december 2019 the sidereal times the official newsletter...

TAAS Fabulous 50Winter SessionAll Saints Orthodox ChurchFri January 17

The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical SocietyPO Box 50581 Albuquerque New Mexico 87181-0581 wwwTAASorg

S i n c e 1959

I N S I D E2 Presidentrsquos Message3 Astrophoto Transit of Mercury4 Under the Dome

5 Telescope Loan Program 6 Fabulous Fifty Christmas Card 7Cosmic Success

9 Astrophoto M33 Triangulum Galaxy 11 TAAS Reports amp Notices 12 TAAS Directors amp Staff

continued on page 6

continued on page 3

General Meeting News

December 2019

O u r 6 0 t h An n i v e r SA ry

ObservemdashEducatemdashHave Fun

The Sidereal Times

continued on page 2

Lynne Olson

TAAS General MeetingSaturday December 14 - 700 PM

Regener Hall - UNM Campus Free and Open to the Public

The featured speaker for our next TAAS General Meeting on Dec 14 is Dr Deirdre Kann retired Science and Opera-tions Officer of the National Weather Service in Albuquer-que Her topic ldquoMeteorology for Amateur Astronomersrdquo

Following our usual short TAAS meeting Dr Kann will dis-cuss about the effects of weather on astronomical observing

TAAS PERIHELION BANQUETMembers amp Guests

Saturday January 11 2020 - 600-1000 PM Ramada Plaza Hotel - 2020 Menaul Blvd NE

(east of University)

Our sparkling TAAS Perihelion Banquet will be await-ing you after yoursquove welcomed in the 2020 New Year

This occasion has a dual purpose ndash to serve as our TAAS Annual Meeting and to do it with a festive flair and a

TAAS Perihelion BanquetRamada Plaza HotelSat January 11600ndash1000 pm

Photo by Nena ldquoClarardquo Iriarte

School Star PartyHorizons Albuquerque at Sandia PrepTue December 3 630 ndash830 pm

Page 2

The Sidereal Times December 2019

The Official Newsletter of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society

Nametags

At last monthrsquos General Meeting Billie Sue Patrick volunteered to be our Nametag Coordinator We are working to obtain all of the material she will need to make the nametags When all is ready she will tell you how to obtain one for yourself

Amazon Smile

I just looked on Amazon Smile and it tells me I have generated $5185 for TAAS How are you doing This is a great way to contribute to your favorite soci-ety

To start generating funds for TAAS go to httpssmileamazoncom look under the ldquoAccount amp Listsrdquo menu and click on ldquoYour AmazonSmilerdquo Then search for and select ldquoAlbuquerque Astro-nomical Societyrdquo as your charity You need to enter ldquoAlbuquerque Astronomical Societyrdquo in order to find us Entering ldquoTAASrdquo will not work

P r e s i d e n t rsquo s M e s s a g e Jim Fordice

Observe ndash Educate ndash Have Fun

TAAS Needs a Secretary

Bob Shipley has done an excel-lent job as TAAS board secretary taking and publishing the min-utes of our Board meetings and contributing in numerous ways to improving our club But Bob has decided to not continue in 2020 So I am looking for some-one to be our next Secretary

Being secretary will allow you to learn about how TAAS is ad-ministered and to contribute to expanding and improving our programs If you are interested in being a candidate for this impor-tant position please connect one of the members of the Nominat-ing Committee Dee Friesen Carl Larson Alan Scott Bob Ander-son or Rick Vergas

Science Fair Donations

Every year TAAS members vol-unteer to be judges for the lo-cal Science Fair We award cash prizes to the best astronomy-related projects In 2019 we gave two $200 awards and one $100 award ($500 total)

The TAAS Board provided $200 and a TAAS Member donated $300 For 2020 the TAAS Board will again provide $200 to the prize fund is looking for at least $300 in additional donations If you are interested in donating funds in support of this educa-tional activity please contact me

social gathering of our members and guestsOur speaker for the evening will be Greg Crinklaw discussing ldquoHow to Take Astrophotos On the Other Side of the World Without Leaving Homerdquo He will demonstrate how anyone can use iTelescopenet to do astronomi-cal imaging and will share examplesThe schedule will include the elec-tion of the 2020 TAAS Officers the awards presentation for outstanding 2019 work and service a slide show of our members at star parties and other events a drawing for valuable door prizes and an astronomical Trivia Contest All of this will take place before during and after a delicious meal ca-tered by the Ramada Plaza It will be a sit-down affair not the buffet din-ner of past yearsThe menu will include a choice of Caraway-crusted Pork Chops Chicken Marsala Pasta Primavera or a vegetarian meal plus beverages (iced tea and coffee) rolls amp but-ter and a dessert selection A cash bar will be available throughout the event for those who wish to partakeThe cost for all of this will be $35person and the registration and pay-ment process will take place from the beginning of DecemberSo take care of it soon before the holiday season gets fully underway ndash then look forward to a great time with your fellow TAAS members to start off the new yearSee wwwtaasorg for more informa-tion and a link to registration

mdashLynne Olson

P e r i h e l i o n B a n q u e t c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

Page 3



Transit of Mercury taken 26 seconds after the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month (Veterans Day) of 2019 as Mercury sped across the Sunrsquos diskThis image consists of one 1160 sec exposure at ISO 1000 It had been exciting to look for the itty-bitty dot in the camera screen with the image of the huge Sun as the backdropWhitson Kirk III and I setup our 5-inch and 6-inch f10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes to watch the tran-sit The camera was at the prime focus of the 6-inch scopeAs you see at the moment of this exposure the transit was almost almost over No processing was done to create this image mdashMelissaKirk

Page 4



November 2 - New Moon Observ-ing

I opened the site at 420 PM The sky was almost completely clear and the wind was calm Those con-ditions persisted throughout the night Mike Molitor conducted Is-engard training with Ahmad Jrad Tom Whigham and Ben Burnett Others in attendance were Brigette de Saint Phalle Adam Sherman Will Dickinson Wayne Duncan and John Wheeler It was Waynersquos first visit to GNTO He used the 10rdquo Loaner

Under the DomeNotes from and about GNTO Jim Fordice

Shortly after midnight the only ones left on site were Will Dickinson and me We both slept in the Ortega Building and departed the site at about 6 am

All-in-all a solid night at our obser-vatory

November 23 - 3rd Quarter Moon Observing

Mark Goodman was the Opener He reported It was a great evening at GNTO for 3rd Quarter Observing

I arrived at about 340 pm along with Mike Fuge While Mike was checking out the new clean power source and the new battery array I opened the buildings Mike pro-claimed the all electrical systems working A-OK

continued on page 5

Dobsonian and was happy with the views he experienced

We enjoyed viewing the moon until it set a bit after 11 pm I was very pleased using my 22rdquo Dobsonian for lunar viewing The level of detail was great After the moon set I con-centrated on the moons of Uranus and Neptune I was able to view the Uranian moons Oberon and Titania The others were too faint to see The Neptunian moon Triton was too close to the planet for me to see It was probably lost in the glow of the planet

Isengard Training Group L-R Ahmad Jrad Mike Molitor Tom Whigham Ben Burnett

Photos by Jim Fordice

Brigitte de Saint Phalle

Observing Field

Page 5



It was a beautiful evening with two amazing solar arcs and sun dogs as we drove in The roads had some muddy spots and there was one stretch with extensive standing wa-ter but the drive-arounds made all passable

Other observers began arriving around 415 pm with a pretty steady influx of folks until dusk There were some high thin clouds mostly in the West and North but they began dispersing not long after sunset Temperature at sunset was approximately 50 degrees F with little or no breeze

A bit of excitement for the night was the visit of Girl Scout Troop 10653 Counting the girls parents and siblings there were about 25 in their group The first order of business was a tour of the facility Ortega Cocina Main Dome and of course many were fascinated by the outhouse We then descended upon Ben Burnett who was in the dome using the Isengard Ben had Jupiter in the scope and one and all got a glimpse of that planet All were delighted that they could see the Galilean moons as well as detail on the disc

U n d e r t h e D o m e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 4

While Ben pointed out that Gany-mede had transited and that its shadow could be seen on the disc few were able to discern that de-tail I had set up the 10rdquo loaner Dob-sonian for the girls and we had a quick view of Venus and Saturn be-fore they were off onto the field The observers gathered were great at showing them their equipment and views of what they were observing Before too long however the Scouts and their families had decamped to the Cocina for hot chocolate with marshmallows and hellip wait for it hellip Moon Pies Thanks to Liang Ming for meeting the Scouts at the Loversquos gas station at exit 191 and escorting the caravan to GNTO He also saw them safely back to I-25 Thank you Liang

TAAS members present for the evening were Mike Fuge who was using his refractor Edgar Fischer who had a 10rdquo Orion Dobsonian Jim Roucis who was viewing with his 17rdquo Dobsonian Will Dickinson who was imaging throughout the eve-ning Ben Burnett on the Isengard Liang Ming who had intended to do some imaging but when he saw the forecast for the dew point and humidity yielded to the likelihood of frost and came to enjoy views through other folksrsquo telescopes Pe-ter Lindstrom who was using a 16rdquo Dobsonian Eric Edwards who had planned to do some imaging but contented himself with visual ob-serving using one of the fixed piers and Alison Akbulut a new TAAS member (moved from Oregon) who

Telescope Loan Program UpdateBy Rick Vergas Telescope Loan Program Coordinator

There are no active changes to the telescope and accessories inventory available this month Currently there are seven scopes available two 6rdquo Dobsonians two 10rdquo Dobsonians and three Cassegrains If you are interested in a particular scope let me know We have recently accepted a donation of quite a few astronomy hard cover books I am going through the inventory and deciding how to make these available to the membership I have also received a donation of a 45rdquo refractor on a German equatorial mount in very good condition

Loan Program Statistics

of

Scopes on Loan Available on Loan

39 32 7 82

Type Reflectors RefractorsCatadiop-

trics 23 7 12

Size Large (gt8rdquo)Medium (5rdquondash8rdquo) Small (lt5rdquo)

12 17 13

Track-ing Manual Push-To Go-To Tracking

26 5 7 11 As of 93019

continued on page 6

Page 6



Here is a special Fabulous 50 illustration for the Christmas season with winter constellations re-

vised for the holidays Enjoy

There is no Fab 50 session in December The next pre-sentation will be on the evening of Friday Jan 17 at the All Saints Orthodox Church 10440 4th Street NW in Albuquerque See TAAS_talk or the TAASorg calendar for details as the date approaches

Illustration by Sandy Fleming

mdashPhil Fleming Fab 50 Coordinator wpflem2010gmailcom

Fabulous 50 Christmas Cardhad an amazing collapsible 10rdquo Dobsonian that was feather-light Eric and I also removed the mirror from the 16rdquo Dobsonian loaner scope which Eric took home to clean So there were ten of us all told

Will and I were the last to leave Will packed up and hit the road about 1215 am After closing I left GNTO at 1250 am

There had been some intermittent ldquosouprdquo but overall the sky was brilliantly clear with above average trans-parency Seeing was fair The breeze picked up around 1000 pm Frost became a problem around 1030 pm When I put my equipment away it was covered in frost All in all however it was a most satisfactory night at GNTOUpcoming Events bull December 21 3rd Quarter Moon Observingbull December 28 New Moon ObservingDonrsquot forget that the GNTO Observing Field is available for use by TAAS members at any time Check the TAAS website for the procedure to follow Contact me if you have any questionsAs always check TAAS_Talk and the TAAS website for last-minute changes and updates GNTO events are open to all TAAS members and their guests GNTO Director GNTOTAASorg or 505-803-3640


Weather has an obvious ndash and often adverse ndash impact on our ability to observe the sky so often we are thwarted by clouds precipitation wind and so on But as we know even skies are clear atmospheric conditions can influence the clarity of an image through a telescope

Dr Kann will cover the meteorological conditions that can hinder or prevent night-sky viewing and will point out web resources of numerical weather forecasting and remote sensing technology which go beyond what the general pub-lic sees

This will be an excellent sequel to our November speaker who covered the observing difficulties presented by light pollution and radio frequency interference and will add to our ability to achieve and enjoy the fine astronomical view-ing we pursue

Dr Kann spent 22 years as NWS Science and Operations Of-ficer in Albuquerque She holds a BS in Mathematics from Towson University and a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from Purdue University

mdashLynne Olson

G e n e r a l M e e t i n g N e w s c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

Page 7



This annual event took place on a beautiful mellow fall day ndash and night ndash and and attracted

more than 700 visitors () from beginning to end The exhibitors arrived and set up within the facility at as-signed sites some spilling into the courtyard joining our solar scopes and the ldquobicycle orreryrdquo from Santa Fe

Jim Roucis was the event Owner for the day as Dee Friesen (creator organizer and designer of the Cosmic Carnival) was called away on that date Our Open Space Visitor Center host Kent Swanson and his energetic team managed the parking and set-ups for volunteers along with greeting visitors at the entrance and pre-event publicity

Once inside the guests were greeted by TAASrsquos Bob Shipley (and later Carl Larson) who also handled tickets for the portable planetarium shows provided and su-pervised by TAAS mem-ber Jim Greenhouse Space Science Director at the NM Museum of Natural History and Sci-ence Visitors enjoyed our TAAS display (trans-ported and assembled by Jim Roucis) a display from the International

Dark-Sky Association and a variety of other exhibits

Our exhibitors worked their magic with the visitors at

their interactive presentations which attracted many guests and sometimes had lines We appreciate their work and giving of their time to make this event hap-pen

bull Explora - Kevin Dilley with team of about six (did not get their individual names) bull NASA Ambassador - Len Duda bull Orrery - Santa Fe Institute - Hubert van Hecke bull TAASBob Havlen - Black Holes bull TAASBoris Venet - Telescope Optics Demo (Night presentation)

COSMIC SUCCESSCosmic Carnival and Star Party

Saturday November 9 Open Space Visitor Center

By Lynne Olson with Jim Roucis

Mike Molitor with young visitor

TAAS display at OSVC

The ldquoInter-Galactic Embassyrdquo

Steve Snider welcomes visitors

continued on page 8

Page 8



bull The Weather Institute - Sharon Sullivan bull UNM Meteoritics - Elena Dobrica and Michael Cato bull Inter Galactic Cultural Relations - Sharon Bruegge-mann bull Altura Preparatory Family Organization School - Tara Lubchenco Jen Payne-Ross bull Nuclear Museum - Tom St Aubin Jeff Mahn bull International Dark-Sky Association - static display sent via David Penasa

Jim Roucis gave two talks in the Media Room taking over from the planned presentations by David Frizzell who also was not able to attend and did them perfectly to a full house for both

Jim Greenhouse gave six presentations in the portable planetarium to a total of about 100 people not to men-tion setting it up and taking tickets and then taking it down by himself This was a huge attraction and is quite an asset to TAAS

As darkness approached our telescopes were ready and attracting lines for the Moon as a beginning All scopes had long lines and all guests were apprecia-tive of the opportunity to see the skies in such detail many for the first time In spite of the bright moonlight and a light haze TAAS was able to focus on quite a few objects So many of the visitors thanked us for putting this on and giving them such a wonderful experience and education about the stars

Bob Havlen explains black holes

Jim Greenhouse explains portable planetarium

C o s m i c C a r n i v a l a n d S t a r P a r t y c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 7

Photos by Jim Roucis and Lynne oLson

Inside in the OSVC Kiva Room Phil Fleming put on two sessions of the Fabulous 50 Fall Session to standing room only preparing the guests for what they would see through the scopes ndash some once outside were even able to find Fomalhaut

Boris Venet set up his telescope optics demo outside on the sheltered side by the entrance and welcomed curious visitors many with families

Special thanks to OSVC volunteers Theresa Homisak and Reed Schmidtbauer who took over the star-wheel making when there were not enough TAAS volunteers available they had a very busy table all evening

TAAS members who provided telescopes for solar or nighttime viewing (or both) included Jim Fordice Mike Molitor Richard Hassi Steve Snider Jim ldquoJim Krdquo Kaminski Jim Roucis Ed Juddo Arlene Berenson Rich-ard Levine and Lynne Olson

Special recognition is due to Jim Roucis who did ldquoev-erythingrdquo setting up TAAS display giving two talks circulating continuously to check on the exhibitors and TAAS members and greeting all to his own scope ndash then making sure everything got taken down and away

Page 9



M33 the Triangulum Galaxy captured on Oct 26 2019 from the General Nathan Twining Observa-tory (GNTO) west of Belen NMThis is my first full capture using my new ASI 1600 MM cooled camera 18 x 300 sec Lum images 9 x 600 sec H-alpha subframes and 12 x 300 sec R G and B sub-frames OTA was an AT65 the mount a Losmandy G-11Guiding was done using an ASI120mm through an Orion 50mm guide scope with PhD2 All image capture was coordinated through SGP 15 x 600 sec darks and 30 x bias frames No flats All processing done in PIIrsquom just starting out with combining H-alpha with LRGB so any constructive criticism would be more than wel-come mdashVanceLey

0



RemembeR to notify TAAS when your mailing address e-mail

address phone numbers etc change Send updates to Doug

LeGrand treasurerTAASorg or to Bob Anderson membership

TAASorg

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Saturday December 14Regener Hall UNM Campus 700 pm

TAAS General Meeting

ldquoMeteorology for Amateur Astronomersrdquo

Dr Deirdre KannScience and Operations Officer

retired National Weather Service

Page 11



M e m b e r s h i p S e r v i c e s

forbullMembership InquiriesbullEvents InformationbullVolunteer Opportunities

Contact Bob Anderson at membershipTAASorg

forbullMembership DuesbullAddresse-mail changes

Contact Doug LeGrand at treasurerTAASorg

TAASPO Box 50581

Albuquerque NM 87181

Courtesy Pete Eschman

E x p l a n a t i o n o f D u e s a n d M e m b e r s h i p R e n e w a l D a t e

New memberships are registered immediately if you pay online If you pay by check your membership is registered when your check is re-ceived by the treasurer

Renewal notices will be sent out via e-mail beginning 60 days before your membership expires If your membership is renewed before it expires or with in 90 days after it ex-pires your new expiration date will be advanced one year from the previous expiration date and your membership will be continuous

If dues payment is received more than 90 days after the expiration date you will be reinstated as a mem-ber with an expiration date set as one year from the receipt of payment

D o n a t i o n s t o T A A S

The Albuquerque Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization Donations are deduct-ible as charitable contributions on the donorrsquos federal income tax return

Aaron Diaz


William Wallace

T A A S R e p o r t s amp N o t i c e s

E d i t o r rsquo s N o t e The deadline for the next issue of The Sidereal Times is Wednesday December 26 The newsletter editorsrsquo e-mail address is editorTAASorg

W e l c o m e t o N e wo r R e t u r n i n g

T A A S M e m b e r s

Alison AkbulutMustafa AkbulutPerlanta Akbulut

Thomas BlogSusan Rena Brown

Tavio BrownElena Dobrica

Wayne DuncanTeddi Fernandez

Clyde MarlinHerman Martinez

James StanleySeth TaylorCraig Timm

James WhitfieldJames Wilterding

L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o n L o c a t i o nbull Chaco Canyonbull

6185rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 36˚ 01rsquo 50rdquoN 107˚ 54rsquo 36rdquoW

3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo

bull Oak Flatbull 7680rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 34˚ 59rsquo 48rdquoN 106˚ 19rsquo 17rdquoW

3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo

bull UNM Campus Observatorybull 5180rsquo elevation Latitude Longitude 35˚ 5rsquo 29rdquoN 106˚ 37rsquo 17rdquoW

3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo

For security reasons GNTO location is available by request only so please contact

Jim Fordice GNTO Director for GNTO information e-mail GNTOTAASorg

M o n t h l y M e m b e r s h i p R e p o r tN o v e m b e r 2 0 1 9

Membership Current Past Change Month Month

Regular 231 227 4Family 136 133 3Educator 16 17 -1Student 15 16 -1Military 4 4 0Honorary 5 5 0Total Members 407 400 5

Page 12



Jim Fordice PresidentpresidentTAASorg505-803-3640

steve sNider Vice PresidentvpTAASorg505-249-4066

doug LegraNd TreasurertreasurerTAASorg505-559-0252

bob shipLey Secretary secretaryTAASorgbobship10gmailcom505-872-8366

robert aNdersoN DirectorMembership CoordinatormembershipTAASorg505-275-1916

Jim Fordice DirectorGNTO Director gntoTAASorg505-803-3640

mark goodmaN DirectorEducation Outreach Directoreducation_coordTAASorg505-328-6157

bob havLeN Directorrhavlenearthlinknet505-856-3306

carL LarsoN Directorvetenskopsmongmailcom408-623-4717

boris veNet DirectorChaco Events Coordinator UNM Observatory Coordinator venetbsprintmailcom505-507-7838

rick vergas DirectorTelescope Loan Coordinatortelescope_loansTAASorg505-620-2832

Astronomical League Coordinator Becky Ramotowski 505-286-8334 astrobeckgmailcom ATM Coordinator Ray Collins 505-344-9686 atmTAASorg Chaco Events Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Education Outreach Mark Goodman 505-328-6157 education_coordTAASorg Explora Adult Night Coordinator Bob Hufnagel 505-890-8122 rhufnagel2comcastnet Fabulous Fifty Coordinator Phil Fleming 505-870-5604 wpflem2010gmailcom GNTO Director Jim Fordice 505-803-3640 gntoTAASorg Membership Chair Bob Anderson 505-275-1916 membershipTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Content Bruce Meyer 917-449-0700 editorTAASorg Newsletter Co-Editor Design Gary Cooper 505-227-3974 editorTAASorg Public Events Coordinator Steve Snider 505-249-4066 events_coordinatorTAASorg Publicity Coordinator Lynne Olson 505-856-2537 prTAASorg Scout Coordinator Chaz Jetty 505-350-7949 scout_coordinatorTAASorg Telescope Loan Coordinator Rick Vergas 505-620-2832 telescope_loansTAASorg UNM Observatory Coordinator Boris Venet 505-507-7838 venetbsprintmailcom Webmaster John Purnell 209-355-5166 webmasterTAASorg

2 0 1 9 T A A S B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s S t a f f

TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoEditorrsquos Pick 2013 Best of the Cityrdquo award from Albuquerque Magazine

BEST PLACE TO STARGAZECELESTIAL EDITION

TAAS was honored to receive an ldquoOUT-OF-ThIS-WORLDrdquo AWARD 2011

from Astronomy Magazine for Outstanding Public Programming

MEMBERSHIP

You can join TAAS or renew your membership online Just go to wwwtaasorg and select ldquoJoin Usrdquo or ldquoRenew Your Membershiprdquo from the main menu on the left side Annual dues are $30 for a regular membership $15 for educators and active military and $5 for students Only regular members are eligible to vote in society matters Our new member information packet can be viewed or downloaded from the same location on the website You can pay your dues on line through PayPal by Visa MasterCard or American Express To pay by check mail your check to TAAS PO Box 50581 Albuquerque NM 87181-0581 or give it to the treasurer at one of our meetings

MAGAZINES

TAAS no longer offers magazine subscriptions

ARTICLESADVERTISEMENTS

Articles personal astronomical clas-sified advertisements and advertise-ments for businesses related to as-tronomy must be submitted by the deadline shown on the Society calen-dar (generally the Friday near the new Moon) Rates for commercial ads (per issue) are $120 per page $60 per half page $30 per quarter page $7 for business card size The newsletter edi-tor reserves the right to include andor edit any article or advertisement E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word or compatible word processor format ASCII and RTF are acceptable One space between paragraphs is pre-ferred One column is approximately 350 words Contact the Newsletter Editor at editorTAASorg for more in-formation

Note that the Sidereal Times is no longer mailed It is posted on the TAAS website wwwTAASorg

Send submissions or correspondence to editorTAASorg

The Albuquerque Astronomical Society

PO Box 50581Albuquerque NM 87181-0581

taas ONLINE

TAAS website httpwwwTAASorg

The TAAS website includes

bull Programs bull taas 200 bull TAAS Fabulous Fiftybull Educational Outreach School Star

Parties Solar Astronomy Outreachbull Equipment Trader bull Telescope Loaner Programbull Telescope Making and Maintenance And more

bull Online Sidereal Timesbull Calendar of TAAS Eventsbull Membersrsquo Guidebull Links to Astronomy Resources and

Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg

Membersrsquo Google GroupTAAS_talkgooglegroupscom



Nametags

At last monthrsquos General Meeting Billie Sue Patrick volunteered to be our Nametag Coordinator We are working to obtain all of the material she will need to make the nametags When all is ready she will tell you how to obtain one for yourself

Amazon Smile

I just looked on Amazon Smile and it tells me I have generated $5185 for TAAS How are you doing This is a great way to contribute to your favorite soci-ety

To start generating funds for TAAS go to httpssmileamazoncom look under the ldquoAccount amp Listsrdquo menu and click on ldquoYour AmazonSmilerdquo Then search for and select ldquoAlbuquerque Astro-nomical Societyrdquo as your charity You need to enter ldquoAlbuquerque Astronomical Societyrdquo in order to find us Entering ldquoTAASrdquo will not work

P r e s i d e n t rsquo s M e s s a g e Jim Fordice

Observe ndash Educate ndash Have Fun

TAAS Needs a Secretary

Bob Shipley has done an excel-lent job as TAAS board secretary taking and publishing the min-utes of our Board meetings and contributing in numerous ways to improving our club But Bob has decided to not continue in 2020 So I am looking for some-one to be our next Secretary

Being secretary will allow you to learn about how TAAS is ad-ministered and to contribute to expanding and improving our programs If you are interested in being a candidate for this impor-tant position please connect one of the members of the Nominat-ing Committee Dee Friesen Carl Larson Alan Scott Bob Ander-son or Rick Vergas

Science Fair Donations

Every year TAAS members vol-unteer to be judges for the lo-cal Science Fair We award cash prizes to the best astronomy-related projects In 2019 we gave two $200 awards and one $100 award ($500 total)

The TAAS Board provided $200 and a TAAS Member donated $300 For 2020 the TAAS Board will again provide $200 to the prize fund is looking for at least $300 in additional donations If you are interested in donating funds in support of this educa-tional activity please contact me

social gathering of our members and guestsOur speaker for the evening will be Greg Crinklaw discussing ldquoHow to Take Astrophotos On the Other Side of the World Without Leaving Homerdquo He will demonstrate how anyone can use iTelescopenet to do astronomi-cal imaging and will share examplesThe schedule will include the elec-tion of the 2020 TAAS Officers the awards presentation for outstanding 2019 work and service a slide show of our members at star parties and other events a drawing for valuable door prizes and an astronomical Trivia Contest All of this will take place before during and after a delicious meal ca-tered by the Ramada Plaza It will be a sit-down affair not the buffet din-ner of past yearsThe menu will include a choice of Caraway-crusted Pork Chops Chicken Marsala Pasta Primavera or a vegetarian meal plus beverages (iced tea and coffee) rolls amp but-ter and a dessert selection A cash bar will be available throughout the event for those who wish to partakeThe cost for all of this will be $35person and the registration and pay-ment process will take place from the beginning of DecemberSo take care of it soon before the holiday season gets fully underway ndash then look forward to a great time with your fellow TAAS members to start off the new yearSee wwwtaasorg for more informa-tion and a link to registration

mdashLynne Olson

P e r i h e l i o n B a n q u e t c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

Page 3




Page 4











continued on page 5






Observing Field

Page 5












of


39 32 7 82


trics 23 7 12


12 17 13


26 5 7 11 As of 93019

continued on page 6

Page 6
















mdashLynne Olson


Page 7


















continued on page 8

Page 8
















Page 9




Page 10






TAASorg

HAPPY HOLIDAYS






Page 11








TAASPO Box 50581









Aaron Diaz


William Wallace














3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo






Page 12




















MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES








taas ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg





Page 4











continued on page 5






Observing Field

Page 5












of


39 32 7 82


trics 23 7 12


12 17 13


26 5 7 11 As of 93019

continued on page 6

Page 6
















mdashLynne Olson


Page 7


















continued on page 8

Page 8
















Page 9




Page 10






TAASorg

HAPPY HOLIDAYS






Page 11








TAASPO Box 50581









Aaron Diaz


William Wallace














3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


3509˚ -10662˚ 35˚ 548rsquo -106˚ 3729rsquo






Page 12




















MEMBERSHIP


MAGAZINES








taas ONLINE






Membersrsquo Blogs

E-mail TAASTAASorg












continued on page 5






Observing Field

Page 5












of


39 32 7 82


trics 23 7 12


12 17 13


26 5 7 11 As of 93019

continued on page 6

Page 6
















mdashLynne Olson


Page 7


















continued on page 8

Page 8
















Page 9




Page 10






TAASorg

HAPPY HOLIDAYS






Page 11








TAASPO Box 50581









Aaron Diaz


William Wallace














3603˚ -10791˚ 36˚ 183rsquo -107˚ 5460rsquo


3499˚ -10632˚ 34˚ 5980rsquo -106˚ 1928rsquo


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