July 2019 Meeting Notes

July 1, 2019 Meeting

Happy Canada Day (July 1)!

Attendance: 20 people, including 2 guests.

Treasurer's Report (Evan Zorn):

Beginning balance June 1, 2019 $3,558.21

Income: New member dues 191.00

Expenses: Reimburse Denise for Sunfest supplies and printing <187.51>

Ending balance June 30, 2019 $3,561.70

Upcoming Club Events:

• Social event at Braum's after tonight's meeting (the Braum's south of Price Road on Hwy 75). Going to Braum's was enjoyed by those who went last month, so we've decided to do it again.

• Star party: Rick Buck wants to have a star party on July 13 at Tri County Tech to celebrate Apollo 11 moon landing. We decided to make this a public event; need an OK from Tri County Tech to have it.

• Next meeting: August 5, with program by Abby on LIGO tour, in conference room B (first floor) at the library.

• Future Club meetings: Volunteers needed to do presentations. Contact Bob Young if interested in presenting.

Upcoming Community Events:

• Library Program July 20: The library will host an open-door party July 20 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm with space-themed crafts and a drawing for an Apollo 11 50th anniversary T-shirt.

Other Announcements:

• Rick Bryant will begin work on a BAS "business card" and BAS event name tags, both featuring our new logo.

• MSRAL 2020: Date for 2020 conference still to be determined. No more updates on that from Peggy at this point.

• Total solar eclipse in South America on July 2; streaming video on spaceweather.com

• First to the Moon movie--The Journey of Apollo 8--now available on DVD.

Other Business: Denise's notes from previous meeting were approved.

Member Photos: Dennis brought a display of photographs of thin cross sections of moon rocks! These included photographs of rocks which could have originated from meteorites, asteroids or possibly volcanic blowouts from the moon. Dennis has also met Harrison Schmitt, an American geologist, retired NASA astronaut (Apollo 17), university professor, and former U.S. senator from New Mexico.

Bartian Youth Astronomers Update (Rick Bryant):

• The BYA had a successful outdoor event at the home of one of the BYA members in Okesa, complete with cookout, picnic and rocket launch. They also made a craft project of mini-planets from balloons and papier mâché.

• The BYA July meeting will feature a presentation on comets by Gianna and a craft by Abby.

• The youth will start planning soon for the Okie-Tex Star Party, which takes place this year on September 21-29. BYA will be making a craft for the event. Five BYA families are planning to attend for two days. Overall, 300-400 people usually attend this annual event.

Storage Committee Update:

• Craig signed the agreements with First Christian Church.

• Evan Zorn and John Grismore moved club equipment from Mike Woods' shed to the new storage area downstairs room. Thanks to them!

• Suggestions on sorting, labeling, tracking, etc. are welcome. John Grismore has started an inventory spreadsheet, and thanks go to him as well for this! An assessment is needed on the telescopes and related equipment brought to the storage area.

• Craig and Evan have the keys to the storage area as of now.

Recap of Events Related to Bartlesville Public Library's Astronomy-themed Summer Reading Program:

• On June 4, about 175 kids attended the comet necklace/solar system hat craft event.

• On June 10, Fran Stallings gave a presentation of space-related children's stories.

• On June 14, Abby gave her talk on Cassini-Huygens and Craig gave a presentation on the Club's loaner telescope at the library. The loaner scope has proved very popular. There was someone waiting to check it out as soon as Craig's presentation was over!

• Thanks to Fran, Craig, Abby, LaShawn and everyone who helped!

Community Presentation by Fran Stallings: On June 21, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Fran gave a demonstration and talk about constellations and their legends using the portable planetarium she got from the Pioneer Library Association. Several BAS members attended.

Tonight’s Program: Apollo 11 by Craig Brockmeier

• Craig gave an overview of Apollo 11—the Saturn V launch vehicle, the Columbia command and service module, and the Eagle lunar exploration module, as well as some of the underlying technological work that made the mission possible and some historical highlights of the space race.

• The website apolloinrealtime.org plays an ongoing loop of the entire Apollo 11 mission with ground-to-crew transmissions. This is a great way to view the mission; suggest doing it on an iPad or laptop; if view on an iPhone, won't see the entire display.