Hello fellow stargazers,

 

From tectonic plates adjusting under the Earth’s Indian Ocean producing a wave which for planetary standards was a ripple but for human terms it was infinitely painful, to Titan’s icy world orbiting Saturn, to life forms hanging from icicles under the sterile Martian surface, the universe is full of surprises. And the members of Houston’s astronomy societies and clubs are capturing them.

I want to thank all the members who help our club run so efficiently, persons like Susan Kennedy and Kelsey Norton who show up early on general meeting nights and help with the setting of the Teaching Theater. Thanks also to others like Kent Francis who gave the first ever Advanced Program talk entitled “Digital Cameras” on the January 28^th meeting. We are fortunate to have for the second advanced session on February 25^th, Brian Cudnik. He will talk about the “Messier Marathon.” I believe we have started a great tradition with the Advanced Program. Sue Wheatley, NHAC secretary is leading the second novice session with a talk on “Stars and Constellations.” For the March meeting we have scheduled Bill Leach for the novice session on “How to find objects in the sky” and Don Taylor for the advanced session on “Solar Photography.”

Bill Leach and Geraldina Reina have worked to get the new members kits ready. Henry Norton chaired the first Observation Committee meeting for 2005 and the schedule for BBQs at the Neal site is set. There will be an effort to make the Neal site available to the members in a more continuous form. There are also plans to involve the larger community with a star party open to the public. The objectives will be to increase enrollment to the club, to raise funds and to reach out to the North Houston communities. Although the financial state of the club is solid, there are still several initiatives which we cannot pursue because of the lack of funds. Henry’s idea of a public star party tries to address those concerns. NHAC is now the fifth largest club in the state of Texas. However there are plenty of reasons which indicate that increasing the enrollment is crucial at this time. I would like to ask all the members to help in this regard. Please interact with those who are first time visitors and incite them to join. More membership means greater resources and funds.  

I want to thank Darrin Lewis for reminding me how a good speaker does not need props or any other artifacts in order to lead an entertaining, stimulating and informative talk. His talk on binoculars created one of the most lively Q&A sessions we’ve had. For our February 25^th program we decided to give Ed Knapton, who has constructed a very sophisticated website in a very short time, the opportunity to introduce to the members the many features of  www.astronomyclub.org. Ed Knapton reminds me of the amount of effort our members make in order to continue our growing process. Thank you Ed for a job well done.

Any serious astronomer in Houston must also be an amateur meteorologist. Yet we dislike talking about weather since it usually means no observing. Most of Houston’s successful astrophotographers must constantly travel far away from our light polluted city. It is indeed a tribute to their passion for the heavens that in a city like Houston there are such great works being done. So if you want to know about a great if not the greatest star party, come to our February meeting where Steve Goldberg will tell us about the upcoming “Texas Star party.” We look forward to see you there.

 

Juan Carlos Reina,  NHAC President, February 2005