Volume 12 Issue 6, June 2000
A GLANCE INSIDE
What’s Up in June
A Look Back at May
New Member Welcome Mat
From the Membership
WHAT'S UP IN JUNE
JUNE 2ND – 4TH WOW STAR PARTY
One of the biggest highlights of the year for area amateur astronomers and their families is the Wisconsin Observers Weekend (WOW). Summer camping and observing at Hartman Creek State Park just west of Waupaca is the highlight of the weekend.
JUNE 9TH – 10TH COME TO THE MOON
The second annual "Come to the Moon" Party
is scheduled for this Friday and Saturday, June 9 and 10. The location
will once again be at the Neville Public museum from 7:30 -10:00 p.m. both
nights, weather permitting.
This is an opportunity for all members to
come out and observe the moon with other members of the club. It's also
an opportunity to start, or continue the A.L. Lunar Observing Program.
The idea for a "moon party" started as a trial
to get all our members working on a league award and earning it as a group.
Not to mention to have the club with the most "lunies" around. If last
year's attendance was any indication of its success, then we are well on
our way as a group.
So come on out and join your fellow members
and begin your journey to the moon. You only need to bring your telescope
and/or binoculars. The club will provide the A.L.
list of objects to observe, a basic moon map for you to keep and other
more detailed maps to use.
Hope to see you there!
JUNE 14TH MONTHLY MEETING
Please join from 7:00 PM to 9:00PM at the Neville
Public Museum. Our new meeting room is the auditorium on the first floor.
This months talk is "Internet Astronomy" given by club member Tony Kroes.
Tony will have a presentation with good web pages to go to, links
and sites that have a variety of interests related to astronomy, research
sites, data, etc.
Happy Joes to follow!
JUNE 30TH – JULY 2ND COW PART 1
Now is the time to reserve some space on your
calendar for a Crivitz Observing Weekend and the darkest skies Wisconsin
has to offer. Club members are invited to camp out at our observing site
on Dave Jorgenson’s land west of Crivitz. The site offers several nice
areas for camping as well as a couple of cabins that will house a few of
those that are not quite interested in sleeping on the ground. Dave has
cleared out an area for observing complete with parking and an electrical
outlet for the telescopes!
A map to Dave Jorgenson's home is is available
from Wayne Kuhn. If you need additional directions or would like to let
Dave know your coming, give him a call at 715-757-3296.
A LOOK BACK AT MAY
MAY 5TH – 6TH NCRAL CONVENTION
"THE GREAT GATHERING"
By Gerry Kocken
I decided to attend the NCRAL 2000 Convention
in LaCrosse on Friday and Saturday, May 5th - 6th. Since my daughter went
to UW LaCrosse and is a senior, I thought I could kill two birds with one
stone. I wanted to attend the convention but I also needed to bring my
daughter home from college and all her belongings. On Friday, my wife and
I left home and headed to LaCrosse at 11:00 am. I arrived at the Holiday
Inn in downtown LaCrosse at 2:30. Since I had time we visited with my daughter
and her boyfriend till it was time for me to go for the Friday night registration
and the Planetarium Program.
I arrived at 6:30 in time for registration
and snacks. I was somewhat disappointed that no one from our club was attending.
I figured that at least I would know George McCourt, since he was the NCRAL
Chair. I really didn’t know if any other club members were attending. I
bought a poster at the astronomy store prior to attending the planetarium
program at 7:30 pm. The program Journey To The Stars was great.
After the program, we were supposed to do
some rooftop observing, but it wasn't going to start until about 9:45 pm.
At this point an individual from Iowa approached me to help him with his
Meade ETX 90. His daughter received it as a gift for Christmas and they
had spent hours trying to get it to work. I sat down and worked with it
for about 45 minutes until I had it operational. He was appreciative of
the help.
We went to the roof to do some observing with
the rest of the group. They had 6 telescopes set up with an 12" LX200 being
the largest. The moon was just at the western horizon. We did view M3,
M5, and the moon. The sky was hazy with the university lights providing
ample light pollution. All total it was a good time. I made it back to
the hotel at about 11:00 pm.
The next day I took my wife Jean and daughter
out for breakfast and then went back to the convention. I arrived at about
8:00 am. To my surprise, nine NPMAS members were there to greet me. Bob
Allen, LCAAS President, gave the opening remarks with our own George McCourt,
the NCRAL Chair. Following the opening remarks was a presentation given
by Dr. Eric Wilcots on Making Of Galaxies. It was an interesting
presentation with many slides. A group photo followed.
At 10:45 am Dr. Frank Barmore gave a presentation
on The Earth's Climate: The Last Four Gigayears and the Next Four Gigayears
(4 billion years, Ron) (4 to the ninth power). It was an excellent presentation
followed by lunch. After lunch we had the NCRAL Business Meeting with George
chairing the event. Don Dewitt had a short discussion on the standards
of qualifications for awards. This was tabled for further investigation
and next year’s meeting. Katrina Dewitt gave a nice short presentation
on the upcoming 2001 NCRAL Convention in Green Bay next year.
The meeting was quite short and we moved on
to Dr. R. A. Greiner's presentation on the role of CCD cameras in amateur
astronomy. I skipped this one to spend some time with my family. I did
make it back to the next presentation that was given by Paul Castle. This
one I found very interesting: The Popular Astronomy Club's Mobile Observatory.
It was an enclosed trailer converted to an observatory on wheels. It had
a 6' Home Dome with a 12" LX 200.
The best presentation for me was the next
presentation by Greg Gonia: The Legend of Carl Elias. This had special
meaning for me, since I have Carl Elias's 8" scope, with the opportunity
to get the dome also. I have to thank Ron Parmentier for making sure I
attend that presentation, and introducing me to Greg. I gave him another
chapter in his presentation.
At this point there was a two-hour break,
prior to the banquet. I again spent time with my family
I arrived back at 6:15 pm for the social hour
and banquet. The salads and dinner and salads and salads were excellent.
(right Ron?) I left the convention after the dinner, but not before witnessing
the NPMAS member’s lighter side with Katrina taking the brunt of the abuse.
I didn't stay for the presentation of Dr. Peter Chen. (Ultralite Optics).
I wish I had.
For those who did not attend, you missed a
great time. Maybe next year?
MONTHLY MEETING – MAY 10TH
Thirty-two people attended the May club meeting,
which was held for the first time in the first floor auditorium (the extra
space and padded seats were a welcome change). Club business dominated
the first hour. Gary Baier passed out a sign-up sheet for the Northwoods
Starfest being held on August 4 - 6. Space is available for about 130 people
on a first come first serve basis but they have reserved 30 spaces for
NPMAS members. Please contact Gary if you want to go but didn’t sign-up.
The event will be held at the Hobbs Observatory about 10 miles east of
Eau Claire, WI. More information will be forthcoming.
The second hour featured a talk on "Drawing
at the Eyepiece" by club president Katrina De Witt. Her presentation included
tips on how to draw various astronomical objects, examples of drawings,
and some hands-on experience. Everyone gave a try at drawing both Mars
and Jupiter. Great job Kat!
2001 CONVENTION PLANNING – MAY 24TH
More planning and organizing was accomplished
at the latest meeting for the 2001 NCRAL Convention we are hosting next
year. Those in attendance included Tom Cashman, Katrina DeWitt, Don DeWitt,
Jacob DeWitt, Jill Last, Steve Mofle, Wayne Kuhn (host), Ted Kordes, George
McCourt, Gary Baier, Gerry Kocken, and Ron Parmentier.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday,
July 26th at the DeWitt residence. The meeting will start at
7:00 pm sharp. Call Katrina DeWitt at 405-8534 if you need directions.
We can use your help in making next years convention a success!
NEW MEMBER WELCOME MAT
We had two new members join this past month.
The first is a family membership - John & Jennifer Balma, 1702 Ruby
Lane, Manitowoc, WI 54220. Phone: 920-683-9112 Email: jbalma@powercom.net
I emailed John and asked him to tell us a
little about themselves. Here is his response:
"We have a baby due in Sept. (Name yet to
be determined). My wife found out about the club when visiting the Neville
museum with a teenager she mentors. It’s kind of a Big Sister/Brother program."
"My interested in Astronomy stems from my
interested in a Grand Unified Theory of everything. I have an interest
in the infinitely small and the infinitely large. Astronomy, I believe,
is key to understanding who we are, where we came from, and where we are
going. We are novices to Astronomy, but look forward to learning from more
experienced members and taking advantage of some the opportunities our
club provides."
"I am operational planner at the Point Beach
Nuclear Plant. I spent 6 years as a nuclear power plant operator in the
Navy on board the aircraft carrier Eisenhower. I then went to work for
Wisconsin Electric in 1991. I am 34. My wife has a degree in chemistry
with a minor in biology and French. She also has some post graduate work
in Natural resources. She is 30."
Our second new member is Kent Olson, 988 Honey
Creek Road, Oshkosh, WI 54904 Phone: 920-231-0695 Email: cj570@hotmail.com
Kent has had an interest in astronomy all
his life. On a recent visit to the Neville Public Museum he picked up one
of our fliers and decided to join. He is 53, married, and has three children.
Currently he owns a pair of 7x50 binoculars
and looks forward to possibly using the club’s 10" loner telescope. His
main interest at this point is looking at the planets and their various
moons.
Welcome John, Jennifer, and Kent!
FROM THE MEMBERSHIP
FROM THE EDITOR
By Wayne Kuhn
It’s nice to have the warm weather back again.
Winter is too cold for me to get any real observing done – just call me
a fair-weather astronomer.
But now that it’s here I look forward to every
chance I get to observe. Recently I assisted club member Dick Oliver with
his new Meade ETX125 telescope. This is Dick’s first telescope so he asked
for a little help to learn how to use it. Our first night out we set it
up at his house in De Pere and familiarized ourselves with it. We sighted
in the finderscope and manually found the double star Mizar in the Big
Dipper. The ETX’s fine optics gave us a sharp view of the double with separation
to spare. Dick and his wife were amazed that they were looking at a binary
system - two suns revolving around a common center of gravity.
The next time out we tackled setting up his
Autostar computer control. After an hour or so of frustration we finally
figured out our mistakes and were off and running. I see now the big attraction
that GOTO type telescopes have on their owners. With minimal setup you
can be observing objects at a phenomenal pace. It is amazing how far technology
has advanced and how affordable it is.
I really enjoyed working with Dick and look
forward to doing similar activities with other new members. I think Dick
would tell you that he benefited from it by getting the type of help he
needed from a member of the club. I will be bringing up the Mentor program
I proposed a few months ago to the NPMAS board of directors and hopefully
get an "okay" to go forward with it. I feel we are big enough and organized
enough to offer this service. If you have an opinion on this subject please
let a board member know.
On a similar note, I have recently put together
a "Welcome Package" for new members. This package consists of a brightly
colored folder with the NPMAS logo on the front and the following items
inside:
Most of these have been published in the newsletter
and/or given out at club meetings. A few are new. If you would like a copy
of any of these items please let me know. I felt it was just natural to
put everything together instead of handing it out separately and by chance.
This should not only make a good impression on the new member but allow
them to "hit the ground with their feet running", so to speak.
Two more items – both concerning the latest
issue of the Astronomical League newsletter Reflector. Pages four
and five are a fascinating look into astronomy clubs and how they function.
If you haven’t already please take some time and read it.
On page 19 is a list of the latest recipients
of AL observing program certificates. The Astronomical League has 18,000
members in 250 clubs. Out of that 18,000, 72 received an observing program
certificate this quarter. Out of that 72, 7 were NPMAS members! That’s
10 percent of all the certificates given out over the past three months!
A very large CONGRATULATIONS to those NPMAS members and to the club
as a whole. We are setting the standard for the rest of the nation.
MORE ON THE A.L. REFLECTOR
By Tony Kroes
The only other thing I wanted to comment on
was how bad the Thanks But No Thanks article made so many clubs
sound, yet here we are with 7 separate members receiving awards in 5 different
programs! I feel we have a really great club and much more than the "10%"
or the "one guy" mentioned in the articles (on pages 4 & 5) is active
and assists in the different functions and activities. Even the club meetings
get an above-average attendance percentage compared to a "normal" club.
Well Done NPMAS!
DOINGS AT PARMENTIER OBSERVATORY
By Gary Baier
Tony Kroes, Dan Sheber and myself were out
at Parmentier observatory on Sunday May 28. It was very wet with a slight
hint of fog and aurora. The long grass added to the water problems. Future
help in maintaining the observatory is needed. Tony was without his motorized
telescope and was starhopping to find objects. I was learning the field
of view on my 8" Celestron so we encouraged each other. Dan provided moral
support. If clear the next few weekends some of us will be out there.