April 20, 2022
Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford
Online Business Meeting Minutes
Date: April 20, 2022
This meeting was recorded with the permission of the speaker. It is available now on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/701814211
The April ASGH Business meeting was brought to order at 7:30 PM EST by President Markiewicz. There were 15 attendees present online over Zoom which included invited members of regional clubs. There were no new members present.
Astrophysicist, Roy E. Kilgard, Associate Professor of the Practice in Astronomy at the Van Vleck Observatory on the campus of Wesleyan University in Middletown Connecticut, was our featured speaker. Roy’s talk was on The History of the Van Vleck Observatory and included the birth of astronomy at Wesleyan, it’s first telescope and subsequent telescopes plus the early observatory before the Van Vleck was even built. An informative and well documented with period photos & building plans helped make the talk even more instructive. The talk ran from his introduction shortly after the meeting was called to order until 8:39 PM.
Secretary’s Report:
The Secretary’s report of the March 2022 Minutes was approved with a modification to Outreach which occurred post meeting for an event which was cancelled and a change requested by Ray Zywno for the Cometary notes he provided and was corrected by Webmaster John Allen during the meeting.
Nominating Committee:
Chairman of the Nominating Committee, John Sillasen, notes that the slate of officers who have guided the ASGH through this Pandemic have agreed to continue in their respective officers. Therefore, a full slate of candidates is in hand. Nominations from the floor are now open and may be directed towards Mr. Sillasen at this time.
Treasurer’s Report:
Treasurer C. Baron was in attendance but did not have the financial balance data available in time for the meeting. She will send them to the Secretary for updating in the minutes at a later time.
Webmasters Report:
No outages or issues were reported or found noted Webmaster, John Allen.
Outreach Events:
April date TBD: Willimantic Public Library (Lecture/Stargazing Event). Chris M. & John S. to participate in star gazing.
May 2: Windsor Public Library (Lecture – Space Rocks) Dave Allen will cover.
May 23: Waterbury Senior Center (Lecture Event). Chris will cover.
June dates TBD: Cosmic Cultures (Lecture Event). D. Allen – tentative at this time.
August 2/3: Town of Ellington Trails Committee (Stargazing Event). Dave Allen (Tentative at this time for health reasons)
August 17: Cora Belden Library in Rocky Hill (Stargazing Event) C. Markiewicz, J. Sillasen.
August 20: Space Expo/New England Air Museum (public outreach & education) C. Markiewicz, A. Johnson, Jr., C. Barron & D. Allen (Tentative at this time) will cover.
Seasonal dates TBD: Nathan Hale Homestead (Stargazing Event)
Observing opportunities until next meeting:
Check out https://in-the-sky.org/ for a list of observable objects/events in your area
Lyrid meteor shower peaks the night of April 22/morning of April 23. May produce up to 18 meteors/hour at its peak..
It’s GALAXY SEASON!! Get out with your telescope for the galaxies in Virgo, Leo, Canes Venatici and Coma Berenices are placed perfectly for observing! Suggested galaxies of easy reach with a scope of 3-4″ and with obviously more detail in a larger scope 8″ and above.
Leo – NGC 3628 (Hamburger Galaxy), M65, M66. Leo Triplet.
Between Virgo and Corvus – M104 (Sombrero Galaxy).
Ursa Major area: M101, M81/M82, M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy), M63.
Markarian’s Chain, suggested by R. Zywno, is a group of galaxies that include two Messier objects, (M84 & M86). Located halfway between Denebola in Leo and Vindamatrix in Virgo. Magnitudes of ~9 & 10, easily seen visually in a 5″-10″ telescope. Imaged very easily in a Tele Vue 76 with 0.8 Focal Reducer. (As shown in this month’s Tele Vue Blog).
Comets of note: C/2021 O3 May 17-19 Magnitude 9,
C/2017 K2 (corrected in March minutes) Magnitude 7 May 29 – August
C/2022 E3 Mag 6 coming in February 2023. (Will be noted again in January 2023).
For the Good of the Organization:
The Library Scope has been purchased but upgraded from the not available Orion 4.5″ Starblast to the collapsible SkyWatcher Heritage 130mm Tabletop Dobsonian Reflector. It’s also slightly less expensive even with the accessories needed, and purchased. The Heritage 130 needs less modifications than the Orion Starblast 4.5 as stipulated in the Library Telescope document. Chris Markiewicz plans to deliver it to the library with some hands on instruction soon.
Meeting adjourned at 9:06 PM EDT