:

AMATEUR AWARD
Michael Portuesi of SFAA and SF Sidewalk Astronomers

PROFESSIONAL AWARD
Phil Plait - Bad

SPECIAL AWARD
Dean Drumheller, CSM.

COMMERCIAL AWARD
Plettstone Telescopes (Michelle Stone).

Prior year award winners
http://aanc-astronomy.org/awards-AANC.html

6. New business

Walt asked Michael Kran to chair a Committee on membership. Michael accepted.

Richard: Golden State Star Party has hoined AANC. Date of next star party July 2-5, 2008.

Mike Koop made announcement about Aurigids.

Michael Kran: College of Marin almost cancelled astrnoomy, but they found a good professor. With his help a College of Marin Astronomy Club has formed. They have a nice collection of telescopes.

7. Club reports

8. Adjourned 10:16

AANC "Reach for the Stars" Committee Meeting

Conference Committee Meeting—Doug Brown taking notes

Meeting Notes: Powerpoint | PDF

Richard Bennion gave report on RealSky Show http://www.realskyshow.com.

Adjourned 11am.

Conference website - http://www.aancstars2007.org/directions.shtml

Designs for AANC con 2007 T-shirts and pins.

To... Archives of AANC Board Meeting Minutes

CLUB REPORTS

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE (LHS)
LHS report (Alan Gould). Current planetarium shows at Lawrence Hall of Science (through Aug 24):
1:00 p.m. - Flying High (ages 4-7)
2:15 p.m. - Target Earth (6 yrs and up)
3:30 p.m. - Constellations Tonight (6 yrs and up)
Shows October 2007 - January 2008
Saturday and Sunday, plus Holidays.
1:00 p.m. - Journey to the Moon (ages 4-7)
2:15 p.m. - Our Very Own Star (6 yrs and up)
3:30 p.m. - Constellations Tonight (6 yrs and up)
See http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/Planetarium/
Stargazing on LHS plaza every 1st and 3rd Satruday, weather permitting. Volunteers needed (preferably with telescopes, but not required). See http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/Planetarium/SatNightStars.html

MOUNT DIABLO OBSERVATORY ASSOCIATION:
MDAS report ... From: Liede M. Haitsma

MDOA- Board meeting 8-1-07; 13 members; no information with regards to the generator, tank and electrical; Richard Ozer has the camera from the TKO and will be checking for suspected moisture, he will dry the camera using the oven; Jon Wilson had nothing to report with regards to the website; Ranger Dan received a request from the Environmental Study group for more information with regards to the requested ditch digging for the wires; Jack Borde suggested that we go into the Home Schooling area for Outreach also.

MDAS- Board meeting 8-13-07; Auction to be held in November; 50th Anniversary of MDAS to be celebrated with a dinner at the club meeting in October; Outreach with the schools will be starting up again in September; library displays continue to be set up per month within Contra Costa County; Public Nights draw over 100 people each time during the summer months.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP/IMAGING- There are 35 members; interest in imaging going strong; some of the members are being trained to use the scope/computer in the observatory on Mount Diablo and images are being taken; the group will give a demonstration in October at the MDAS club night; the imaging group will try to set up astrophotography classes at Diablo Valley College within the next few months, contact with the instructors will be arranged for possible interest.

Hercules Stargazers Club Report

Hercules Stargazers Report for 8-26-07 AANC meeting:
Stargazes at Foxboro Park, Hercules --
1) August 11 Stargaze changed to August 4. Three volunteers and a few visitors viewed Jupiter and its moons, M4, M6, M7, M8, M20, M11, M81 and 82, Albireo, the Ring Nebula, M13, and the Perseus Double Cluster.
2) Remaining Stargazes for 2007: September 8, October 13, and November 10.
Submitted by Dave Harris

SFAA Club Report

SFAA Club Report for Sunday August 26, 2007
CSP (City Star Partys) is on Saturday August 25th at Lands End http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/clubarchive/directions-pointlobos.php
September 22nd CSP is located at the Randall Museum
We just had a very timely Dr. Janice Voss - NASA-Ames Research Center "Life as an Astronaut"speak this past Saturday at our Mt. Tam program: http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 On 9/15 at 8:00pm our very own John Dillon, Nature Curator of the Randall Museum will speak on "When Astronomy Became a Science" Mt. Tam pubic star party dates for 2008: May 5, June 7, July 12, August 9, Sept. 6, Oct. 4
SFAA Special Use Permit (SUP) evenings for next year are: 1/12, 2/9, 3/8, 4/5, 5/3, 5/31, 7/5, 8/2, 8/30, 9/27, 10/25, 11/29, 12/27
The SFAA's Star B Q is on Saturday,September 8th at Bootjack and will be quite different this year. We are inviting the newly formed COMAS or College of Marin Astronomy Club. This will ensure mutual benefit to both clubs. We look forward to the Star B Q Hope you can make it. Bring a side dish or dessert and join in on the fun. One request, no alcoholic beverages please.
On August 15th we heard new director of the Morrison Planetarium, Ryan Wynn speak about honesty and the message you want to portray in imagery. A very thought provoking lecture with many questions by SFAA members to the talk, including disposition of the projector and what is a visualizer?
Next month is Chris Ford of Pixar...you don't want to miss it. Very similar theme of: Using hard data, amateur astronomer Chris Ford will show astronomy visualizations, aspiring to scientific accuracy that will educate and entertain. SFAA speaker schedule for the rest of the year: http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/lectures/
SFAA will be a test club for a new and exciting qeustionare designed by Institute for Learning Innovation. Check out: http://www.astrosociety.org/stu/ The ILI is recognized as leaders in what is called "Free Choice Learning" . Currently the ILI is working on the actual survey for the ASP to be presented by Suzie Gurton the ASP's Astronomy Education Manager sometime next month. We are very excited about the outcome and what it will show us how to improve the volunteerism w/in the club environment and the inner workings of what makes or breaks an astro club like ours.
John Dobson Day and Night is August 25th and will be celebrated at the CSP on Lands End.
SFAA awards dinner on January 19th at Delancy Street is filling up fast. Email our treasurer, Vivian White <vivwhite at gmail.com> for a reservation.

Ken Frank

San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) Club Report

SJAA is again hosting CalStar in October at Lake San Antonio in Monterey County. See our website for details. http://www.sjaa.net (The Ephemeris SJAA newsletter is at http://ephemeris.sjaa.net). We are hosting Lunar Eclipse viewing at our local park. We are recognizing our very large and successful scope loaner program after Mike Koop left.

Minutes from 2 Dec 2007

1. Call to order 10:14 am Walt

2. Roll call

Alan Gould, Rich Neuschaefer, Richard Ozer, Michael Kran, Mike Koop, Dave Harris Liede Marie Haitsma, John Dillon, Ken Frank, Walt Heiges, Mike Portuesi, Ed Pieret, Len Nelson. Welcome new SJAA rep Rich Neuschaefer.

3. Approve minutes http://aanc-astronomy.org/AANCminutes/AANCminutes.html

Ken moved Mike seconded to approve minutes. Passed.

4. Treasurer's report - Richard. See 2007 Conference Summary.

We netted $858 on the conference. Food costs - it would be nice to reduce those food costs. Richard hopes that AANC can get out of the food business, because that was a big hassle.

Questions about honoraria. Mike expected that all speakers get honoraria. Jane's reimbursement was more for travel expenses. Richard will correct that item in the summary.

Walt: We have about $5000 in Franklin Fund. Walt entertains motion to make Walt the new signatory for the Franklin fund account for AANC.

Michael Kran moved that due to AANC Treasurer Don Stone's failing health, the Board has determined to remove Don Stone's signatory authority for the AANC Franklin Templeton Investments account (account # ending in 606), and grant signatory authorityfor that account to the AANC President, Walt Heiges, until such time as a replacement AANC Treasurer is elected. Dave Harris seconded. Motion passed.

5. Old business

Membership Renewal Headway - Walt

Michael Kran is looking into membership renewal effort. Will send out renewal invitation to members. Michael needs letter-head. We could put letterhead on unlinked web page.

6. New business

A. AANC-CON 2007 Wrap up. Total success!

Archive "Reach" website - Michael P. - Mojo's photos of conference are linked to AANCcon2007 website. Michael would like to move the website to regular AANC website. Michael will bundle the site and give it over to Alan. He'll also ask Mojo if he's willing to continue hosting the photos.

Lessons learned. What we can do better next time around.

Liede-Marie: as event for CSM, conference was great. Talks were great. But this did not seem like an AANC event--it was CSM event. No clubs could sell anything, but CSM club sold items. Every club should have had separate tables available to them if they so wanted.
Ken: Could it be that AANC member clubs did not step forward?
Richard: If clubs were not allowed to have their own tables, that is very bad. Host should have right to showcase its assets. Clubs should also have space to showcase.
Alan: We need conference guidelines written that include policies such as the fact that clubs should be not only entitled to tables, but encouraged to each have their own table.
Michael K is willing to put some effort into crafting conference guidelines.
Alan can send Pacific Planetarium Association (PPA) conference guidelines to serve as example.

CSM did not make money on the event. They lost money, time, effort.

Michael P: There were issues/confusion with the raffle.
We need to set out clear elements in conference guidelines. E.g. should donors be allowed to buy tickets. People must be present at raffle to win prize. Michael P will help draft raffle guidelines.

B. Astronomy Events Calendar for 2008 Please submit your club calendar to Alan

• 8 Mar 2008. Messier Marathon - secondary of March 29
• 10 May 2008. Astronomy Day http://aanc-astronomy.org/AstroDay.html
• 25-28 May 2008 (Fri-Mon). RTMC Riverside Telescope Maker's Conference - http://www.rtmcastronomyexpo.org
• 9-16 June 2008. Grand Canyon Star Party (GCSP), http://www.tucsonastronomy.org/gcsp.html
• 2-5 July. Golden State Star Party (GSSP) http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org/
• 1 or 30 Aug 2008. Fremont Peak Star-B-Q, TBA http://www.fpoa.net
• 16-19 Aug 2008. Oregon Star Party (OSP), www.oregonstarparty.org
• 25-27 Sep 2008. SJAA CalStar http://www.sjaa.net/calstar/
• Yosemite Glacier Point Summer Weekends TBA http://aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
• Fall Astronomy Day - TBD http://aanc-astronomy.org/AstroDay.html
• California Academy of Sciences Morrison Planetarium Opening TBA http://www.calacademy.org/newacademy/

Changes/corrections? Please let Alan or Ken know.

[Request from Alan G: If at all possible, I prefer to receive notice of calendar items in a format that is compatible and consistent with the AANC calendar in general. That would include DATE, TIME, EVENT NAME or LECTURE NAME with SPEAKER NAME, SPONSORING ORGANIZATION, Contact info &/or URL, optional--brief description in a few sentences or 1 paragraph.]

C. 2008 meeting dates: Feb 24, Apr 20, Jun 22, Aug 17, Oct 12, Dec 14.

D. Grants - no grant proposals to consider.

7. Club reports and website updates Please send to: Alan Gould <adgould@comcast.net>

8. Other agenda items and announcements

Ken showed new book "Star Maps", by Nick Kanas, sold through Praxis or Springer. Highly recommended.

9. Adjourn Next meeting date: Feb 24, Location Chabot, unless otherwise notified.

SPECIAL ISSUE 2008 Jan 3: Alan Gould Motion to approve Proposal to the AANC Board (from Larry McCune, SCAS Treasurer
"that AANC sponsor a [Striking Sparks] telescope again this year... at a ... fee [of] $200."
The other officers (Walt, Richard, Ken) have in effect seconded this motion.

Final voting results for the proposal to approve allocation of funds for a telescope for the Striking Sparks program:

11 YES - to approve the allocation of $200 for Striking Sparks

0 NO - to not approve it.

________________________________________

CLUB REPORTS

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To... Archives of AANC Board Meeting Minutes

CLUB REPORTS -|- MDAS -|- Hercules -|- LHS -|- SFAA

MOUNT DIABLO ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY-
50TH Anniversary Celebration of the creation of MDAS/Project Moonwatch/and the launch of Sputnik I on 10-5-1957; the event was wonderful-there were probably 75 +/- people who participated and everyone enjoyed themselves-the food was prepared and served by the Concord police (Marni’s husband is a retired police officer and another police officer) and all said that it tasted very good-we also received a letter from Carter Roberts/EAS President congratulating MDAS on it’s 50th Anniversary which was read to the group by Nick/MDAS President (thank you, Carter!)-the highlight of the night was Jack Borde talking about the history of Project Moonwatch and the beginning of MDAS, the telescopes that were used for satellite viewing( and viewing Sputnik I) were on the tables, with displays showing how it all got started-Jack discussed how each one was used (these telescopes are indeed of historical value!)-everyone had a wonderful time!
Auction/Swap Meet/Bake Sale-meeting on November 20th; everyone had a great time; the auction saw many telescopes of various kinds being auctioned off, and the Bake Sale also brought various baked goods to be auctioned; when the auction was over everyone went to the tables to look for deals as there were many items on the tables…we had a great evening!

MOUNT DIABLO OBSERVATORY ASSOCIATION-
Meeting 10-17-07;
The following Park Rangers are leaving: Ryen Goering; Jack Duggan; and also, Craig Mattson will be retiring at the end of the year, December 28th.

Warming Room needs repairs due to parts coming apart; will get in touch with company where WR was purchased;
Ditching with regards to propane tank: The Park wants a write-up on the plan; Jack wants Ranger Dan to look at the site with him and to do a drawing of the ditch area; several ways to place the ditch; Contractor to check road covering; rain is a main factor and it might be spring 2008 that they start.
**Received this information from Jack Borde regarding the Warming Room (11-26-07): “The contractor has completed the installation of fuel line and electrical hook up from warming room to generator with optional auxiliary small generator operation. However we have to contact the generator people for a training session for its proper operation. Before this can be done we need to charge the battery on the unit and so far it looks like this training session would occur on a Friday afternoon sometime in the near future. Operation places need to be engraved and installed before this session occurs.”

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP/IMAGING-
Remote viewing and imaging has taken hold of the group; during the monthly meetings the various remote viewing sites and processing’s are discussed.

OUTREACH-
Jim Head, Outreach Representative, received word from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific that MDAS has been randomly selected to win a Mars Globe: “As part of an opening event for Muir Heritage Land Trust, the Mount Diablo Astronomical Society put on a star party in Martinez, California. Jim Head and nine other members entertained about 100 people with the newest Toolkit. Very curious and excited group. The Solar System Banner was a magnet for investigation and questions. We mounted the banner on the side of a car and almost every time we looked over there, a clutch of people had gathered to look at it. So we had many opportunities to discuss the movements of the planets and the missions that were exploring the Solar System." **It’s great to see that the MDAS Outreach programs are appreciated.**
Jim has also been in touch with a home-schooling group and found them to be extremely interested in hearing about Astronomy; their parents too were interested. As with the schools and scout groups this is a possible new direction that the club will take in showing Astronomy to the home-schoolers. Great going Jim!!
Save Mount Diablo: Mount Diablo Challenge (10.8 mile timed bike ride) on Mount Diablo on 10-7-07: This was a very nice event; many interested people came to the table; Tom Harris and Liede-Marie H. spoke to those asking questions about the club and Astronomy in general.
Contra Costa County Science & Engineering Fair in Concord on 10-13-07: There were three meetings, the first meeting no one was there, but the second and third meetings saw interested children and parents; it was very enjoyable and Jim gave lectures on various points of Astronomy; Liede-Marie H. spoke to the groups regarding the use of binoculars in Astronomy.
Primo’s Run, 3rd Annual Volunteer San Ramon Valley in San Ramon on 10-14-07: Liede-Marie H. tabled; many interested parents, school teachers and scout leaders came to the table for Outreach information as-well-as MDAS club information.
Rancho Romero Elementary in Alamo on Wednesday, November 14th, had a great MDAS Outreach gathering; there must have been 120 plus students/parents and teachers there; about 15 MDAS members and their scopes and binoculars were there; the skies were clear and we were able to see Comet Holmes clearly with binoculars…binoculars were better to be used for viewing the comet then scopes at that moment-everyone thoroughly enjoyed seeing the comet; Jim Head did a great job! Jim Head received this email from the school coordinator:
“Here's a message from last night's starparty school coordinator...
Hello Jim,

Thank you so much for the wonderful astronomy night that you and your crew put on for us last night! Everyone seemed to be having a great time during the event, and I've had lots of positive feedback today. It's such a fantastic service that you all perform, exposing so many children and their families to the wonders of the night sky. And like you said, you never know which future astronomer might have his or her curiosity piqued by their first gaze through a telescope.

I hope we'll be able to do it again!

Many thanks once again,
Linda Post”

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CLUB REPORTS -|- MDAS -|- Hercules -|- LHS -|- SFAA

HERCULES STARGAZERS - Submitted by Dave Harris.
October 13, 2007 -- We set up around 8 p.m., with Mark's 20" truss Dob and Dave's 10" Dob. Viewed the Perseus Double Cluster, M31, and M15. Then we tried to find NGC 7479 and NGC 7814 in Pegasus, but the sky was to bright. Next was Albeireo in both scopes, and the pair was split in the 10x30 IS binoculars. On to M11, and then to the Veil Nebula. Next was the Andromeda Galaxy and M33, and finally the Pleiades. We packed up around 11:15 p.m.
November 10, 2007 -- Due to rain, this Stargaze was cancelled, but we decided to reschedule it for the next night, Sunday, November 11, which was very clear from the rain. This would be our last Stargaze for 2007. We set up around 7:45 p.m. Timo had his newly-constructed 13" truss Dob, and two new Stargazers had arrived, Dennis with his NexStar 5
and Richard with his 10" Meade LX. Dave brought the 10" Dob and 10x30 IS binoculars, and Sherry brought her binoculars and camera. Later, Steve arrived, and helped set up the laser finder on the Meade. Viewing was excellent, and we started off with Comet 17/P Holmes, which showed well through all scopes and binoculars as a sharply circular cloud with a bright center and stars behind the coma, which appeared brighter to one side. Also seen were the Ring Nebula, the Double Cluster, Albeireo, and the Pleiades. Sherry tried imaging through the 10" Dob, but the objects were too faint. Sherry also shared her great photos of August's Lunar Eclipse, taken around 3 a.m. During this time we had one neighborhood visitor who recalled coming to our Stargazes over 10 years ago as a kid. A bit later, we found Mars, and viewed the Orion Nebula through the OIII filter on the 10" Dob. Last, we picked out the Andromeda Galaxy in Dobson's Hole. We packed up around midnight.
The 2008 Stargaze Schedule has not been made yet, but will start in April. There is a possibility that the group may meet on some evenings during the interim, either at Foxboro Park or some other location.

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CLUB REPORTS -|- MDAS -|- Hercules -|- LHS -|- SFAA

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE
Holt Planetarium Schedule - Saturday and Sunday, plus Holidays*.
October - December 16, 2007 - 1:00 p.m. Journey to the Moon (ages 4-7), 2:15 p.m. Our Very Own Star (6 yrs and up),
3:30 p.m. Constellations Tonight (6 yrs and up)
    * Holidays are Nov. 12 & Nov. 23.
December 22, 2007 - March 16, 2008 -1:00 p.m. - Flying High (ages 4-7), 2:15 p.m. Red Planet Mars (6 yrs and up), 3:30 p.m. Constellations Tonight (6 yrs and up)
    * Holidays are Jan. 21, Feb 18.
Daily shows 12/24/2007-1/04/2008

Saturday Night Stargazing — on the LHS Plaza
1st and 3rd clear Saturday of every month throughout the year— Weather Permitting —
8 – 10 p.m. September 15 through March 31
9 – 11 p.m. April 1 through September 14

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CLUB REPORTS -|- MDAS -|- Hercules -|- LHS -|- SFAA

SFAA Calendar for 2008
http://www.planitarium.net/sfaa/calendar/sfaa_schedule_2008.pdf

SFAA Club Report for Sunday December 2, 2007

CSP's (City Star Party) are at the Randall Museum for solstice and equinox months, otherwise they are held at Lands End, above the Cliff House and below Fort Miley near the flagpole and monument to the USS San Francisco. The fickled finger of fog still arrives at inappropriate times. We think the SFSA approach of "go when it's good" may be the answer. Sounds good as an idea, but hasenÕt been tried out yet.
The last Mt. Tam program: http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843
for the season was October. Next year for public star parties begins May 5, June 7, July 12, August 9, Sept. 6, Oct. 4.
West Peak Access to the mountain is the latest buzz. Let's hope we get it before Messier Marathon night. Stay tuned. December 19th is our Member's Night at the Randall with
Jim Cottle reminicing the launch pad at Cape Kennedy with sounds and sights of a real launch!
Check out our astrophoto contest, art and literary entries. http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/

John Dobson's telescope making class of 10 students is doing quite well. Assisted by Ken Frank, there are only 2 sessions left. Bob Fies will again be busy aluminizing mirrors for the class. JD is leaving the Bay Area December 20th for Death Valley.
Call Furnace Creek and make either camping or room reservations NOW. The LA Sidewalk Astronomers leave the morning of the 26th from Burbank and stay until the morning of the 30th. Sun scopes are deregur during the day, JD talks one night and we do observing at the visitor center...several people have told us they plan their yearly trip to coincide with ours. And, if you're into the desert — Death Valley is the place...
Contact Donna Smith <dsmith1055 at earthlink dot net>

John Dobson will have two more informal meetings to discuss his flavor of Cosmology
-- on Tuesday, December 4th and Tuesday, December 11th, from 7:00-9:00 p.m., at his residence (the downstairs apartment), 4135 Judah St., San Francisco. Please call John directly at 415 665 4054.

Finally SFAA awards dinner is January 19th at Delancy Street. Sign up soon with Vivian White <vivwhite at gmail dot com>. Views are great, transportation easy. Join in on the fun.

Ken Frank

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