August 2010
August Star Party, Friday or Saturday, August 6 or August 7 (depending on weather)
Camp McClintock Cub Cabin (Boy Scout Camp)
7:00 - 7:30 p.m. - Arrival and setup
This month, instead of our usual meeting, we will have a members-only star party at the Camp McClintock Boy Scout Camp, which is a 10 or 15 minute drive west of Bartlesville, near Osage Hills State Park. This will give us a chance to get away from city lights and observe from fairly dark skies. We have the Cub Cabin reserved for both Friday and Saturday night, but based on current weather forecasts the date is now set for Saturday. If our plans change, an email notice will go out Thursday night. There will be some tables and chairs in the cabin, as well as access to electricity. Rumor has it that a brand new Celestron CGE PRO 1400 EdgeHD telescope may see first light at the star party. David Tobola has provided the map below, as well as the following advice for getting to the Camp McClintock site.
The turn into the camp has a tall white sign on the South side (left side) of Highway 60 when you are driving FROM Bartlesville. You are then on a gravel road for about 2 miles or so, and you always take the RIGHT turn when you come to a fork in the road. The Cub Cabin is just past the Ranger's house. I would recommend a meeting time around 7:00 pm, or 7:30 pm at the latest, to allow adequate time to set up in the daylight, plus to get familiar with the immediate terrain and observing area.
BAS Logo Update
The BAS Logo at the top of this newsletter, and on most of our other communications, has served us well for many years (decades actually). The logo is now used predominantly in club emails and on club webpages, as well as on paper handouts and meeting announcements. With advances in computer technology and on-line communications, perhaps it's time to consider a redesign. Therefore, we proudly announce...
The Bartlesville Astronomical Society Logo Design Contest!
Yes, there will be a prize for the winning entry, so enter early and enter often. The goal will be a logo that is aesthetically pleasing and appealing without being overstated, representative of our interests, and simple and convenient to use in all our on-line and hardcopy communications. The winner will be determined by a vote of club members. The preliminary deadline for entries is September 7, 2010. Send your entries to John Grismore or bvilleastro@gmail.com .
Astronomy Explorer Post
David Tobola has recently had several conversations with the Cherokee Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America about how BAS members might be able to use Camp McClintock as a dark site, while benefiting from coverage by their liability insurance. One suggestion was for our club to sponsor a local Astronomy Explorer Post. This would, of course, be dependent on having several older scouts interested in astronomy, but would extend insurance coverage to participating astronomy club members. If you are interested in supporting a local Astronomy Explorer Post, please contact David Tobola.
October Election of Officers
BAS bylaws state that the club will conduct election of officers each October, with the President and the Information/Publicity Officer being elected on even numbered years for a two year term, and the Vice President and Treasurer/Secretary being elected on odd numbered years for a two year term. This method was intended to provide some continuity from year to year. We have not conducted elections for many years, so it's important that we restart the process. Elections this year will be for President and Information/Publicity Officer. Nominations are open to all BAS members and must be submitted to the nomination committee by September 15. Everyone is encouraged to participate. Arden Strycker has agreed to serve as head of the nomination committee, but will need assistance. Volunteers for the nomination committee should contact Arden.
Our bylaws are decades old, and could benefit from a thorough review, but for now they establish the procedure for our elections this October. The complete text of the Bartlesville Astronomical Society Bylaws can be found on the Files page of our BartlesvilleAstronomy website at:
<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/BvilleAstro/files/Club%20Documents/Club%20By-Laws/>
Here is the description in the bylaws of officer responsibilities:
a - The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Society. He shall have general charge and supervision of the business and affairs of the Society. He shall have the power to sign, execute, and terminate all contracts, deeds, obligations, and other legal instruments in the name of the Society as authorized by the Society. He may create and appoint special committees and shall be an ex-officio member of all such committees.
b - The Vice-President shall assist the President in the discharge of his duties and perform them in the case of absence, death, disability, or resignation of the President.
c - The Information/Publicity Officer shall record and preserve minutes of Society business meetings. He shall provide general publicity and information for public Society activities, and publish the Society newsletter.
d - The Treasurer/Secretary shall receive all dues and other monies and Keep proper records thereof. He shall place all monies in a repository approved by the Society. He shall report on the financial condition of the Society at each business meeting.
In addition to club officers, there are responsibilities that should be handled by non-officer volunteers. With advances in technology over the years, we must now handle email communications with members, update and maintain our public website and monitor and administer our private BvilleAstro Yahoo forum, in addition to our more traditional duties. BAS has had a good year, but without volunteer support, it will be difficult to build on that in the coming year. To continue to advance BAS, we need volunteers to help with the above responsibilities. A more complete list of club responsibilities needing volunteer support can be found on our BartlesvilleAstronomy website, in the June Meeting Notes at:
<https://sites.google.com/site/bartlesvilleastronomyclub/notes/june-2010-meeting-notes>
The sooner we have volunteers to help with club responsibilities, the better the club will work.
Liability Insurance and Public Outreach
Our lack of liability insurance continues to prevent us from participating in public activities. At a recent BAS Board of Directors meeting we discussed this issue and resolved to acquire some liability insurance, at least for one year, with the hope of establishing a permanent, sustainable way to fund the insurance in future years. One way to remedy this would be to increase club dues. This would probably mean raising yearly dues to about $30 per member. If you have any concerns about raising the dues, please speak up. This issue will be addressed and resolved at our September meeting.
Club Resource Checkout
Another topic at the recent Board meeting was the suggestion to set up an on-line checkout system that would allow us to track club and member resources that have been loaned out. The more it was discussed, the better the idea sounded, so in the near future we will make an effort to implement a trial system to see how it works. The first resources to be available for checkout will probably be a couple of our club telescopes.
Bartlesville Sky (looking south) August 15, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. (source: Stellarium 0.10.2, see http://www.stellarium.org/ )
August Astronomical Calendar (Universal Time)
d h d h
3 4 LAST QUARTER 17 23 Antares 1.9S of Moon
6 2 Moon furthest North (24.9) 18 16 Moon furthest South (-24.9)
7 0 Mercury greatest elong E(27) 19 20 Pluto 5.6N of Moon
8 17 Venus 2.7S of Saturn 20 1 Venus greatest elong E(46)
10 3 NEW MOON 20 2 Mercury stationary
10 18 Moon at perigee 20 10 Neptune at opposition
10 22 Regulus 4.3N of Moon 20 19 Venus 2.0S of Mars
11 23 Mercury 2.1N of Moon 24 8 Neptune 4.2S of Moon
13 9 Venus 4.1N of Moon 24 17 FULL MOON
13 13 Mars 5.4N of Moon 25 6 Moon at apogee
14 14 Spica 3.0N of Moon 27 2 Uranus 5.8S of Moon
16 18 FIRST QUARTER
Bartlesville Astronomical Society - Membership
B.A.S. is an organization of people interested in Astronomy and related fields of science.
The current officers are:
Additional club positions:
Membership is open to everyone interested in any aspects of astronomy.
Adult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12.00
Students (through 12th grade) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5.00
Magazine Subscription (reduced rate for members)
Sky & Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $32.95
B.A.S. is a registered, non-profit organization.
Next Meeting
Tuesday, September 7 in the Bartlesville Public Library Meeting Room, Arden Strycker will present:
Winter Solstice 2012: Celestial Cycles, Hype, and Intrigue
21 December 2012 has become the next target date of doomsday prophecies, this time with much attention and a sense that galactic convergence is about to bring wrath upon planet Earth. But why the Winter Solstice of 2012? The answers and the underlying celestial cycles are quite interesting, and this talk will explore some of these cycles and how we “sync up” with them. Is there any credibility to these prophecies? None at all. This talk will hopefully clear up any confusion about the 2012 Apocalypse.
Newsletter Contributions Needed
Our club newsletter is reaching more people each month, and member contributions in the form of short articles, interesting news items, alerts of upcoming astronomical events or activities, descriptions of personal observations or useful equipment, and observing tips, are encouraged. Recurring columns or multipart articles are also welcome. Please submit your contributions to Mike Woods or to bvilleastro@gmail.com .
For Sale
Celestron NexStar 130 SLT GoTo Reflector Telescope. Includes Soft Case, manual, etc… Can be powered by 8 internal AA batteries or included 12V power cord. Asking $250. Contact Duane Perkins, phone: 336-5096 or email: dperkins@sbcglobal.net .
BAS Public Website: http://sites.google.com/site/bartlesvilleastronomyclub/
BAS Yahoo Group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/BvilleAstro/
If you want to have your email address removed from the Bartlesville Astronomical Society mailing list, please send an email requesting removal to bvilleastro@gmail.com .