APL Astronomy Club General Meeting September 17, 2014

Agenda FY 2014 budget request – status Treasurer’s Report Proposed 2015 Equipment Purchase Overview Star Party / Solar Party planning Upcoming Events Observing Reports October’s Lunar Eclipse

FY 14 Budget Request Our FY 14 grant from the Rec Office was approved in the amount of $2284. The members voted on the following modified budget: DescriptionPriceStatus 8" Optical Tube Assembly 8" case Right-angle finder scope Equatorial mount $2080pending AllView mount for H-alpha Lunt $400pending Padded bag for Orion XTi8$90pending JMI counterweight set for 16" Dob $90pending 1.25" Filter Set (Moon, Multi- color, OIII) $160pending Observer's Handbook$40Bought and reimbursed Total$2860 The total budget of $2860 includes $576 from club funds which amounts to 20% of the total. The sale on the package deal on the 8” telescope and mount expired. This relieves the time constraint on this purchase; however, the package is now about $100 more than initially estimated. This can be made up from club funds, increasing the club amount to $676.

APL Astronomy Club Treasury September 17, 2014 Dues income for CY members have paid CY 14 dues to date (23 paid in 2013) 28 members have paid CY 14 dues to date (23 paid in 2013) $ Carryover $ Recent Expenditures Credit Union balance (17 September 2014) $ Rec Office Balance (FY 2014) Grant announced December 3rd, $ Grant announced December 3rd, $ $ 0.00 *Includes $1 check fee

Equipment Check-out 1.Fill it out for all club equipment you have. 2.Contact a key-holder to arrange a meeting time. 3.Bring in equipment to show key-holder and get signature. Current key-holders: Steve Conard Dan Smith Helen Hart Mark Kochte

Star / Solar Party Planning Solar observing party: Solar observing party: –Next solar observing session Sept 18, Central Green Fall Friends and Family Star Party: Fall Friends and Family Star Party: –Plan for week of Sept 29th; 1 st Quarter Moon on Oct 1 st –Next 1 st Quarter October 30 (Thursday, Halloween eve) –Full Moons: Oct 8, November 6. Dark Sky Party: Dark Sky Party: –Any plans for future trips?

Upcoming Events – APL Club Next Club Meeting – October 15 –Volunteer speaker? Solar observing party – To be held on Sept 18 th Fall Friends and Family Star Party – sometime during the week of Sept 29 th -Oct 3 rd

Upcoming Events - Regional Chaos Spring Star Party – Mar. 27 – 30, 2014 – Staunton River State Park – Near Scottsburg, VA Central PA Consortium Astronomers Meeting NEAF/NEAIC 23 – Apr , 2014 – Rockland Astronomy Club and S&T - Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY Star Gaze – Apr , 2014 – Delmarva Star Gazers – Tuckahoe State Park in Queen Anne, MD Texas Star Party 2014 – May 25 – Jun. 1, 2014 – Astronomical League Southwest Region - Prude Ranch near Fort Davis, TX The Cherry Springs Star Party – Jun , 2014 – The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg – Cherry Springs State Park near Coudersport, PA Greenbank Star Quest XI – Jun , 2014 – National Radio Astronomy Observatory - Greenbank, WV Mason-Dixon Summer Star Party – Jul , 2014 – York County, PA Stellafane Convention – Jul , 2014 – Springfield, VT NOVAC AHSP 10 – Aug , 2014 – Spruce Knob, WV Black Forest Star Party – Aug 22 – 24, 2014 – Cherry Springs, PA Delmarva NoFrills 2014 – Sept – Tuckahoe State Park Blackwater Falls Astronomy Weekend – Sept 25-28, 2014 – Blackwater Falls, WV

Observing Reports

October’s Total Lunar Eclipse!

October 8 th Lunar Eclipse This is to be the second of four consecutive total lunar eclipses (a tetrad) in 2014/2015 There were no tetrads between 1582 and 1908 There are 17 tetrads between 1909 and 2156 The last tetrad was in 2003/2004. The next will be 2032/2033.

October 8 th Lunar Eclipse During the 5000-year period from 1999 BC to 3000 AD there have been/will be: –4378 penumbral eclipses –4207 partial lunar eclipses –3479 total lunar eclipses 568 of these total lunar eclipses belong to a tetrad

October 8 th Lunar Eclipse Twilight eclipse, not going to be a great show for us, unfortunately (unlike the clouded out eclipse earlier this past April) Sunrise is 7:11am, full eclipse is at 6:55am The further west you go, the better/more you’ll get to see! (Hawai’i is nice this time of year, I’m given to understand)

Eclipse Coverage Area

Timing Details EventUTCLocal TimeVisible in Maryland? Penumbral Eclipse start 08:174:17amYes Partial Eclipse begins 09:185:18amYes Full Eclipse begins 10:276:27amYes Maximum Eclipse10:556:55amYes Full Eclipse ends11:227:22amNo, below horizon Partial Eclipse ends 12:328:32amNo, below horizon Penumbral Eclipse ends 13:329:32amNo, below horizon

Blaine Roelke Observatory Steve Conard 17 September 2014

Blaine Roelke Observatory Being built at Bear Branch Nature Center, a county park Telescope, dome, and building being donated by the family of the late Blaine Roelke, a founding member of the Westminster Astronomical Society (WAS) This dome was used by Blaine in several locations during his lifetime, most recently in rural central Pennsylvania In addition, Carroll County has paid for the planning and concrete work, and WAS has paid for running power from the nature center to the observatory, a pier, and (TBC) a new telescope mount –Only through the combined effort of Blaine’s family, Carroll County, and WAS could this come together Expect to open officially in 6-8 weeks

Equipment The dome is a 10’ Ash, that was refinished –Light tan outside, black inside –Manual rotation and slit opening for now, hope to upgrade to motorized long-term Mounted on a ~12’ x 16’ structure Telescope will be either a Celestron or Meade 14” SCT –The baseline is the Celestron, but that will require a new mount (hopefully to be finalized this week) –Pier is a Pier Tech II, which adjusts up/down, allowing more people to use the telescope without using the rolling stairway

Location About 5 miles north of Westminster, just of MD-97 This is Bortle 5 (orange) for light pollution

Photos

Use Both BBNC personnel and WAS members will use the observatory There will be at least one public opening per month, in conjunction with shows at BBNC’s planetarium –WAS members will generally operate the telescope for these scheduled shows WAS members can also become qualified to operate the observatory, and use it for their own interests on other nights, with advance reservation