San Diego Astronomy Association Celebrating Over 50 Years of Astronomical Outreach September 2019 http://www.sdaa.org A Non-Profit Educational Association P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215 September Program Meeting Date: September 18, 2019 Speaker: Dave Wood Next SDAA Business Meeting Topic: TARO - History and evolution, how it works and what we are currently September 10th at 7:00pm doing with it 7270 Trade Street San Diego, CA 92121 Dave been with the club since 1991. He has been on the Board since 2011, and held positions as director, treasurer and club president. Next Program Meeting September 18th at 7:00pm Dave has worked on TARO since it’s inception in 2014. Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor and Interpretive Center 1 Father Junipero Serra Trail San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA) sponsors speakers on a wide range of astronomy topics on the third Wednesday of every month at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitors Center. The program meeting begins at 7:00pm. Each attendee receives CONTENTS one free door prize ticket. After announcements and a small amount of business, the September 2019, Vol LVII, Issue 9 audience is treated to the featured presentation. At the close of the meeting the door Published Monthly by the prizes are presented. The event is open to the public. The Mission Trails Regional Park San Diego Astronomy Association Visitors Center is at One Fr. Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego CA 92119. Call the park at Incorporated in California in 1963 619-668-3281 for more information or visit http://www.mtrp.org Program Meeting...........1 August Minutes.........2 DoubleSTARS Seminar...........5 Julian Starfest...........6 SDAA Outreach to China.....11 RTMC............................16 SDAA Contacts...............21 NASA Night Sky Notes......22 Astronomy Cartoon............24 The Annual BBQ at TDS will be on the 28th of September. Newsletter Deadline The deadline to submit articles for publication is the 15th of each month. Link to Outreach Calendar https://calendar.google.com/calendar/[email protected]&ctz=America/Los_ San Diego Astronomy Association San Diego Astronomy Association Board of Directors Meeting August 20, 2019 – unapproved and subject to review 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm with the following board members in attendance: Dave Wood, President; Steve Hallman, Vice President; Bill Nguyen, Corresponding Secretary; Brian McFarland, Recording Secretary; Gene Burch, Treasurer; Mike Chasin, Director; Dave Decker, Director. Members in attendance: Dan Kiser, Erik Davies, and Mark Elliott. 2. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes July meeting minutes were approved. 3. Priority / Member Business a. None. 4. Treasurer’s & Membership Report a. Treasurer’s report approved. b. Ed R. sold some telescopes and equipment, and Gene B. deposited the checks in July as donations, since the scopes were donated (per our accountant). c. All our tax information is in the accountant’s hands, all the corrections have been made and she'll have them ready when Gene gets back on the 19th. He'll fill out our raffle forms when he gets back as well. d. We should consolidate some of our accounts – for instance JSF; combine it into the general account. 5. Standard Reports a. Site Maintenance – It was recommended that we include a work party to deal with weeds and ruts at the BBQ. Jerry H. tentatively agreed to lead that effort. b. Observatory/Loaner Scope Report – The Lipp scope continues to perform well. c. Private Pad Report 1. We currently have three free private pads and two people on the waiting list, both current pad lessee's who are looking to upgrade to darker parts of the site. 2. Submission of preliminary edits to pad modification procedures delayed for one month. d. Program Meetings 17 July Guest Speaker/Topic: - Speaker: Jack Lightholder - Presentation: Roving the Red Planet - Attendees: 62 Current Program Meeting Petty Cash (as of 18July19): $413 Previous Report $445 (9July19) Unintentional One-time Reduced Ticket Price Expenses Since Previous Report (as of 18Jul19) $35.90 Snacks & Coffee; $18.23 for 30 pair 3D Glasses; $38.75 for Handcart, Storage Box; $21.54 for Tickets, Raffle Container. Upcoming Programs: 21 Aug - Steve Hallman // Why we Know Dark Matter & Dark Energy Exist // Confirmed 18 Sept - Dave Wood // TARO // Confirmed 16 Oct - Dr. Bill Welsh // Circumbinary Exoplanets // Confirmed, Nominating Com. Elect. 20 Nov - Rob Zellem // Exoplanets - TES & WFIRST // Confirmed, Board, Rec. Sect, Treasurer Elect. e. AISIG – Greg Crinklaw was the featured speaker and it was well attended. f. Newsletter Report – Andrea continues to do stellar work. g. Website Report – If someone sends pictures from JSF to the webmaster, he can post them to the website. Also working with John Downing to get TDS seeing conditions on the website, and it’s now up and running. 2 San Diego Astronomy Association h. Social Media Report – Nothing new to report for social media. i. Outreach Report – No cancellations in July, partly because the evening weather has cooperated and partly because we have substituted classroom “hands on” astronomy for the schools when we lose the sky. The second Lake Morena County Park event, hosted by Ben Grunbaum, was a great night, with good sky until about mid-night, and light but enthusiastic attendance by campers. Coming up in the next month we have SPIE, Borrego Springs Library, KQ Ranch, Green Valley Falls, Dixon Lake, and Mt. Helix. All of these are in addition to our regular monthly events. Note: The totals from last month under reported the yearly total due to a glitch in the spreadsheet. That has been corrected in the numbers below. Totals for July: Events Completed 13.0 Events Cancelled 0.0 Public Attendance 545.0 Private Attendance 448.0 Total Attendance 993.0 Mem Support: 71.0 Average: Mem/Event: 5.5 Year to Date since January 1 Completed Events since January 1: 68.0 Cancelled Events since January 1: 21.0 Events Scheduled since January 1: 89 Public Attendees since Jan 1: 3010.0 Private Attendees since Jan 1: 3061.0 Total Attendees since Jan 1: 6071.0 j. TARO Report – TARO is functional. Collecting data for TESS and deep sky images. We continue to have support issues with ACP. Testing other trial versions of automation software. Discussion followed that the impressive scientific and educational accomplishments performed by TARO are not being disseminated to the club. We need a monthly report in the newsletter describing these things. k. Merchandise Report – No report. l. Cruzen Report 1. Worm stall issue has been fixed, G11 mount is visual-ready. The Cruzen was open during Member’s night (7/27). Slewing was much smoother, but the worm does not sound healthy. 2. Bill reported experimenting with modifying the sidereal rate (RA divisor) to compensate for periodic drift. Bill reported that a 150% sidereal rate works as a temporary fix for visual observing. This resulted in a lengthy discussion about what this problem might be. Much disagreement that the worm is the cause, and much confusion regarding the 150% sidereal rate (Gemini II doesn’t offer a 150% sidereal setting). It was agreed that the Board would look into this further. 3. Cassegrain – Bill reported that he called a few more machine shops capable of boring dumbbell weights and was quoted $400 for CNC lathe job. Still looking. An ad posting has been created for counterweights on AstroMart. 3 San Diego Astronomy Association 4. The east wall has been painted green to mask the vinyl adhesive that had melted. Temperatures inside the building reach 109ºF, dangerously high for sensitive electronics and optical equipment. Further insulation was suggested, but it was felt that more insulation might make matters worse – it will just trap heat in the building. m. Astronomical League Report – No report. n. Julian StarFest Report – The 2019 Julian StarFest was a complete success. We had 247 campers, estimated >1300 attendees at the free star party, and sold out the Palomar Tour and RV spaces. JSF Merchandise booth and raffle sales also exceeded projections. We received many positive comments about JSF, SDAA, the Palomar Tour and the Speaker presentations. All the vendors were thrilled at the business they did on Saturday OPT and Meade said they’d be back and Celestron (and possibly TeleVue) will be there next time. The Menghinis are very happy and want us back – we are to meet with them to pick a date for next year (might be June). Woody was also ecstatic with the public interest and is looking forward to next year. A BIG thanks to the SDAA Board, the JSF Committee and JSF Volunteers for bringing back this much-loved event!! Preliminary financial estimates show approximate gross proceeds were $11k and the net was $4,900. 6. Old Business a. Electrical Upgrade – Still in progress. b. Audit Committee Review – Complete – no issues. Recommendation was provided to shift funds to a different institution with a higher return. c. Other old business – None. 7. New Business a. Received a status report from SDSU regarding the Lucas Scholarship – it is doing exceedingly well. b. Call for new business – None. 8. Adjournment Adjourned at 8:30pm. Lipp Telescope Training By Ed Rumsey Have you wanted to operate a telescope with significant light gathering capabilities? The club’s 22” Lipp telescope is just such an instrument. Introductory training on the observatory and telescope will be held after the SDAA Bar-B-Que. Those interested, should meet me at the observatory no later than 6:30 pm. If you are uncertain about your interests, you may utilize the session as an information gathering exercise. The course will cover preparations for a star party, opening/closing of the observatory, and basic telescope operation.