WASP The Warren Astronomical Society Paper Volume 32, Number 6 June, 2000

Astro Chatter by Larry Kalinowski Astronomy day started miserably last month here in Michigan. There was two inches of snow on the ground when I peeked out the window that morning. Deep down inside I was kind of hoping the whole star party would be called off at Stoney Creek Metropark. The members that showed up for the Cranbrook site had the comfort of settling down indoors in the museum and I was tempted to head there instead of Stoney. But, believe it or not, by noon, the snow showed signs of being completely melted and the weather man was talking about clear skies for the evening. It was going to be cold that day but not miserably cold. The clouds began breaking up by mid-afternoon and it looked like one of those crisp winter skies just might develop. I grabbed my five cell flashlight (for pointing out constellations) and CCD camera and headed for Stoney about six o'clock. Sure enough, by the time I got there the sky was clear as a bell. Five or six members had [continued] Minutes of Meetings by John Hergott New Members by Joe Van Poucker Borr Telescope Rededication by G. M. Ross The Borr Telescope at the James C. Veen Observatory will be re-dedicated on 24 June. Richard Teske, retired from U. of M. will be coming from Virginia to give a second dedication address per June, 1970. There will be a GRAAA [continued] SMURFS 2000 ! by Joe Van Poucker Hey everyone....it's here!!! Go to www.aldeberan.com for S.M.U.R.F.S. 2000! I am in the process of creating a S.M.U.R.F.S. page with a few more details. But for the time being this will have to suffice. Below are a few details that most people will want to know about. [continued] The Swap Shop by Larry Kalinowski This column is for those who are interested in buying, trading or selling items. Call 810-776-9720 (larrykalinowski@yahoo.com) if you want to put an item for sale or trade in this section of the WASP. The ad will run for six months. The month and year the ad will be removed, is also shown. [continued] Pictures from Club Events by Larry Kalinowski

Astro Chatter, continued

already begun putting their 'scopes together and the public was starting to trickle in. All in all, even with cold weather, the public made a good showing and so did we. I was able to get a few pictures before the Sun went down and they were e-mailed to Jeff Bondono and Jamie Judd for publication. Hopefully, some of those pics will be in this issue of the WASP or available for viewing on our web site.

I was there, only briefly, for the Wilkenson Middle School star party. The lecture portion, given by Ken Bertin, was attended by nearly a hundred youngsters and adults. Observing began before the lecture and continued after, until about 10:30 P.M.. The first quarter Moon and three naked eye planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, made the evening's show. The school donated $50 to our treasury for their evening's entertainment.

New orbital elements for Comet Linear (C/1999 S4) have been downloaded from Harvard University. I'm not going to print a map for this element set yet, but I will include them with this column for those of you that have the ability to display them with a planetarium program. The comet is still in the eleventh magnitude range and won't be visible in small telescopes until June.

Comet Linear C/1999 S4 Perihelion date (T) = 2000 JUL 26.16 Orbit eccentricty (e) = 1.000096 Perihelion distance (q) = 0.765052 AU Argument of Perihelion = 151.0535 Deg. Ascending (Node) = 83.1828 Deg. Inclination (i) = 149.3863 Deg. Absolute Magnitude = 7.0 Magnitude Coefficient = 10.0 Epoch = J2000

The May computer meeting will be held at Gary Gathen's home on Thursday, the 25th. His address is 21 Elm Park. Three blocks south of the I-696 expressway and about half a block west of Woodward in Pleasant Ridge. The June computer meeting will be on the 22nd. You can reach Gary at 248-543-3366 for further information.

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Minutes of Meetings

Macomb, April 20, 2000

• The meeting was opened with 24 members present. President Blaine McCullough asked for any guests present to introduce themselves. After introductions the meeting continued with officer reports.
• Marty Kunz, program chairperson, asked for members to give presentations at future meetings. Mike Simonsen, observatory chairperson, announced a revised observatory schedule. Mike also commented on the success of the public star party held recently at Stony Creek. Also, the club's annual picnic scheduled for June 10 will include the evening of June 9. Finally, Mike spoke of the addition to be constructed at Stargate for the club's 22" scope.
• Joe Van Poucker, club treasurer, read a thank you letter from Cranbrook Institute of Science thanking the club for telescope support on Astronomy Day.
• This writer, club secretary, gave out certificates of appreciation received from Wilkenson Middle School to Blaine and Sandy McCullough, Joe Van Poucker, Ken Bertin and myself. The school recently held an "astronomy day" for the students with Ken Bertin as the keynote speaker. Also noted by this writer were the key items discussed at the club's most recent board meeting.
• The meeting continued with a discussion of members' most recent observations. An active sun was noted. Mike Simonsen presented a show and tell with photos of a new home for his 10". Dave D'Onofrio gave a presentation on this year's upcoming GLAAC public star party. The event will be held over 2 days at Kensington Metro Park on July 21 and 22. The speaker will be Jack Lousma, a NASA astronaut. Club members are asked to volunteer their time and telescopes for this premier event.
• The meeting continued after a social break with short impromptu talks given by members present.

Cranbrook, May 1, 2000

• Marty Kunz opened the meeting with an introduction of meeting guests. This was followed by a review of upcoming observing events at Stargate for club members.
• This writer gave a report on the status of the upcoming GLAAC sponsored public star party. This event will be held at Kensington Metro Park on July 21-22. Also, a NASA astronaut has agreed to be the main speaker at this event. Also announced is the opportunity for member participation in the planning and construction of a structure for the 22" telescope at Stargate. Lastly, The electronic dissemination of the WASP was discussed.
• Member discussion of recent observations included 2 large naked eye sunspots, Virgo cluster observations, aurora and meteors seen. Related to these observations Doug Bock gave an informative talk on galaxy types. Marty Kunz follow-up with a constellation star-hop diagram to the Virgo cluster. Clay Kessler showed the members his homemade Crayford-type focusser and answered questions related to its construction.
• Marty continued the meeting with a review of the activities of the club's subgroups, locating and observing asteroids and his plans to utilize the club's 22" telescope to observe Pluto in June. Marty extended an invitation to interested members to join him in his Pluto search. Doug Bock contributed to this discussion with an informative presentation of the many activities and projects going on in the deep space subgroup.
• Following a social break Clay Kessler wrapped up the evening with a presentation on the Steward Observatory mirror labs.

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Borr Telescope Rededication, continued

dinner at Cannonsburg Lodge the previous evening. All the great and near-great have been invited, and we are casting the net wide into Michigan astronomy. Kissing Rock Farm, 1 km. from the Observatory, can handle a reasonable number of sleep-overs on a mediaeval level of comfort. Information? Email alexchem@hotmail.com, call (616) 776-7678 or email gmr@wmis.net. See also the web site of the Grand Rapids Association.

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New Members

The thing that makes the Warren Astronomical Society a great are its members. We are very happy to announce the following new members who joined during January of 2000. Please extend them a warm welcome.

• Bob & Georgia Cuneo, Clinton Twp., MI
• James Rinehart, St. Clair Shores, MI
• Shelley Sink, Royal Oak, MI
• Claudia Voit, Birmingham, MI
• Jack Wiener & Family Warren, MI

W.A.S. Anniversaries for March 2000:

• 9 Years: Gary Gathen, Pleasant Ridge, MI
• 7 Years: Joseph Malburg, Warren, MI
• 7 Years: Blaine McCullough, Warren, MI
• 4 Years: Loretta Kapa, Warren, MI
• 2 Years: Pratap Naick & Deepa Rajendran, Rochester Hills, MI
• 1 Year: James Leinhos & Family, Troy, MI

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SMURFS 2000 !, continued

The S.M.U.R.F.S 2000 Dates are July 24th-30th The admission Price Will Be $20.00 per individual, and $25.00 per family. (this is the entire time) There will be a Saturday afternoon Pig Roast this year to commemorate SMURFS 11 year anniversary and to give a personal thanks from all of us to all of you for making SMURFS what it is today. Thank You! There will be (hopefully) a new shower system More Porta-Potties A Larger Dumpster An Entire Week Of Clear Skies. (not promised ;) ) We Are In the Planning Stage of alot more kids activities There Will be a 'in-the-works' 69m Radio Interferometer (I hope) Camp Spots will be first come first serve A rocket Launch. We have made arrangements for a 4500 foot ceiling height. Yes, I said 4500 ft. We have a few rockets in the 'H' class requiring level-1 certification. The Current SMURFS committed has ALOT of things in the planning stage Door Prizes Will Be Alot Better Than in the Past More Details To Follow.......

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The Swap Shop, continued

• FOR SALE. Questar 3.5 inch Maksutov-Cassagrain. Five eyepieces, many accessories, including computer. $2,9758 firm. 810-735-9313. johnherrgott@earthlink.net. (11-00).
• FOR SALE. Miyauchi B5-77, 20X77, semi-apochromatic, astronomical binoculars with eyepieces inclined 45 degrees. $1200 new, asking $675 firm. 810-735-9313.(11-00).
• FOR SALE. Deep Sky 99, a starchart and database program featuring the Hubble Guide Star catalouge. $25. 810-776-9720.(11-00).
• FOR SALE. Two computer speakers, 80 watts. Volume, bass and treble controls. $15. 110 volt AC. 810-776-9720. (11-00).
• FOR SALE. Exposure guides for the Sun, Moon, Planets, solar and lunar eclipses and more. Extinction tables. Calculating prime focus, afocal, negative and positive projection F ratios. ISO's from 4 to 3200. Seventy-eight pages. $5.00, postpaid. 810-776-9720. (11-00).
• WANTED. Old eight or sixteen millimeter CS or C-mount camera lenses, with focal lengths from 6 to 50 mm. 810-776-9720. (8-00).

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Pictures from Club Events
(Click on an image for a larger version)

Blaine

Mike

Dave

Steve

Joe and Jeff

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This page was created by Jeff Bondono, and last changed on August 9, 2022.

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