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Volume 14, Issue 11 November 2009 Inside this issue: President’s Report: John Rombi Secretary‟s Column 2 Presidents Report Observing November 2009 4 Star hopping to M34 and M76 6 Welcome to the November edition of Prime Focus. The One Above Sees All 7 We have reached the end of The International Year of Astronomy!! Well al- Robert Julius Trumpler 9 most. Doing It In The Dark 10 Bryan Gaensler Profile 11 I have a lot of people to thank for the great successes of this year, firstly Roger MAS AssTrollogy 12 Powell. He has been a great support to me, helping to navigate the difficulties Understanding Engineers 13 that such a busy year can bring. The rest of the committee including our Webmaster Chris and PF editor Geoff MAS Committee have worked tirelessly to achieve these successes. And of course there‟s you, the members. Public Observing Nights, School Out- President John Rombi reach etc, all of these events cannot be as successful as they are without your enthusiasm and dedication. Vice President Trevor Rhodes The most recent compliment given to me (about MAS) was from a long time member (15 years) of another prominent Sydney Club. He said that he felt Secretary more at home, learned more and made more friends (at a recent MAS outing) Roger Powell in one evening, than in all the previous years at the other club!! Treasurer What we have at MAS is the true essence of what a club should be: friendship, Tony Law a willingness to share, a passion for our hobby and true feeling of family. Merchandising Officer Stewart Grainger I would also like to thank UWS, through its Provost Prof Ann Cusick, she has cut through the red tape to allow MAS to hold the observing nights this year, Webmaster and she is also a great supporter of our society. Chris Malikoff I would also like to thank Dr Ragbir Bhatal, our patron and Director of The Committee Members Campbelltown Rotary Observatory, for his continued support. Lloyd Wright (Continued on page 2) Stuart Grainger Ivan Fox Observing Dates Patrons Professor Bryan Gaensler (Syd Uni) November January 2010 Doctor Ragbir Bhathal (UWS) 14/11/09 The Forest 09/1/10 Stargard MAS Postal Address 16/11/09 General Meeting 16/1/10 The Forest P.O. Box 17 MINTO NSW 2566 21/11/09 Stargard 181/10 General Meeting 28/11/09 Public Night Web: www.macastro.org.au February 2010 December Prime Focus Editor 12/12/09 Stargard 06/02/10 Stargard Geoff Young 19/12/09 The Forest 13/02/10 The Forest [email protected] 15/02/10 General Meeting Page 2 Volume 14, Issue 11 November 2009 President’s Report: John Rombi Ragbir has (along with Mark Johnston) manned the Uni- This will mean that setup is not necessary until 6.15pm versity telescopes for the Open Nights. at the earliest. Last Month As before we need as many telescopes on the field as possible. I would like to thank Chris Malikoff (our webmaster) and astroimager extraordinaire, for bringing us part 2 of Members private Observing Nights “Imagining with a DSLR”. Imaging can be a daunting effort, with all the computer hardware & software Have unfortunately been hit again by the dreaded cloud. needed. Chris was able to calm the prospective astroi- Better luck next time!! magers in the audience with a very concise, but easy to understand entry point into this very spectacular area of Observing sessions will continue as normal over the Astronomy. Well Done! Christmas/ New Year break. I will be compiling the dates very soon. Patron Facebook MAS have been privileged to have world-renowned Aus- tralian Astronomer, Prof Bryan Gaensler as our speaker Our Webmaster Chris Malikoff introduced another great on a number of occasions over the past two years. innovation recently. Bryan has paid great compliments to MAS on its per- sonal approach and presentation. The greatest compli- MAS is on Facebook!! ment was to you the members, a very challenging and friendly group. With the approx 300 million visitors to Facebook, it was an inevitable move for MAS. After discussions within the committee we decided to formally invite Bryan to take up the position of Patron This site will help with rudimentary information about us, with MAS. Just this week I have received a reply from and direct people to the MAS website. Bryan, Well-done Chris!! “Hi John, Next Year Thank you to you and the MAS for your generous invitation to become co-patron of your society. I After initial discussions with Campbelltown Council a plan to accept, but have only been in the office for couple of weeks ago, it seems we will have access to about 3 hours in the last 3 weeks, and haven't yet the Art Gallery for an event of our choosing. had the chance to write a formal written response! This will hopefully be held in the early part of 2010. Cheers Bryan” More info, when it‟s available. Due to Bryan‟s busy schedule, we will not be able to What’s on? welcome him personally until the second half of next year. There is a brief profile of Bryan on page 11. Keep an eye on our “What‟s on” link of our website for all the latest member information. Public Nights Tonight We‟ve just completed our eighth public night of this year (October 24th). Approximately 50 members of the public Dr Tim Robishaw (Syd Uni) will be presenting "Magnetic turned up to a clear sky!! This was very unusual as the Fields Near and Far" weather had been terrible all week, and even up until lunchtime it was raining!! The clouds stayed away until --- ooo --- 9.30pm, when a clear sky turned to heavy overcast. For once, it went our way!! As usual, the standard of pres- Since this is the last Prime Focus of 2009, on behalf of entation by all the astronomers was second to none. my family, I would like to wish you all a very Holy & Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2010!! Our next public night Until next year, This will be held on Saturday November 28th and due to daylight saving, sunset is not until 7.30pm. Clear Skies, John Rombi Page 3 Volume 14, Issue 11 November 2009 Secretary’s Column: Roger Powell Last month I wrote about the controversial invitation by ment, as well as for manually pointing out particular sky Campbelltown Library of an astroLoGer to 'celebrate the objects. International Year of Astronomy' (which they acknowl- edged as a goof). Since then we have been in contact However, they are classed by NSW Police as with the Mayor of Campbelltown (Cr. Rule), who apolo- 'dangerous implements' with legal procedures to be fol- gised to MAS (although the event did still go ahead). lowed by astronomers who wish to purchase or import The Mayor offered our Society the full backing of Coun- one and severe penalties if you don't comply. It looks cil's resources to hold a big event sometime in 2010, complex and it can be, so make sure you check out our which MAS has accepted. The committee is in the early Laser Pointer page on the web site and if in doubt – ask. stages of planning this and John will tell you more about Don't forget, once you own a laser pointer, you should it, as details become available. So an issue that caused register it with the Society. This is voluntary but may a lot of comment and criticism from our members has save you from problems later. Make sure you have ended on a happy note and due credit to Cr. Rule for looked at the Laser Pointer page on the Macastro web- that. site – it's been updated. Whilst on the subject of Campbelltown Council, Cr. The general meeting on 16th November will be the last Bourke made local news recently with a call for Council for the year, so make sure you come along and hear to tighten up on light pollution measures. She has our guest speaker Tim Robishaw (Sydney University) talking support in this, so let's hope Council can slow the relent- about his research work on cosmological magnetic less light pollution tide. Recent moves to give the night fields, which will no doubt build on the fascinating mate- sky a heritage listing may also help reduce this astro- rial that Professor Bryan Gaensler has shown us in his nomical scourge that is enveloping Macarthur. last two talks. Our Treasurer and Membership Officer, Tony Law, re- There will be no meeting in December, so the next gen- cently reported that membership of the Society has eral meeting will be on Monday 18th January and the grown to 88. Looking back to only twelve months ago, next Prime Focus magazine will be in January as well. when we had just 66 members , that represents a 33% surge. I am fairly certain 88 is the highest membership We have a new membership form, designed by Chris the Society has ever had. Malikoff, which is available on line, so if you have any of the old forms please dispose of them and download the So now is the time to consolidate and make sure all new new one. The new form is interactive, which means it members are welcomed and given all the advice they can be filled out online and e-mailed direct to us; or it need to progress as amateur astronomers. A main aim can be downloaded and printed.
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