Fellow stargazers,

 

            The North Houston Astronomy Club general meeting in April of 2005 was a celebration of sorts. It marked the sixth anniversary of the first meeting of the club on April 23^rd, 1999. Everybody was treated to a sizeable piece of cake. Although no singing was done, the mood was festive. Henry Norton led the advanced program and discussed collimation while Aaron Clevenson led the novice program. We thank them both for being such pillars for our club.

The real treat during the evening was the presentation by our Vice President Bill Leach entitled: “The State of the Earth.” April is considered as Earth Month so the topic was appropriate. It was another anniversary to celebrate and ponder upon. Few know the amount of preparation that takes to do a presentation like the one we were offered. I suggested twenty hours to the speaker but the true time of preparation was four times that and it showed. In a countdown to the top ten issues related to our planet, each segment thoroughly researched, from volcanism, to population, to mass extinctions, Bill Leach’s presentation was a real delight, interrupted by the usual fireworks between our treasurer Robert McMillan and the speaker. Bill Leach not only does incredible amount of physical work to get our meetings and observations done but the intellectual work as well. Thank you, Bill.

The observation committee, guided by its chair, Henry Norton has also done a lot of work. A brand new telescope, a 6 inch Orion SkyQuest Dobsonian was purchased with special pricing to the club in order to raise funds through a raffle. We are asking the whole membership to help us sell the tickets. We will make an announcement during the May 27^th meeting about the price per ticket and the details. Henry believes that selling a hundred tickets will pay for the telescope. We want to sell five hundred to a thousand.   The telescope raffle is one of the activities the club is preparing towards the NHAC Community Star Party scheduled for September 11, 2005. Tables will be set up during the daylight hours with varied information. After twilight several telescopes will be set up for viewing. Henry and his group are doing a great job. Ed Knapton has set up a web shop in the club’s website www.astronomyclub.org to sell tickets.

Several of our members attended the Texas Star Party during the first week of May. I am sure some gems of images have already surfaced in those dark rooms of the club’s astro-photographers. We would like to encourage all members with personal websites to update their links in our website so we may show during the regular meeting the Pictures of the Month.  This feature will be part of each monthly general meeting along with an update of our website. Ed Knapton has done such a terrific job with the club’s website that it is only proper that we make full use of it.

For the May 27^th Meeting, the novice program will begin promptly at 6:30 pm in the Cosmic Forum. Aaron Clevenson will talk about “Astronomical League Programs and Preparation for The Southern Cross BBQ Star Party.” Concurrently at 6:30 pm in the Physics Laboratory Bill Leach will lead the advanced session with “Image Processing I for True Beginners.”

The featured speaker for the evening will be John R. Strand. He will discuss “Navigation Between the Planets.” Rarely there is the opportunity to learn about celestial mechanics from a greater expert. Strand obtained experience with spacecraft trajectories working with North American for the Apollo Program. Jet Propulsion Laboratories used his expertise to develop the navigation systems of fascinating NASA projects such as Mariner, Viking and Voyager, and many other spacecraft since. His contributions to the knowledge of celestial mechanics resulted in a congressional award. Currently John is an author of memoirs where the fascinating details of the applications of principles in so many disciplines to planetary exploration are told. His books will be for sale and autographed for those interested.

 

The meeting is shaping up as very interesting. Please mark your calendars for Friday May 27^th and for June 4^th for our The Southern Cross BBQ Star Party at the Neal’s Site. I look forward to see all of you, star catchers, soon.

 

Juan Carlos Reina

President

North Houston Astronomy Club