Current Minutes

MINUTES

April 2008 Meeting Minutes of the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

Meeting minutes taken by J. Sillasen.

The meeting was held at the Van Vleck Observatory this month and was called to order @ 7:08 PM by President, Josh Cohen.

Attendees: J. Cohen, Z. Clapper, (guest), E. McNeill, A. Hall, D. Parker, S. Tracy, G. Simmons, T. Simmons, J. Hillmon, A. Johnson, B. Sparrow, D. Kavalkovich & J. Sillasen

The previous month's minutes were accepted as amended. The minutes are to be changed to reflect Dr. Larson as 'she.' No copies were present. No treasurer's report was presented.

New Business: Motions made at previous meetings were briefly discussed and tabled until next year.

J. Sillasen was appointed Webmaster by the President.

Old Business: Committees that were suggested at the last meeting with a discussion that followed. The group feels that it is likely that a committee should be formed to address membership. Should a committee be formed, D. Kavalkovich would agree to chair it and S. Tracy would agree to work on it. The Yahoo group should be used in the interim as a vehicle to share and discuss ideas for attracting new members, providing activities to retain current members and to share thoughts about money making ventures that are astronomy related, such as StarConn.

A program committee would be formed with S. Tracy & D. Parker. This is a current committee formed is at the discretion of the president.

The 3rd motion, making the position of Webmaster a member of the ASGH executive committee will also be tabled until next meeting.

There was some discussion made about the timely processing of membership renewals and S&T subscription handling. The President agreed and advised that he has spoken with the Treasurer about this in the Yahoo group. All members agreed that it needs to be addressed. S. Tracy noted that two members have left the group because of this issue specifically.

It was noted that membership dues are due at the September meeting. Members
can join at any time of the year, however.

For the Good of the Organization: Hurd State Park Star Party on May 3, 2008

D Kavalkovich noted that the fee and the application for the permit for the star party on Saturday, May 3rd, were submitted on Monday to the State DEP. He is expecting no issues with the approval of the permit. Dean presented a member cover letter and flyers that can be personalized and made into a tri-fold flyer for hand delivery to interested participants. Copies were distributed to the membership. Included are general tips on star party attendance, specific rules and directions.

Note: Dean is seeking member volunteers for the star party to help with refreshments and traffic duties. Contact Dean at dean.kavalkovich@comcast.net if you are able to help.

Cherry Springs State Park Star Party

Currently eleven ASGH members are planning to attend the three-day star party at Cherry Springs in Pennsylvania, May 29 - June 1, 2008. Members are encouraged to register on the CSSP website if they are interested in attending. http://www.astrohbg.org/s4/s4_paypal.php. Electronic registration closes on May 10th.

Night Sky Network Awards Presentation

J. Sillasen made an award presentation to D. Parker for his participation in 2007, (a 2008 certificate and pin were presented), in public education in astronomy. Also receiving awards were J. Shull & J. Sillasen.

Officer Nominations

The President opened the floor to nominations for officers of ASGH for the 9/2007 to 9/2008 year.

President: Allen Hall
Vice Presiden: Dick Parker
Secretary D. Kavalkovich
Treasurer: C. Koplin

Elections and final nominations will take place at the May 21, 2008 meeting at Central Connecticut State University in the planetarium.

The meeting was adjourned @ 7:40 PM so that the members could attend what was an outstanding lecture presented by Steven Squyres, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University. He spoke on the topic: "Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity and the Exploration of the Red Planet".

The lecture is part of the Sturm Lecture series held annually at Wesleyan University and is open to the public. The lecture was held at the Kerr Lecture Hall, formerly Shanklin 107 in the Hall-Atwater building on campus. The lecture lasted just over an hour with another 20 minutes opened up for Q&A. The session closed with a very nice reception with food and drink in Woodhead Lounge in the Science Building. Further opportunities to speak with Professor Squyres were possible there.

Minutes of the March 19, 2008 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

Vice-President Dave Cudworth brought the meeting to order at 7:37pm. There were fourteen members in attendance. There were no visitors..

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the January meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carl Koplin reported that our ending balance is approximately $8817.00 with little change in our balance. There is one outstanding authorized purchase: a light pollution filter, with a budget of $250. Scott Sendlein is tasked with deciding which filter to purchsae.

Public observing committee: The session on March 15th was cancelled due to weather. The next event is scheduled for April 12th..

Program Committee: There will be another members+guests star party at Hurd Park in East Hampton on May 3rd. Members, please feel free to invite anybody you like, but please plan on attending if you do invite anybody.

Librarian: Please come and borrow some books. If you contact Dick Parker ahead of time, he may be able to bring books to upcoming ASGH meetings.

Field Trips: There is a society-assisted private session scheduled for a church youth group in Granby on April 4, 2008. More information will be published on the Yahoo group.

Dave Cudworth reported that a girl scout troupe in Litchfield has requested scopes for a session on May 2nd-3rd. This date conflicts with the scheduled club party on May 5th at Hurd Park.

There was discussion of a possible Cherry Springs trip for the last weekend in May (May 29 - June 1). This event is being sponsored by the Harrisburg Astronomical Society. Fees for the event are $37 per person.

Francis O'Reilly reported that he intends to provide spaghetti and meatballs for club members the Saturday of Stellafane.

Skyscrapers is still planning the trip to White Mountain in California from June 28th to July 5th, 2008. There are currently six to seven people planning on attending. If Skyscrapers doesn't end up with at least ten people, the event will be pushed back to 2009. If interested in attending, please contact him at Glenn.Jackson@cox.net.

Allen Hall reported that there is a cruise being planned for the 2010 Solar Eclipse which will be going to Easter Island. Allen is planning a ten day trip which will pass through Santiago Chile.

Nominating Committee: Elections are coming up for the offices of President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. Josh Cohen will NOT be returning as President due to other commitments. If you are interested in running for a position, or would like to suggest a possibility of someone who is willing to serve, please come to the April meeting or contact one of the current officers. The vote will occur at the Annual meeting in May.

Astronomer of the Year: No activity yet.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop finished on March 1st, with many complex projects.

Old Business: Outstanding Light Pollution Filter to be chosen by Scott Sendlein.

New Business: Allen Hall made two motions. The first will involve a change to the ASGH constitution. Both of these motions will be voted on at the annual meeting in May. The intention of these two motions is interwoven: cash flow is down, and without membership growth and the income from StarConn, ASGH will eventually wither and die.

The first motion was to add a new position to the Executive Committee: Webmaster.

The second motion was to authorized the president to create a committee to do whatever is required to grow the membership. Possible activities include paying a web designer to enhance our web site to make it more interesting; advertising in a variety of venues (web, etc).

Observing reports: Francis O'Reilly reported that he has been observing lately using the scope he built using the 8" f/6 mirror he made at the mirror workshop. Targets included Saturn, Titan, and Thea.

Allen Hall reported excellent observing at the most recent session at Van Vleck.

Craig Robinson reported excellent attendance at the lunar eclipse event at the CCSU observatory following the February meeting.

Good of the Organization: Carl Williams reported that there were no junior entries in the science fair. Instead, ASGH awarded two senior awards; both entries were from the same High School. The winners will present their entries at the May ASGH meeting. The two winners are:

Thomas Mattesich - The Ultra-Violet Properties of Supernovae Host Galaxies, and

Laura Van Dyck - Using Color-Magnitude Diagrams to Study Open Star Clusters: Analysis of Stellar Evolution and Distance.

Chris Larson reported that 2009 is the 'International Year of Astronomy' and he feels that we should do some sort of public outreach to high school students, as well as other events.

Dick Parker reported that the Sturm Lecture on April 10th will presented by Steven Squyres, professor at Cornell, and the principal investigator on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission (i.e. the Spirit and Opportunity rovers). The lecture begins at 8:00pm, but will be preceded by the ASGH April meeting at 7:00pm in Van Vleck Observatory.

The meeting adjourned at 8:40.

After the meeting, member Allen Hall gave a presentation on the development of the twin 16" Classical Cassegrain telescopes that he and Dick Parker are working on. Allen intends to bring his scope with him to Stellafane 2008.

Minutes of the February 13, 2008 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:32pm. There were twenty-three members in attendance plus three visitors: Francis O'Reilly, Matthew Morneau, and John Briggs.

Before the meeting, John introduced the members to a representative of the FBI. He stated that the use of hand-held lasers being shined into the cockpits of aircraft has increased dramatically over the last several years. There were 3000+ incidents reported by pilots in 2007. Four of those pilots have sustained retinal damage as a result. If you see anybody targeting aircraft with a hand-held or scope-mounted laser, please report this information to the FBI. If need be, you can direct the information through President Cohen.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer's report.

Public observing committee: Public observing on February 16th was spectacular, with 30+ people attending. Targets for the evening included Mars, Hadley Rill on the Moon, and Saturn. The next session is scheduled for March 15th.

Program Committee: There will be another members+guests star party at Hurd Park in East Hampton on May 3rd. Despite the proximity to Middletown, it's a fairly dark site. Please join us.

Librarian: Please come and borrow some books. If you contact Dick Parker ahead of time, he may be able to bring books to upcoming ASGH meetings.

Field Trips: There is a society-assisted private session scheduled for a church youth group in Granby on April 4, 2008. More information will be published on the Yahoo group.

On March 7th, the society will be providing telescopes for public observing at Imagine Nation in downtown Bristol. This is a rain-or-shine event.

There was discussion of a possible Cherry Springs trip for the last weekend in May (May 29 - June 1). As usual, there will probably be a caravan forming somewhere west of Hartford (probably in Southington) the morning of the 29th.

Astronomer of the Year: No activity yet.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop has been very active, with many complex projects.

Old Business: None.

New Business: None.

Observing reports: No reports.

Good of the Organization: There is public observing at CCSU on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each note..

The meeting adjourned at 7:59.

John Briggs of the Antique Telescope Society gave an excellent talk on the solar telescopes of George Ellery Hale.

After John's talk, some members headed upstairs to observe the total lunar eclipse. The next total lunar eclipse that will be visible from North America won't be until December 2010.

Minutes of the January 16, 2008 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:33pm. There were eleven members in attendance plus three visitors.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the December meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carl Koplin reported the following:

Our membership in the International Dark Sky association is due in the amount of $100. Members approved the payment of the membership dues.

Last year the society acquired copies of the RASC Observer's Guide at a discounted price. Were any members interested in the association doing the same for the 2008 Observer's guide? No.

The balance in our accounts totals $8,817.68; approximately $3,900 in checking and $4,900 in savings. Our balance is currently dropping at a rate of about $600 per year, primarily due to the lack of income from StarConn.

Carl requested that when you send your membership renewal to him, if there are any changes in your information, please circle the changes.

Public observing committee: The last session at Van Vleck was cancelled due to weather. The next public viewing is scheduled for February 16th. There will be a members-only session scheduled for January 26th.

Program Committee: No report.

Librarian: Please come and borrow some books. If you contact Dick Parker ahead of time, he may be able to bring books to upcoming ASGH meetings.

Field Trips: There is a society-assisted private session scheduled for a church youth group in Granby on April 4, 2008. More information will be published on the Yahoo group.

There is a society-assisted private session scheduled for February 5th in Suffield. Please contact Josh for more information.

There was discussion of a possible Cherry Springs trip for the last weekend in May (May 29 - June 1).

On March 7th, the society will be providing telescopes for public observing at Imagine Nation in downtown Bristol. This is a rain-or-shine event.

Astronomer of the Year: No activity yet.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop is overfilled (17 barrels in use) and Dick has had to turn people away. As always, it will be held on Saturdays during January, February, and possibly early March 2008. The mirror workshop also tends to be an impromptu meeting place for club members, so feel free to stop by. Parking may be interesting, however. Please contact librarian@asgh.org if interested in attending.

Old Business: Carl Koplin mentioned that astronaut Dan Burbank is currently in Tolland, and is teaching a class at the Coast Guard Academy. We have previously discussed the possibility of trying to get Dan Burbank to speak at a special meeting of ASGH.

New Business: None.

Observing reports: Allen Hall stated that he has observed lots of clouds.

Good of the Organization: No report.

The meeting adjourned at 8:10.

After the meeting, Glenn Jackson, the president of SkyScrapers, gave a presentation about an upcoming trip to White Mountain in California from June 28th to July 5th, 2008. If interested in attending, please contact him at Glenn.Jackson@cox.net.

Minutes of the December 19, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:38pm. There were eleven members in attendance plus two visitors (David Karpf and Tom Parker).

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the October meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group. There was no November meeting.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer's report.

Public observing committee: Scott Sendlein reported that the session on December 12th at Van Vleck was cancelled due to a Nor'easter. There will be a club-only Mars session on December 22nd at Van Vleck. Due to the number of ASGH members available for public observing, Scott has considering starting to schedule TWO sessions a month (with the second as a cloud date for the first), with members only signing up to work ONE session per month. Sessions through the first half of 2008 have been scheduled and approved.

Program Committee: The invitation-only event at Hurd Park on November 10th was a great success with approximately ten people attending. It was a surprisingly good site despite light pollution from Middletown. Members got great views of Comet Holmes, which appeared larger than the moon.

Librarian: Please come and borrow some books. If you contact Dick Parker ahead of time, he may be able to bring books to upcoming ASGH meetings.

Field Trips: Josh reported that the field trip to the church group in Granby needed to be rescheduled due to a conflict from a Christmas event at the church. There is no replacement date yet. Please contact Josh Cohen if interested in helping out.

Astronomer of the Year: No activity yet.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop is overfilled and Dick has had to turn people away. As always, it will be held on Saturdays during January, February, and possibly early March 2008. The mirror workshop also tends to be an impromptu meeting place for club members, so feel free to stop by. Parking may be interesting, however. Please contact librarian@asgh.org if interested in attending.

Old Business: Clarification: Scott Sendlein is authorized to purchase a 2" light pollution filter for use at Van Vleck.

New Business: Carl Williams asked if ASGH was willing to sponsor the CT science fair again. The prizes will be $100 + membership in ASGH + a subscription to Sky and Telescope for the Junior winner, and $150 + membership in ASGH + a subscription to Sky and Telescope for the Junior winner. This proposal passed.

Observing reports: None

Good of the Organization: Josh Cohen reported that the officers had checked out the new website that Bill Donohue's son is working on for www.asgh.org. The general consensus of the officers is that the new site is looking good, but it needs more content.. Discussion ensued about what technology is being used to create the site (Dream Weaver, $399 retail), and what will be required to maintain the new site (unknown at this point).

Craig Robinson reported that due to conflicts with the University, he can no longer be a member of ASGH..

The meeting adjourned at 7:57.

After the meeting, Dr. Kirsten Larsen gave a presentation titled "Time Travel, Wormholes and Parallel Universes: Science or Science Fiction".

In early November, officers of ASGH decided to cancel the November meeting due to proximity to Thanksgiving.

Minutes of the October 17, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:37pm. There were eighteen members in attendance.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the September meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer's report.

Public observing committee: The next session is scheduled for October 20th, from 8:00-10:00.

Program Committee: There will be an invitation-only event at Hurd Park on November 10th, from 4:00 until whenever. This invitation is open to all members plus friends. There is NO overnight camping available.

Librarian: Please come and borrow some books. If you contact Dick Parker ahead of time, he may be able to bring books to upcoming ASGH meetings.

Field Trips: A church group in Granby (on Rts 10/202) is interested in holding an astronomy night for their kids on December 14th. Please contact Josh Cohen if interested in helping out.

Astronomer of the Year: The Astronomer of the Year award was presented to Scott Sendlein, primarily for his support of public observing at Van Vleck observatory.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop is filling up rapidly. As always, it will be held on Saturdays during January, February, and March 2008. Please contact librarian@asgh.org if interested in attending.

Old Business: Clarification: Scott Sendlein is authorized to purchase a 2" light pollution filter for use at Van Vleck.

New Business: None

Observing reports:

Good of the Organization: Bill Donohue's son is working on a new website for www.asgh.org. The URL of the test site will be distributed to the officers.

Members discussed the possibility of doing some sort of astronomical display at Buckland Hills Mall, with displays inside and scopes outside.

There was discussion of possible observing locations: Nathan Hale park is really dark; Goodwin State Park; White Memorial Conservation Center.

The meeting adjourned at 8:10.

After the meeting, Dean Kavalkovich gave a presentation on how amateurs can be involved in the detection of extra-solar planets by analyzing light curves and trying to find the combination of orbital parameters that best matches the light curve. More information can be found at oklo.org.

Minutes of the September 19, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:35pm. There were eighteen members in attendance plus a guest: George Zars from Bloomfield.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the May meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carl Koplin reported that our outstanding balance is $8,882. Our bank is now TD BankNorth. The report was accepted by the members.

Public observing committee: There were multiple observing sessions at Van Vleck over the summer that were well attended. The next session will be on September 22, at 8:00pm..

Program Committee: Dean Kavalkovich has set up a club-only invitational star party at Hurd State Park in East Haddam on November 10th. There will be running water and toilet facilities available. Overnight camping will also be available. There was a $25 charge to hold the the party. Payment of that fee was authorized. Information on the star party can be found at http://www.asgh.org/ClubStarParty.htm.

Librarian: Please come and borrow some books. If you contact Dick Parker ahead of time, he may be able to bring books to upcoming ASGH meetings..

Field Trips: The planned trip to Cherry Springs is tentatively being planned as a late winter star party. Cherry Springs has completed installation of the 15' domes which can be reserved for a one-time fee of $25.00.

StarConn: StarConn 2008 has been not been scheduled. If you're interested in chairing the committee to hold StarConn, please contact any of the officers.

Astronomer of the Year: The Astronomer of the Year has been selected, and the award will be presented at the October meeting of ASGH.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop will be held on Saturdays during January, February, and March 2008. Dick Parker reported that the workshop is already half-full, so if you're interested in attending, please contact Dick ASAP.

Old Business: None.

New Business: Scott Sendlein suggested that the club buy a 2" light pollution filter for use at Van Vleck. The club authorized a purchase not to exceed $250 in total.

Observing reports: The Connecticut Star Party was held the weekend of September 14th at the Boy Scout camp in Ashford, CT. The star party was rained out on Friday, but the viewing was good on Saturday. Stephen's Quintet was observed through a 16" scope. The binoculars that the club purchased to provide as a raffle item for ASNH was won by a member of ASNH.

Carl Koplin reported that it is possible that we could get access to the camp for star parties on a free (or nearly free) basis due to his position within the Connecticut Boy Scouts.

Scott Sendlein reported that Stellafane was fantastic. You can now set on on Thursday morning for Stellafane, which makes the rest of the weekend much more relaxed.

Good of the Organization: Bill Donohue reported that his son has nearly completed the redesign of our web site, and that hopefully it will be ready by the October meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15.

After the meeting, Dick Parker gave an excellent presentation on his mirror workshop in Istanbul, Turkey.

Minutes of the May 16, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

The presentations by the winners of the science fair preceded the May meeting.

The first presentation was by winners of the Junior award: Zachary Wolf and Jason Whitehouse, whose project was 'The Moon: Light and Angles'. They investigated extinction of moon light based on the elevation of the moon. To do so, they made a cadmium sulfide photo cell. The resistance of cadmium sulfide decreases when it is exposed to light. The came in first in their class in the NASA Math Challenge, and second in the national challenge.

The second presentation was by the Senior winner, Antonella Lisanta, whose project was 'The Relationship Between Galaxy Types and the X-Ray Luminosity of Active Galactic Nuclei'. She compared the morphology of galaxies with their X-Ray luminosity. Her investigations have expanded scientific knowledge. Antonella definitely has a bright future ahead of her.

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:45pm. There were thirteen members in attendance plus ten guests.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the April meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer's report.

Public observing committee: Sessions on April 21st and May 5th were cancelled due to weather. The next scheduled session is June 23rd.

Program Committee: No activity.

Librarian: No report.

Field Trips: The planned trip to Cherry Springs has collapsed. Members expressed hope that it would be rescheduled for some time in the fall.

StarConn: StarConn 2007 has been cancelled.

Nominating Committee: Elections were held. The new officers are as follows:

President - This position will be split between Josh Cohen and Dick Parker, with Dick Parker primarily responsible for finding speakers for the meetings.

Vice-President - Dave Cudworth

Secretary - Thomas Karpf

Treasurer - Carl Koplin

Field trips: There will be an observing session at DePaolo Middle School in Southington on June 12th.

Astronomer of the Year: The Astronomer of the Year has been selected, and the award will be presented at the September meeting of ASGH.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop has adjourned for the year. The last day, seven mirrors were completed. There are only two mirrors left unfinished. Dick Park will be holding a mirror workshop in Istanbul, Turkey this summer.

Old Business: None.

New Business: None

Observing reports: None

Good of the Organization: Members expressed interest in the importance of having speakers for after the meetings. We should send out notices when we have speakers. It was suggested that notices be sent to local astronomy departments at schools, universities, etc. when speakers have been scheduled.

Members also expressed interest that more star parties be scheduled.

The meeting adjourned at 9:08.

Minutes of the April 18, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:33pm. There were thirteen members in attendance.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the March meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer's report.

Public observing committee: The observing session on March 24^th at Van Vleck observatory was cancelled due to weather. The next session is on April 21st at 9:00pm..

Program Committee: No activity.

Librarian: No report.

Field Trips: Josh Cohen, John Sillasen, Julian Shull and Dick Parker are planning a trip to Cherry Springs State Park (www.cherrysprings.org) in Galeton, Pennsylvania for May 17-20, 2007. Registration information as available on the Cherry Springs web site. If you are interested in going or would like to participate in the ASGH meal plan, please contact Josh Cohen.

StarConn: StarConn 2007 has been cancelled.

Nominating Committee: The nominating committee this year consists of all of the current officers. Elections will be held at the May meeting.. Nominations are still open.

Notwithstanding any nominations that may arise between now and the election, the current slate of officers is as follows:

President - This position will be split between Josh Cohen and Dick Parker

Vice-President - Dave Cudworth

Secretary - Thomas Karpf

Treasurer - Carl Koplin

Officers receive the following benefits: annual dues are waived for the year you serve, and you will receive a free subscription to either Sky and Telescope or Astronomy magazine.

If you are interested in holding any of these positions, please contact any of the officers.

Astronomer of the Year: The Astronomer of the Year award will be presented at the May meeting of ASGH. Dick Parker asked that anyone who would like to nominate someone to please direct your emails to librarian@asgh.org. He has received no suggestions yet, so please submit anyone you feel deserves to be recognized.

Old Business: At a previous meeting Dean Kavalkovich suggested that ASGH provide $250 worth of raffle prizes for the Connecticut Star Party this year. The motion passed.

New Business: None

Observing reports: Skip Cashwell reported that he went to Hawaii for Christmas and went up to Mauna Kea for observing

Good of the Organization: Skip Cashwell reported that Astro-Physics is now selling Chinese 15x70 binoculars for $359. Each pair of binoculars is being checked by Roland Christensen. Skip felt that these were an excellent deal.

Scott Tracy reported that the CT Science Fair winners are expected to be doing presentations at the May meeting.

Craig Robinson mentioned that Astronomy Day on April 21st. CCSU will be doing several presentations in/around the planetarium. More information is available at www.CCSU/Astronomy.

The meeting adjourned at 8:04.

Craig put on an excellent planetarium show after the meeting.

Minutes of the March 21, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

President Josh Cohen brought the meeting to order at 7:41pm. There were ten members in attendance.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the February meeting to the meeting, which was accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer's report.

Public observing committee: The observing session on February 24^th at Van Vleck observatory was went well. Approximately 20 people attended. The next session is on March 24^th at 8:00pm..

The session at Suffield Middle school was attended by Josh Cohen, Dick Parker, Julian Shull, and Bruce Sparrow. There were approximately 20 students plus their parents.

Program Committee: No activity.

Librarian: Librarian Dick Parker offered to bring books into the monthly meetings if people are interested in specific books. Check www.asgh.org/library.htm for the list of available books.

Field Trips: Josh Cohen, John Sillasen, Julian Shull and Dick Parker are planning a trip to Cherry Springs State Park (www.cherrysprings.org) in Galeton, Pennsylvania for May 17-20, 2007.

StarConn: StarConn 2007 has been cancelled.

Nominating Committee: The nominating committee this year consists of all of the current officers. Elections will be held at the May meeting..

All members of the society are eligible for the positions. Positions and duties are as follows:

President - Runs the monthly meetings at CCSU. Appoints members of committees. Arranges for speakers for after each business meeting.

Vice-President - Assists the President, and assumes the duties of President in his absence.

Secretary - Takes minutes at each meeting. Posts minutes on the Yahoo group and the ASGH Website.

Treasurer - Manages the funds of the organization. Collects dues, sends out payments for magazine subscriptions, pays bills, and makes purchases as directed by the membership. Makes no expenditures without the direction of the President.

Officers receive the following benefits: annual dues are waived for the year you serve, and you will receive a free subscription to either Sky and Telescope or Astronomy magazine.

If you are interested in holding any of these positions, please contact any of the officers.

Old Business: Dick Parker brought in the RASC 2007 Observers guides, which are available to the members for $20 each.

Carl Williams, Scott Tracy, and Allan Hall attended the Connecticut science fair. Judging was on March 15, 2007 at Quinnipiac University.

The Senior winner was Antonella Lisanta, whose project was 'The Relationship Between Galaxy Types and the X-Ray Luminosity of Active Galactic Nuclei'.

The Junior winners were Zachary Wolf and Jason Whitehouse, whose project was 'The Moon: Light and Angles'.

All of the winners should be attending the May meeting.

New Business: Discussion continued regarding Dean Kavalkovich suggestion that we donate several door prizes to the Connecticut Star Party to generate some publicity. He moved that we allocate $250 towards that end. Josh Cohen suggested that we create a poll on the Yahoo group to see how members who do not normally attend the monthly meetings feel

Observing reports: Dick Parker reported that he observed the lunar eclipse on March 2nd. Craig Robinson also reported observing the eclipse from CCSU. Although the weather was mostly overcast, there was a twenty-mile wide gap in the clouds over Connecticut during the eclipse.

Bruce Sparrow and Josh Cohen reported observing a VERY thin crescent of the moon.

Good of the Organization: N/A

The meeting adjourned at 8:28.

Minutes of the February 21, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

Secretary Tom Karpf brought the meeting to order at 7:41pm. There were ten members in attendance.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carl Koplin reported that our current balance is $9.542.65. The members accepted the treasurer’s report.

Public observing committee: The observing session on January 27^th at Van Vleck observatory was cancelled due to weather. The next session is on February 24^th at 8:00pm..

Program Committee: No activity.

Librarian: Librarian Dick Parker suggested that members come visit the library at his house during the mirror workshops in January and February.

Field Trips: Josh Cohen, John Sillasen, and Dick Parker are planning a trip to Cherry Springs State Park in Galeton, Pennsylvania for this spring, probably in May.

There will be a public session held at ImagineNation in Bristol on March 2^nd at 7:00pm. If you’d like to participate, directions have been posted to the Yahoo group.

.StarConn: StarConn 2007 has been cancelled.

Nominating Committee: Secretary Tom Karpf asked if any members were willing to serve on the nominating committee to find candidates for officers for the next year. Elections will be held at the May meeting..

Mirror workshop: The workshop is going well and is full at this point with fourteen participants. There is a link to the mirror workshop webpage at ASGH.ORG, and lots of new pictures have been posted there. Dick Parker stated that there was one mirror complete at this point; a 6” mirror. For coating services, Dick suggested Research Specialty Service in Revere, MA.

Old Business: The copies of the RASC Observers Handbook have been ordered and will hopefully be available at the March meeting for $20 each.

New Business: Dean Kavalkovich suggested donating several door prizes to the Connecticut Star Party to generate some publicity. He moved that we allocate $250 towards that end. The motion was seconded, but it was decided to table it until March.

Observing reports: The general consensus was that it’s been too cold to observe.

Good of the Organization: The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury has an observatory with a 16” Meade. The observatory is open to community groups who wish to visit.

Dean suggested that although ASGH cannot directly involve itself in political affairs, there’s nothing keeping members from dealing with the executive branches of their town (i.e. the town planner) to work on lighting issues.

Craig Robinson mentioned that there is a total lunar eclipse on March 2^nd, and that he will be holding a session on the top of the garage at CCSU (so there’s a decent eastern horizon). If you’d like to bring a scope, please plan on being at CCSU between 6:00 and 7:30 that day. Craig typically gets between three and four hundred people for an eclipse.

Craig also stated that the 1^st and 3^rd Saturday planetarium/observing sessions at CCSU are being well attended.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30.

Minutes of the January 17, 2007 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

The meeting was brought to order by Vice-President David Cudworth at 7:43pm. There were thirteen members in attendance plus visitor Frank Salerno.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought copies of the minutes for the December meeting to the meeting which were accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carl Koplin reported that there has been no activity since last month. The treasurer's report was accepted by the members.

Public observing committee: There will be an observing session on January 27^th at Van Vleck observatory.

Program Committee: No activity.

Librarian: Librarian Dick Parker suggested that members come visit the library at his house during the mirror workshops in January and February.

Field Trips: Josh Cohen, John Sillasen, and Dick Parker are planning a trip to Cherry Springs State Park in Galeton, Pennsylvania for this spring, probably in April or May. The field at Cherry Springs is VERY flat, and there are electrical outlets available in the field. Cherry Springs is approximately a six hour drive from the Hartford area. For more information on the park, please visit http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/cherrysprings.aspx. For directions from www.mapquest.com, http://maps.yahoo.com, or http://maps.google.com, use this address: 54 Lyman Run Road, Galeton, PA 16922.

StarConn: StarConn 2007 has been cancelled.

Nominating Committee: No report.

Astronomer of the Year: The Astronomer of the Year award will be presented at the May meeting of ASGH.

Mirror workshop: The workshop is going well and is full at this point with fourteen participants. There have been two sessions so far. Feel free to stop by for a visit.

Old Business: The RASC Observers Handbook have been ordered and will hopefully be available at the February meeting for $20 each.

New Business: Calendars were not ordered this year. Bill Donoghue’s son Ryan will be helping Tom Karpf with www.asgh.org. Josh Cohen has been paying for our web hosting out of his own pocket. Josh, send a bill to Carl so he can take care of it.

Observing reports: Dick Parker reported that he visited the AAVSO offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Among other things, Dick saw Walter Scott Houston’s note. They had information there that dated as far back as the 1850. AAVSO will be moving shortly across the street into the space being vacated by Sky Publishing.

Craig reported that he saw Comet McNaught for three consecutive days and that it was very bright. There was a 2 degree long tail that was visible to the naked eye.

Good of the Organization: The Stellafane convention is coming up August 10-11, 2007 (http://www.stellafane.com/). Arunah Hill Days will be on September 7-9, 2007 (http://www.arunah.org/events/ahd.htm). The Connecticut Star Party will be held on September 14-16, 2007 (www.asnh.org). Some club members are thinking about getting together for a Messier Marathon in March or April.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15.

Members of the club headed over to Chili’s afterward for refreshments and conversation.

Minutes of the December 20, 2006 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

The meeting was brought to order by President Josh Cohen at 7:43pm. There were eleven members in attendance.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary Tom Karpf brought minutes for the November meeting were brought to the meeting and were accepted by the members. Minutes have also been posted to the web and emailed to the Yahoo group.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Carl Koplin reported a starting balance on September 20th of $9,290.13, and an ending balance as of December 20th of $9,466.61. Expenses included a $100 membership to the IDA. The treasurer's report was accepted by the members.

Public observing committee: There was an observing session on December 2nd at Van Vleck observatory. Approximately twelve people attended.

Program Committee: No report.

Librarian: Librarian Dick Parker suggested that members come visit the library at his house during the mirror workshops in January and February.

Field Trips: A suggestion was made to go to Cherry Springs during the winter (possibly the February 17th weekend, or March 17th weekend). Cherry Springs is about a 6-8 hour drive from Hartford. There is a B&B very close by (Carter Camp Lodge) for those who would rather not sleep outside. The road into the field IS plowed during the winter. Cherry Springs has been working to add new observing domes and pads to the site, and they may be in place by February/March. The airport has been acquired by Cherry Springs, and it will be turned into an observing park with 15' domes.

StarConn: We still do not have committee members or a committee chairperson yet. Secretary Tom Karpf made a motion that if nobody has offered to chair the committee before or during the January 17th ASGH meeting, that StarConn be cancelled. The motion passed.

Nominating Committee: No report.

Astronomer of the Year: No report.

Mirror workshop: The mirror workshop will be starting up on January 6th at 9:00am, and approximately ten people will be working on projects. There is still space for a few more people. If you're interested in attending the workshop, please contact Dick Parker at librarian@asgh.org. Dick Parker mentioned that he has been invited to do a mirror workshop in Istanbul in July. He accepted the invitation, of course.

Old Business: There was no old business.

New Business: Treasurer Carl Koplin asked the society was interested in again purchasing copies of the RASC Observer's Handbook. Last year, we purchased ten handbooks and had no problems selling them to members at $20 each (which represented a savings of $8.95 to each member and also about a $3 profit to the society). The society authorized a similar expenditure this year.

Observing reports: Dick Parker, Julian Shull, and John Sillasen spent a week at Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which is at a latitude of 19 degrees, providing awesome views of the southern sky. Unfortunately, they had an unprecedented streak of five consecutive nights where they were clouded out. By the end of the week, when the skies finally cooperated, the moon was nearing first quarter. Views of the Milky Way were awesome.

Dick Parker reported that he observed the transit of Mercury from his site in Florida where the skies were brilliantly clear. He used his 6" refractor which he stopped down to 3".

Josh Cohen reported that he observed from his friend's (Paul Dunn) home in North Granby. Josh reported that while driving there, the Milky Way was clearly visible even with the headlights on. Paul has offered to let the club observe from his home. We'll be discussing this during the February meeting.

Good of the Organization: Tom Karpf is the new webmaster. If you have anything to post on the website, please forward that information to secretary@asgh.org.

Craig Robinson reported that the CCSU observatory will be opening again on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month at 8:00pm. Sessions will include both the planetarium and observatory. There is no charge to attend.

There may be an observing session at Suffield Middle school in February. More information to come.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35.

There was no presentation after the meeting.

Minutes of the November 15, 2006 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

The meeting was brought to order by Vice President David Cudworth at 7:37pm. There were eleven members in attendance.

Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the October meeting were brought to the meeting and were accepted by the members. Minutes have not been posted to the web due to technical difficulties.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer’s report.

Public observing committee: The November 11th session at Van Vleck had been cancelled. The next session will be on November 25th.

Program Committee: No report.

Librarian: No report.

Field Trips: A suggestion was made to visit a local site associated with SETI. No details were provided.

Nominating Committee: No report.

StarConn: We are still looking for committee members and possibly a chair person. The biggest issue with putting on StarConn is finding speakers.

Astronomer of the Year: No report.

Mirror workshop: If you're interested in attending the workshop, please contact Dick Parker at librarian@asgh.org. Josh Cohen reported that the basement at Dick Parker's house has recently flooded. As a result, the finish on the 16" mirror that he was storing to be used for a club scope has been damaged. Refinishing will cost about $150.

Old Business: We are now sponsoring the Van Vleck site at http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/VnVlckCTkey.html?1.

New Business: Carl Robertson stated that the Connecticut Science Fair is coming up. Prizes in the amount of $150 for the senior category and $100 for the junior category were authorized.

Observing reports: Rich Krajewski has been doing observing of asteroids. He has recorded 29 positions, including 7 near-Earth asteroids and 4 potentially hazardous asteroids. One of those observations was in support of Arecibo .

Good of the Organization: Dave Cudworth stated that Secretary Tom Karpf will probably end up as our Webmaster.

The meeting adjourned at 7:55.

Craig Robinson gave an excellent presentation on something called the ‘Spaceship game’, which is kind of like the game ‘switchboard’. Members were divided up into two teams, with each team responsible for sending a ‘spaceship’ (one of the members) to observe another ‘planet’ (a box of stuff on the podium, including coins, Legos, straws, etc.) and report what was found. Each team had one spaceship, one receiving station, one computer, and several scientists who were interpreted the results by creating a map using a similar (but not identical) box of stuff that Craig was using. The results were interesting. Each team accurately mapped some of the planet, but had issues when some pieces did not match between Craig’s box and theirs (Craig added a quarter to his box but the teams were not provided with quarters, colors of some of the Legos were different, etc.). Neither team reported that the planet was changing (a penny was moving up along the left side of the box).

All in all, it was a fun evening. Thanks, Craig!

Minutes of the October 18, 2006 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

The meeting was brought to order by President Josh Cohen at 7:37pm. There were twelve members in attendance.

Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the September meeting were brought to the meeting and were accepted by the members.

Treasurer’s Report: There was no treasurer’s report.

Public observing committee: The October 14th session at Van Vleck had been cancelled.

Program Committee: There was a public event at Holcomb Farm on October 4th. ASGH Members brought four scopes. It was recommended that the next time we do something like this, that the information be posted on www.asgh.org as not everybody is in the Yahoo group.

President Josh Cohen stated that he is having difficulties finding speakers for the monthly meetings. If you have suggestions for speakers, please contact Josh.

Program Committee: There will be a public event at Holcomb Farm on October 4th. If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Josh Cohen.

Librarian: No report.

Field Trips: No report.

Nominating Committee: No report.

StarConn: StarConn went very well. The speakers were exceptional. We made nearly $1,000 this year.

Astronomer of the Year: No report.

Old Business: None.

New Business: Secretary Tom Karpf suggested that the club sponsor the Clear Sky Clock for the Van Vleck Observatory at http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/VnVlckCTkey.html. Sponsoring the clock is only $1.00 per week, and does a number of nice things to that page. First, all sponsored pages are updated FIRST when the forecast is updated. Second, although the forecasts are only done for three hour intervals, the sponsored pages will show interpolated between those data points. Third, there are emails that can go out to cell phones. Finally, there's a forecast history that will give you statistical data for the location, which would allow you to determine what areas may be more likely to have clearer skies. The club agreed to sponsor the Van Vleck page for one year. We briefly discussed sponsoring a second page (the Hartford page was specifically mentioned, although it might make more sense to sponsor a site further away from Middletown, such as either Colebrook or the Goodwin Conservation Center), but that idea was tabled until a future meeting.

Observing reports: Craig Robinson reported observing the following through the school's 8" LX-200: NGC 457 (aka the ET Cluster or the Owl Nebula), and Uranus and Neptune.

Good of the Organization: Tom Karpf asked for clarification about the policies of posting advertisements to the Yahoo group. Officers occasionally get ads from astronomical business with requests that the information be passed on to the organization. Tom made a motion that members (NOT VENDORS) be allowed to post whatever advertisements they feel are acceptable. The motion carried with one opposed.

Josh Cohen reported that the web domain www.asgh.org has been transferred to Josh. Josh would like to transfer it to the club. The domain has been registered for a ten-year term.

Josh Cohen stated that he does not have time to be the webmaster for our web site and asked if there were any members interested in taking that job. Tom Karpf volunteered. Josh stated that he believed that Carl Koplin might have a lead.

Craig Robinson told the organization that CCSU will now be having public observing at 8:00 on the first and third Saturdays of each month while school is in session. Call 860-832-3399, menu item 2 for more information. There's also a web site at http://www.ccsu.edu/astronomy/.

Craig is looking for high school interns to help in a variety of functions. Needs include: working in the observatory, planetarium, keyboardist. Craig can be reached at planetarium@ccsu.edu.

The transit of Mercury is coming up on November 8th. It will be observed from CCSU (weather permitting) and MAY be open to the public (but that's unlikely). Josh will post the information to the Yahoo group.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15.

Craig Robinson gave an excellent presentation on basic relativity.

Minutes of the September 20, 2006 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

The meeting was brought to order by Vice President David Cudworth at 7:37pm. There were fourteen members in attendance plus two visitors: John Rodriguez and Joe Hillman.

Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the May meeting were brought to the meeting and were accepted by the members.

Treasurer’s Report: There was a treasurer’s report. Beginning balance of $8,941.75. Ending balance of $9,290.13. StarConn made $982.60. The report was accepted by the members.

Public observing committee: There was a public session on Saturday, September 16th. There were five committee members in attendance and five members of the public. The declination motor has ceased to function. A total of four objects were observed. The next session is October 14th (which was rained out), so the next session will be on October 28th.

Program Committee: There will be a public event at Holcomb Farm on October 4th. If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Josh Cohen.

Librarian: No report.

Field Trips: No report.

Nominating Committee: No report.

StarConn: StarConn went very well. The speakers were exceptional. We made nearly $1,000 this year.

Astronomer of the Year: No report.

Mirror workshop: No report.

Old Business: Craig Robinson reported that as long as CCSU students are allowed into our meetings, we will not need a contract with the school. As all meetings are open to the public anyway, this was excellent news.

New Business: Carl Koplin suggested increasing the honoraria for meeting speakers as he felt $50 was too low. The members approved increasing the honoraria to $100. Carl suggested pursuing Dan Burbank, the astronaut, as a speaker for a meeting. Dan is a native of Tolland, CT. The members authorized expenses for $1,000 to attempt to get Dan to a meeting. This would require that we move that meeting to an auditorium. Craig Robinson stated that there would be no problem getting an auditorium for such a notable speaker.

Observing reports: Observing reports: Craig Robinson reported that while attempting to spot Saturn in daytime skies, he spotted a high stratospheric balloon. Carl Koplin reported that in Massachusetts in April, he saw the ISS in daytime. If you want information on trying to spot various satellites from your location, check out www.heavens-above.com. He also reported that you can get on a mailing list from JPL for similar information.

Good of the Organization: Tom Karpf reported that High Point Scientific (www.highpointscientific.com) is offering discounts to ASGH members. .On the check out screen, fill in our member ID (10107) to see your discount.

Craig Robinson reported that the observatory at CCSU was going to be opening for free public sessions on Saturdays.

The meeting adjourned at 8:23. There was no speaker.

Minutes of the May 17, 2006 meeting of The Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford

The meeting was brought to order by President Josh Cohen.

Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the April meeting had been posted on www.asgh.org. The minutes were accepted as posted by the members, with one correction. Craig Robinson clarified that he did not recommend leaving our projector at CCSO.

Treasurer’s Report: There was a treasurer’s report, which was accepted by the members.

Public observing committee: There will be public observing sessions during the summer as well as an observing session after StarConn on June 17, 2006.

Program Committee: No report.

Librarian: No report.

Field Trips: There will be a star party at DePaolo Middle School in Southington on June 15th. If you’d like to help out, please contact Julian Shull.

Nominating Committee: The currently serving officers were re-elected for another year. The officers are: President – Josh Cohen, Vice President – David Cudworth , Treasurer – Carl Koplin , and Secretary – Tom Karpf.

StarConn: StarConn will be held at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT on June 17, 2006. We have a full slate of speakers (including the keynote) lined up at this point. If you’d like to help the day of the event, please contact Dave Cudworth at vice-president@asgh.org. We will need help with registration, setup, and cleanup.

Astronomer of the Year: The n