January 15, 2025
Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford
Online Business Meeting Minutes
Date: January 15, 2025
The January 15, 2025 meeting of the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford was called to order over Zoom at 7:35 PM by President Markiewicz. There were 25 members in attendance and 5 guests, 10 people were in the community center and 15 were online.
Tonight’s speaker was Erik Schmitt, an educator, a former observatory director and an outreach specialist. His talk was How Amateur Astronomers and Citizen Scientists can contribute to Exoplanet Research
Overview
This talk will cover how amateur astronomers and citizen scientists with small telescopes or even no telescope at all can meaningfully contribute to exoplanet research. The NASA Exoplanet Watch collaboration is now open to the general public and there is a need for more optics and eyeballs gathering and reducing data from transiting exoplanets.
You will learn how to identify upcoming exoplanet transits, some tips for acquiring images, how to prepare them for processing via Exoplanet Watch’s EXOTIC software tool, and then how to upload the results to the AAVSO’s database. We’ll also review how these measurements contributed to the characterization of particular exoplanets!
It was well received and should be a great opportunity for members to experience and assist performing Citizen Science – whether or not they own a telescope with imaging capability.
See https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet_watch and https://www.aavso.org/exoplanet-section
Members can see the Presentation over our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/4yVpHeZWRQc?si=8Pj9SxGHvQPTpZBZ
New Members:
There were two new members in attendance, Robert Fischetti, a professor at Quinipiac University and returning member, Bill Oldman.
Secretary’s Report:
The Secretary’s report was post to the members section of the ASGH website. A motion to approve was made and seconded. The report was approved unanimously.
Public Observing at the Van Vleck Observatory:
The December Public Observing session was difficult due to problems with the applications to run the SkyX Professional Edition from Maestro. The system had a crash and had to completely shutdown including powering down of the mount. When it recovered, it behaved better but continued to disconnect from the SkyX and frequently lost tracking and began drifting. The scope was manually slewed to Jupiter, allowing the public to view for the remainder of the evening until all got the opportunity to view – sometimes returning twice. The system did not park well. Issues were documented in the log and staff at the Van Vleck notofied of all issues and recovery procedures. We were informed that a new alignment would be necessary for us to perform at our next session. (January session canceled due to inclement weather.).
Treasurer’s Report:
Cyndi Barron reports we have $1,225.49 in the checking account and $7082.24 in Savings.
WebMasters Report:
Nothing new to report this month.
Outreach:
Middlesex Land Trust Palmer-Taylor Preserve, Contact is ASGH member DeanKavalkovich
Star Party. Rest room facilities will be available nearby.
Friday 1/31,2025, 6:00pm
ISS Downlink – Rocky Hill Public Library <== C. Markiewicz
Event or talk related to the ISS
exact number TBD, K-12 students
Feb 18, 2025, 30-minute window prior to 11:00am or after 1:00pm
Space Expo 2025 – New England Air Museum <== C. Markiewicz, A. Johnson Jr., C. Barron & J. Benoit
Exhibit table, family group interactions
Saturday 4/26/2025, 9:00am 3:00pm (setup/teardown 7:00am 4:00pm)
Suffield Middle School – Suffield, CT <== C. Markiewicz, C. Barron, L. Branco & J. Sillasen
Stargazing with middle school students, Spring 2025, date/time TBD
Vernon Senior Center – Vernon, CT. Need volunteer to lead talk related to astronomy
this will probably be a discussion event
date/time TBD
New Business:
None.
Old Business:
Cosmic Cultures II – the RFP for the 2025-2026 has been sent & reviewed to our President by Steve Pelosi. Chris reviewed and agreed there were no substantive changes.
A call for a vote was made as is our process. All members in attendance voted yes, no no votes and 3 abstentions were noted over Zoom. The motion to accept the 2025-2026 Cosmic Cultures II passed.
Good of the Organization:
Reminder to the membership – We are half-way through our 2024/2025 season. Officer elections will be held in four months. The current officers (president, vice president, secretary & webmaster) have given notice that we will be retiring from our positions at the end of this term. PLEASE consider volunteering for one of these upcoming open positions!
See what’s in the night sky this month – NASA’s What’s in the Sky is an outstanding resource and part of our Night Sky Network to have with us for our use and needs.
Bookmark this site if you will. It’s got resources from text to YouTube for what’s in the night sky the current month – from NASA and of course your Night Sky Network!
Check out https://in-the-sky.org/ for a general list of observable objects/events in your area.
Mars Opposition January 16 only 14.5 arc seconds as its 59 million miles away, compared to 2020 22.6 arc seconds and 2022 17.2 arc seconds.
Mercury Eastern elongation March 8th. Setup the night before so a GoTo during the day is possible. Best chance to see Mercury is during the day. Evening sky in the evening in the Western sky. It’s 18.2 degrees away from the Sun.
March 14th A Total Lunar Eclipse for our area will occur.
NEAF/NEAIC, the North East Astronomy Forum & North East Astro Imaging Conference is coming up in the Spring. April 5 & 6 NEAF. NEAIC April 7 & 8 after NEAF for the 1st time. Suffern NY Rockland Community College sponsored by the Rockland Astronomy Club. Tickets are now on sale at https://neafexpo.com reported, Sec’y Sillasen. Sillasen is also a member of the Rockland Astronomy Club and will be volunteering at the NEAF both both days except during 2 hour lunch period where he can be found at the Springfield Telescope Makers booth. J. Sillasen is a Full Member of the Springfield Telescope Makers.
Texas Star Party April 20 – 27.
Mercury Western Elongation April 27. 27.4 preceding the Sun in the Morning. High in the sky.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:27 PM.