November 2009

7:00 p.m. - Informal Discussion: This will be a good time to talk with other members, share observing experiences and ideas, show your favorite astrophotos or astronomical equipment, and ask questions.

7:30 p.m. - Program: Arden Strycher will present “Planetarium in Your Palm”. There is a variety of software available to the amateur astronomer. Planetarium for the Palm Computing Platform is unique, being a full-featured software that works on a PDA, which is a very small computer. Planetarium is an application that plots star charts and offers unique, useful features for the beginning star gazer as well as for the professional astronomer. This talk provides a brief demonstration of the software features and some of its incredible utility both for planning a viewing session and for aiding the viewer at the scope.

After the program we'll have a brief business meeting. The discussion will include club dues, Sky and Telescope subscriptions, a proposed Night Sky Program for the elementary schools in Bartlesville, and the search for a dark observing site.

Club Dues

Based on the response to an email sent out asking club members to help us update the current members list, and the fact that our club bank account has been dormant for quite some time, it appears that no one has paid dues in several years. If anyone has additional information about dues, please contact John. If no additional information is available concerning dues, we should begin collecting again.

Sky and Telescope Subscriptions

Sky Publishing has verified that they still offer a 20% discount on Sky and Telescope magazine subscriptions to astronomy club members. This reduces annual subscriptions from $42.95 to $32.95. New subscriptions must be placed through the club, but can be renewed in subsequent years by each individual. I currently have two new subscriptions to send to S&T, and since they prefer that clubs send subscription applications in batches, I will wait until after the meeting to give others who are interested a chance to participate.

Night Sky Program for Schools

Joyce Ritchie has taken the lead for contacting local elementary schools to offer one-time night sky observing sessions presented by our club. This would include basic constellation familiarization, as well as observing with binoculars and telescopes. Rather than trying to work around the weather, once a date has been established, it will remain fixed. That means we need ideas for indoor astronomy activities in the event of bad weather.

Dark Observing Site

Steve Plank contacted the Army Corps of Engineers about establishing a dark observing site on government property near Copan Lake or Hulah Lake. In order to pursue this, we would need to provide a letter of intent to the Corps with the location of the site of interest, specific description of usage, and whether the site would be for temporary or permanent use. In addition, they would also need to know what improvements we would request for the site. This is an exciting possibility, but would be a significant commitment for the club, so we need to discuss this and other dark site options thoroughly.

Bartlesville Sky (looking south) November 15, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. (source: Voyager 4 by Carina Software)

November Astronomical Calendar

d h d h

2 19 FULL MOON 16 19 NEW MOON

3 4 Venus 3.5N of Spica 17 9 Mercury 2.8N of Moon

4 19 Neptune stationary 18 0 Antares 1.1S of Moon Occn

5 8 Mercury superior conjunction 18 20 Moon furthest South (-25.8)

5 15 Moon furthest North (25.9) 22 10 Mercury 3.0N of Antares

7 7 Moon at perigee 22 19 Moon at apogee

9 4 Mars 3.2N of Moon 23 19 Jupiter 3.3S of Moon

9 15 LAST QUARTER 24 3 Neptune 3.1S of Moon

10 13 Regulus 3.5N of Moon 24 21 FIRST QUARTER

14 11 Spica 3.0N of Moon 26 13 Uranus 5.2S of Moon

November Meeting, Monday, November 2

Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room A

Next Meeting

December 7 in the Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room (tentative). Program to be determined (volunteers appreciated).

BAS Public Website: http://sites.google.com/site/bartlesvilleastronomyclub/

BAS Yahoo Group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/BvilleAstro/