October 2024 Meeting Notes

Bartlesville Astronomical Society Meeting Notes

October 7, 2024

Attendance:  We had 10 members and three guests in attendance this evening, in person and on Zoom.    

Astronomical events/reports:

Tulsa Air and Space Museum planetarium show Saturday, September 7:  This was a very successful event!  We had 53 people in attendance, and Bryan Kyle did a custom two-hour presentation for us, weaving the story of NASA’s Voyager 2 mission around our tour of the Solar System and beyond!  We made donations on an individual basis to the Planetarium, and we also donated $200.00 as a Club to the Planetarium, as we voted to do at our September Club meeting.

Star party at Jo Allyn Lowe for International Observe the Moon Night, September 14:  We had 11 people and a number of telescopes at the event!  The Moon was very clear, although very bright moonlight and haze inhibited view of some other objects.  It was a great night to practice lunar camera photography.  One new visitor brought a telescope with him, and a new family came after reading about our event on our newsletter--and they began receiving our newsletter after seeing our display at our local mall and a QR code to sign up for our newsletter!

Girl Scout event September 20 at Camp Wah-Shah-She:  This was a very successful event, although it got clouded out as the evening went on and we ended up inside in the lodge! 

Craig coordinated this event.  He, John Blaesi and John Grismore collimated, cleaned, and tested the Scouts’ telescopes earlier in the week, and put in fresh batteries. 

Luann, Craig, Gil, Evan, John G, John B and Denise went on the day.  There were about 60 girls in attendance, ages 8-9, which we split into two groups of 30.  We set up telescope observing stations with four of the Girl Scouts’ telescopes, the Club’s Celestron StarSense Explorer and Luann’s Seestar.  Each telescope was aimed at a different object such as Venus, Saturn, Arcturus, Fomalhaut, Andromeda and the Moon. We also used a laser pointer (with proper instructions) and gave tips on how to properly use red and white flashlights at an observing event.  As it got cloudier, the Scouts told several stories about constellations, astronomy, astrology and Greek mythology.  After we went inside, Luann did a presentation for the Scouts taken from the trivia program that she had already planned for our October Club meeting, using a portable TV she had brought.  This presentation was well received by the Scouts!

The Scouts also made a very generous monetary donation to the Club!

Eldercare fundraiser--“Dinner Under the Stars” that was to have been held at the Cross Bell Ranch September 28:  John B was coordinating this event and several people volunteered to help.  After our Club meeting September 5, we found out that this event will need to be delayed to a later date, TBD.

Okie-Tex September 27-October 5:  We think at least a couple people from the Club attended this.

Star party at the Bolingers’ on October 5:  This was a very successful event!  The Bolingers were very gracious hosts!  We started gathering at 6 p.m. to get a head count for pizza.  There were fourteen of us, including some invited guests.  The weather was perfect—John B measured Bortle level 21, and we had a number of telescopes and cameras at work during the evening!  Luann brought a card to our Club meeting for us to sign for the Bolingers—thanks, Luann!

Upcoming events:

Dewey Boys and Girls Club “Lights on After School” on October 10:  Gather at 3:30 p.m. to do setup; the event takes place from 4:30-6:30 p.m.  John B is organizing this event on behalf of the Club.  Several Club members said they would volunteer at this event.  We can bring telescopes with solar filters.  We can also look at the Moon, which will be up.

Second-Saturday-of-the month star party on October 12:  The main focus of this star party will probably be Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).  We will check out Jo Allyn Lowe Park and Sooner Park view lines to the west to see which one we think might be better for viewing the comet, and then communicate this to everyone after we decide!

Cub Scout event November 12 or 19:  Vanessa, who works with a Cub Scout troop, would like to have us participate in a Cub Scout meeting, where they will be learning about astronomy, on November 12 or 19 (after Daylight Saving has ended).  We will get more information on this.

Club Business:

Treasurer’s Report – Evan Z:

Ending balance August 31, 2024:  $16542.73 (this is combined Arvest and Truity accounts)

Truity account interest:  $47.40

Deposit from Benevity and COP donations:  $360.00

Deposit from Girl Scouts at Camp Wah-Shah-She event Sept. 30:  $100.00

Insurance payment to State Farm:  $450.00

P.O. Box renewal payment:  $182.00

Zoom annual renewal payment:  $79.95

Donation to Tulsa Air and Space Museum for the Planetarium show they presented to us, 9/7/2024, $200.00.  [Note:  This expense was not mentioned per se during the Treasurer’s Report at the meeting.]

Ending balance September 30, 2024:  $16138.18

As announced earlier this year, this report incorporates two bank accounts, our ongoing Arvest account and the savings account we have set up recently at Truity Credit Union, on which we get interest.

Luann brought up the idea of closing the Arvest account and just having the Truity account.  Craig said that 501C3 nonprofit rules may not permit us to have only a credit union account.  There could also be the question of needing, on an ongoing basis, a Club member who is eligible to have an account with Truity.  We will have to look into this.    

Telescope donation by Don Fudge:  Don has donated four telescopes to our Club, and is offering three telescopes for sale.  Don’s phone number is 918-332-7294.

Library display 2025:  We have the library display for March 2025.  We will be in case B on the other side of the room, which has eight panels measuring 2 ft. wide by 3 ft. tall.  Ideas will be welcome for how to set this up!  We decided to set a date for our first brainstorm planning session at our November meeting.

Club By-laws:   We unanimously approved our By-law revisions at our October Club meeting.  These were sent to Club members ahead of the Club meeting by John Blaesi.  Craig made a motion to accept the By-law revisions; John G seconded Craig’s motion, and the By-law revisions were unanimously approved by Club members in attendance at the meeting.

Club standing rules:  We reviewed the “standing rules” (apart from by-laws), for which no member vote is required, that the Board worked on.  These “standing rules” were sent to Club members ahead of the meeting by John Blaesi.  The standing rules are an “evergreen document” maintained by the Board.

Officer elections for 2025:

The following were elected:

President—John Grismore
Vice President—Pat Stefanopoulos
Secretary--Denise Gregg

Treasurer--Evan Zorn

At-large---Brian Turner

At-large—Craig Brockmeier

Appointed positions:

Program Director--TBD
Newsletter--Mike Woods

Observing Coordinator--TBD
Public Outreach—TBD.  John B thanked Craig for the work he has done for the Club with public outreach!

Mall and library display--Denise Gregg

[Note:  After the meeting, Luann agreed to serve as BAS Event Coordinator, and this would replace the position of Observing Coordinator.] 

Main program:   Astronomical Trivia, presented by Luann.  She prepared three sets of trivia programs and presented two of them, one on astronomy in general, including space exploration; and one focused on the planets in our Solar System.  These presentations were done in a storyboard format and were well received by those in attendance!

Upcoming Club meetings:

November:  Do you want a telescope for Christmas?  John Land from the Astronomy Club of Tulsa will be our guest speaker!

December:  A Year’s Worth of Meteor Showers by Denise; possibly a star party

January:  You got a telescope for Christmas.  Now what do you do with it?