14 Members and Guests were present.
The meeting was called to order at 7:42 PM by our new Club President, Herman Zwirn.
Herman opened the meeting and told the group that he had a brief meeting with former FVAS President Andy Weeks in order to further understand the role of FVAS President.
Herman announced that one of the first things that he wanted to do was to hold a Board Meeting. He checked with the Club Officers and Board Members that were present at the meeting, and everyone there agreed to Monday night,
November 15th at 7:30 PM. Herman would check to see if Peck Farm was available on the 15th for the Board Meeting.
The theme for tonight’s meeting was the FVAS “Swap & Shop” and a suggestion was made to possibly hold a “Swap & Shop” at some of the Public Star Parties. Herman indicated that this topic would be added to the agenda items for discussion at the upcoming FVAS Board Meeting.
Herman indicated that the theme for next month’s meeting would be the annual December Pizza Party, and that the “Swap & Shop” would also be extended to the December meeting.
Next, Herman indicated that there were a few new faces in the room, and so he asked the group to go around the room and introduce themselves.
Paul Wanthal showed everyone an 80mm Stellar View refractor that he rebuilt with beautifully machined hardware. He described all of his alterations in detail.
Charlie Klingel gave us a report on some of his experiences during a recent stay at a New Mexico Skies Resort / Inn.
Herman asked everyone in attendance to send him an email with ideas of what each member would like the club to do. If you have any ideas that you would like considered, please send them to Herman
Jeff Benuzzi gave the upcoming Club and Public Star Party dates, and our new Community Relations Director, Andy Weeks, indicated that he would send out press-releases.
The business portion of the evening’s meeting concluded at 8:25 PM and then everyone participated in the theme for this meeting, the FVAS “Swap & Shop”. Our new Treasurer, Karen Broten, collected and recorded the money taken in from sale of FVAS club property at the evening’s “Swap & Shop” event.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
10 Members and Guests were in attendance.
The meeting was called to order at 7:48 PM by our President, Andy Weeks.
Andy started out by having everyone in the group introduce themselves since there were a few new faces in the crowd.
Next, Andy told the group that the next Public Star Party was scheduled for September 18th, and that on October 27th we would schedule a public viewing session for the total Lunar Eclipse. He also told us that the next Club Observing weekend was scheduled for September 17th, 18th, & 19th.
Rich Klappal then gave a brief report on the September 10th Club Star
Party.
A suggestion was made to move the Club Star Parties to the Lasher Road observing site. This will be voted on at the October meeting. The Elections for Club Officers and Board Members will also take place at the October meeting, so make sure you come out and cast your vote. We're still looking for a candidate for President!
Rich Klappal has volunteered to maintain the Club's web site and Andy will be getting with Rich to provide all of the necessary information for access. Scott Wegner once again offered the club free space for the FVAS web site on his servers. This may be looked at in the future.
Andy then indicated that he would like the theme of the November meeting to be on homemade, do-it-yourself, astronomy gear.
The meeting adjourned at 8:34 PM and a few members went out in the courtyard to do a little observing and chat about their favorite subject, astronomy!
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
5 Members and Guests were in attendance.
FVAS Member, Jim Griffin volunteered to preside over the meeting in the absence of our President and Vice President. Jim called the meeting to order at 7:40 PM.
Jim started out by having everyone in attendance introduce themselves. We went around the room and gave our name and the name of the town that we live in.
Jan Carlson, a representative for Kane County Board Candidate Karen
McConnaughay, who was busy attending another function, came to the
meeting and was given the floor to address the group. We were not aware
the he was coming to this meeting, so Rich Klappal took Jan's address
and said that he would mail some light-pollution information to him. Jan
told the group that he supported FVAS access to the Kane County Forest
Preserves for nighttime observing. He fielded a few questions about
county issues from the group and provided complete answers
where possible.
Next, Rich Klappal provided a review of the August 6th Club Observing Session at the Lasher road site. It sounds like they had pretty good skies that evening!
Both Jim and Rich then talked about plans for observing the Perseid Meteor Shower at Peck Farm Park and the Lasher Road site.
Next, we had a brief review of the FVAS Astronomy Day event on July 24th. Astronomy Day Coordinator, Tom Guerin, told the group that over 80 people attended despite the poor weather conditions that day.
Club Treasurer, Dave Johnson had 2005 Astronomy Calendars available for sale to club members for $10 each.
Herman Zwirn brought a CD containing pictures from Astronomy Day 2004 and Rich showed them to the group through his computer.
Afterwards, Rich mentioned that the next Club Star Party was the weekend of August 13th.
The meeting adjourned at 8:38 PM and a few members went outside to do a little observing, as the skies were pretty clear. We were able to see Comet LINEAR C2003 K4 in Bootes, and Comet NEAT C2001 Q4 in Ursa Major, as well as several interesting Messier Objects.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
16 Members and Guests were in attendance.
The meeting was called to order at 7:36 PM by FVAS Vice-President, Mark Christensen.
Mark started out with a review of 'Twilight in the Park' and then explained how it presented a great opportunity to advertise the FVAS Astronomy Day event scheduled for July 24th.
Mark then asked for volunteers for each of the different activities for Astronomy Day and these volunteers were entered into a sign-up list. A suggestion was made to solicit volunteers from the rest of the members that could not attend the meeting.
A few action items for Astronomy Day were recorded:
* Mark to email membership to solicit additional volunteers for A. D.
* Mark to contact Andy to define & coordinate crafts
* Rich to send hard copies of Solar System Walk materials to Ron Vann
and Jim Ammeson
* Rich to send Night Sky Network demonstration materials list to Mark
Mark mentioned that the next Club Star Party was the weekend of July 16. He also said that unless someone objected, he was not going to renew the reservation the Club's DeKalb Observing Site for another year since there seems to be little use of the site. If you would like to continue to use the DeKalb site, please contact Mark!
Mark then asked the group to make introductions, as there were a few
new faces at the meeting.
FVAS Dues are due in July, and the Club Treasurer, Dave Johnson, was
collecting dues from club members and had 2005 Astronomy calendars for
sale to club members at $10 each.
Next, Jeff gave brief talk on Astrofest and the new Prairie Skies Star Party, both held in September, and he had registration forms available for both events. Gordon from NSA, told the group of another Star Party the same week as Astrofest, the Sangamon Star Party in southern Illinois near Springfield.
Mark then called for a 15-minute break for the group to enjoy doughnuts that he brought. Thank you Mark!
George Babel then was given the floor and took a few moments to tell the group a story about Telrad finder controversy that occurred while he was President of an Astronomy Club in Pennsylvania. This all started because George was wearing a T-shirt that had "No Telrads" on the front. George then offered to provide some instruction some of the newer astronomers in the club to help bring them 'up to speed' a little quicker so they can get a little more enjoyment out of the hobby. Very nice gesture, George!
Next, Scott did a little 'show & tell' for the group on a Stellarvue 76mm refractor and tripod that he had just purchased.
The meeting adjourned at 9:17 PM and a few members went outside to do a little observing as the skies were pretty clear.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
Attendance: 16 Members, 3 Guests
President Andy Weeks went through the upcoming events for this summer:
Twilight in the Park, July 10, 4 PM
Astronomy Day, July 24, 4 PM
Public Star Parties; June 26, Aug 21
We were graced by a visitor from Chile who was visiting her brother. She participated in the light pollution discussion giving some positive reinforcement for some of the actions we could take
The recent club parties were discussed. There were 5 in attendance at Peck Farm for Comet Neat. The 5 enjoyed the great view of the comet in the same field of view as the Beehive cluster. Some members are also enjoying the impromptu viewing sessions.
A lengthy discussion took place regarding North Aurora’s plans to have unfriendly lighting at their park district. A suggestion was made to make a petition and send it to the appropriate government agency. Andy will also look into drafting a editorial to North Aurora papers.
The rest of the meeting was a presentation on Scorpius that Andy put together last year. It had lively interaction from the members. The focus was double stars and 4 Messier objects although a few NGC objects were covered.
The meeting ended at 9:15 PM
Minutes respectfully submitted by Andy Weeks
16 Members and Guests were in attendance.
Mark Christensen brought doughnuts for the group, Thank you Mark!
The meeting was called to order by Club President – Andy Weeks at 7:36 PM.
Andy started by telling the group about a temporary change in plans for the Club Star Parties for May 14th – 16th, and May 21st – 23rd. The Club Star Parties for these two weekends will be held at Peck Farm Park with a goal of improving attendance by having them a little closer to home. This idea originated from a discussion at the April FVAS Board Meeting. The Club will then decide how to proceed after these two club observing weekends.
FVAS Board Member - Rich Klappal told the group about a set of 56 Astronomy Lectures that he purchased on behalf of the club. Each of these lectures are approximately 45 minutes long and should make for some good material for club meetings, Public Star Parties, or other FVAS events. Rich has obtained permission to show these lecture videos to the public as long as there is no fee charged to see them.
Next, Andy presented some material on the comets that will be visible soon, Comet NEAT Q4 and Comet LINEAR T7.
The group had a nice discussion on viewing these comets and Andy suggested that the theme for the June Public Star Party is Comet NEAT Q4.
Rich then showed the group the first half of a training video provided with the presentation materials kit from NASA’s Night Sky Network. He will show the second half of the training video at a future meeting.
Next, Mark Christensen showed the group a wonderful presentation called “When a Man Looks Upward” that was originally created by members of the Detroit Observation and Astrophotographic Association back in 1969. The members of the DOAA took the pictures used in the presentation. Mark told the group that this presentation hasn’t been seen since 1989. He digitized the presentation and was able to show it on his laptop computer.
Mark’s presentation ended and then the meeting adjourned at 9:12 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
10 Members and Guests were in attendance.
With Club President - Andy Weeks, and Vice-President - Mark Christensen both unable to attend, FVAS Board Member (and past President) – Rich Klappal presided over the meeting.
The meeting was called to order by Rich at 7:48 PM.
We reviewed the March 27th Public Star Party. Rich stated that no one from the public attended. Rich showed the group the Presentation on the planet Jupiter that he put together for the March 27th Public Star Party. This was the club’s first attempt to have an indoor presentation available at our Public Star Parties regardless of the weather or sky conditions. Nice job, Rich!
Next, Rich told the group that he was going to try and set up a ‘sidewalk astronomy’ session in downtown Geneva for the weekend of April 16th/17th. The purpose would be to provide the public with some astronomical viewing of a few of the brighter objects visible in the night skies, and to educate the public on how light-pollution restricts the number of objects in the heavens that can be seen on an average night.
He said that he would provide more information on the actual date and location via the club’s fvastro-Yahoo Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fvastro/) distribution.
Rich then showed the group some of the contents of the new presentation materials kit from NASA’s Night Sky Network of which the FVAS is now a member. One of the materials in the kit was a 7-minute video on NASA’s new Space Interferometry Mission, or SIM. Rich showed this video to the group.
Next, Herman Zwirn showed the group some images of Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon that he had taken with Meade’s new Lunar and Planetary Imager, which he told the group received as a Christmas present. He explained to the group how the images were taken during an evening where the seeing and transparency were very poor and how, even he was surprised how well the images came out considering the poor conditions. He explained the operation of the device to the group and answered several questions from the group. Great images, Thank you Herman!
We can’t wait to see some images taken with this device from GOOD skies.
One of the Club Members asked about the upcoming comets, and Rich provided some information on the predicted paths and magnitudes of Comet NEAT Q4 and Comet LINEAR T7 for the next couple of months and the group discussed some viewing strategies for these two comets.
Next, one of the Club Members asked a question about a few objects that he was trying to see in his telescope, and the group responded with some discussion of some of these visible object and suggestions on how to see them.
We reviewed the upcoming Club and Public Star Party dates, and then the meeting adjourned at 9:06 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
14 Members and Guests were in attendance.
With Club President - Andy Weeks, and Vice-President - Mark Christensen both unable to attend, Club Secretary – Jeff Benuzzi presided over the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 7:40 PM.
We reviewed the upcoming Club and Public Star Party dates and talked about a suggestion that FVAS Board Member – Rich Klappal had made on club e-mail distribution and the fvastro-Yahoo Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fvastro/).
The suggestion was that we have an indoor presentation available at our Public Star Parties regardless of the weather or sky conditions. This was in response to a message sent by Tom & Anna Guerin indicating that 20 to 25 people showed up for the February 28th Public Star Party despite the cloudy/overcast sky conditions. Jeff suggested that in order to achieve this goal, we would need additional support from Club Members to help with the presentations.
Jeff mentioned that he believes the club has several movies and videos, which were purchased for last year’s Astronomy day, that could be shown if a presentation was not available. Club Member Joe DalSanto offered to do a presentation at a couple of the Public Star Parties, with a little advance notice. Jeff mentioned that this topic would be discussed at the next FVAS Board Meeting.
Rich Klappal indicated that the ‘HB4719-Outdoor Lighting Control Act’ is being introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives. He mentioned that he had sent a letter to its sponsor, in order to clarify a couple of items, but at least it was a good start!
Rich also mentioned that our club has been accepted for membership in
the new Night Sky Network from NASA. We should be receiving some
presentation materials soon.
Next, Club Member Joe DalSanto provided the group with a wonderful
presentation on the upcoming astronomy courses and viewing events at
Waubonsee Community College.
The courses are: “Observational Astronomy” starting on May 21st, and
“Stargazing: An Introduction to Astronomy” staring on June 25th.
The viewing events are: “Saturn: The Ringed Planet” on April 24th,
and “Comets” on May 22nd.
Joe provided descriptions of the courses & viewing events, explained
some of the techniques he used in teaching the classes, and told the
group about his efforts to rehab the observatory and some of its
telescopes. He passed out brochures to all in attendance, took questions
from the group, and invited everyone to attend.
Extra brochures were given to the Club Secretary – Jeff Benuzzi and will be available at the next meeting. Great presentation, Thank You Joe!
The presentation ended, and the meeting adjourned at 8:35 PM. A few of the club members stuck around afterwards to chat.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
20 Members and Guests were in attendance.
The meeting was called to order by Club President - Andy Weeks at 7:32 PM. Andy brought doughnuts for the group to enjoy. Thank you Andy!
Rich Klappal brought a box containing some of the club’s books that are for sale to club members at reduced prices.
Herman Zwirn brought some camera gear that he had for sale, and Andy asked Herman to give the group a short description of his camera equipment.
Karen Broten had a petition for the protection of bears in the state of Maryland, and Andy gave her a few moments to describe the petition and pass it around for signatures.
Next, Andy began some discussion on our membership in the Astronomy League and how the dues were going up again, somewhere around the five-dollar per member range. Some of the membership benefits were discussed and Andy questioned whether we should continue our membership in the Astronomy League. A motion to discontinue our Astronomy League membership was made by Jim Griffin, and seconded by George Babel. The members in attendance voted 12 for, 0 opposed, and 1 abstained, to discontinue our membership in the Astronomy League. Our current membership is paid through July, when the club’s fiscal year ends, and it will expire at that time.
Rich Klappal has applied, on behalf or our club, for membership in the new Night Sky Network from NASA.
Next, the upcoming Club and Public Star Party dates were reviewed. Jeff Benuzzi mentioned that the Peck Farm Park courtyard, where we usually hold our Public Star Parties, was currently covered with snow. He suggested that if the courtyard was still snow-covered for our next Public Star Party, that we hold it in the parking lot. Andy said that he would check with the Mike Kirschman from the Park.
The next topic for discussion was Astronomy Day. The first question was if, and when, to have our Astronomy Day event. The choices were April 24th, or July 17th (a couple of weeks after the Geneva Park District’s “Twilight in the Park” event), or not at all. After some discussion, a motion to have the club’s Astronomy Day event on July 17th at 4:00 PM was made by Jim Griffin, and seconded by George Babel. The members in attendance voted 12 for, 0 opposed, and 1 abstained, to have the club’s Astronomy Day event on July 17th at 4:00 PM.
Some of the other Astronomy Day topics that were discussed were crafts, games, food, literature displays, videos, an inflatable planetarium, and the comet demonstration. Chuck Klingel, the Astronomy Day Coordinator for the Northwest Suburban Astronomers, was a guest at our meeting and shared some ideas from the NSA’s Astronomy Day events. Mike Foster volunteered to make some shelves for the literature displays. More volunteers are needed, please consider volunteering for this event. More Astronomy Day discussion and plans will be made at our next
FVAS Board Meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM, and a few of the club members stuck around afterwards to chat.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary
28 Members and Guests were in attendance.
Rich Klappal brought a box containing some of the club’s books that are for sale to club members at reduced prices, and Dave Johnson brought several boxes of telescope parts, which are also for sale. Dave also had 2004 Calendars from Astronomy Magazine, which were available for sale to club members at $10 each. Several club members took advantage of the tremendous savings and purchased some of the items. This money goes into the club treasury, so come to the meetings and consider buying some of these great items.
The meeting was called to order by Club President - Andy Weeks at 7:33 PM. He indicated that there was a full schedule for this meeting and that he would do a brief review of club business.
Andy stated that he was going to try and schedule a Board Meeting sometime this month. He also stated the club now has a membership application that can be downloaded from the FVAS web site. The Club Secretary will also have copies available at the meetings and other public events.
Andy indicated that the Astronomy League dues were going up again, somewhere around the five-dollar per member range. He said that he would put an article about the dues increase in the newsletter and that the membership would vote whether or not to continue our membership in the Astronomy League.
Next, Andy reviewed the upcoming Club and Public Star Party dates. Anna Guerin agreed to help with the information table at the next Public Star Party. Andy indicated that he expected somewhere around 40 people to attend the next Public Star Party if the weather was good. Please come out with your telescope and support the club at the Public Star Parties.
Andy then turned the meeting over to club member Ron Vann, who introduced Dave Rickert, candidate for Kane County Board Chairman. As you recall from last month’s meeting, the Kane County Board candidates were invited to this month’s meeting so that members of the FVAS could educate them on light-pollution issues. The other Board Member candidate that was invited was unable to attend.
Dave gave everyone a flier pertaining to his candidacy and spoke to the group about his background as Kane County Treasurer. He outlined his goals if elected to the Kane County Board. Dave fielded several questions from the group on various topics pertaining to Kane County and provided complete answers wherever possible. He indicated that he would be available after the meeting and via e-mail or telephone to talk in depth about some of the issues.
Next, FVAS Board Member Rich Klappal gave a very informative presentation on Light Pollution. Rich creatively overcame the obstacle of a non-working overhead projector and presented the group with statistics on light measurements, OSHA requirements, and examples of different types of light fixtures that are currently used and available, and presented recommendations for proper lighting. Rich’s presentation was not only beneficial to candidate Dave Rickert, but to the rest of the FVAS group as well! Fantastic presentation, Rich!
The presentation ended and the meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM, and a few of the club members stuck around afterwards to chat.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Benuzzi – FVAS Secretary