Cape Fear Astronomical Society

Meeting Minutes June 2th, 2002 - by Terry Herrin, CFAS Secretary

edit MONTH edit TITLE in Format/titleVice President Rich Williams called the meeting to order at 7:10pm. The first item on the agenda was officers' reports. Ben Steelman stated the $129 for the annual dues for the Club to the Astronomical League had been paid. He also mentioned the 2002 Astronomy Catalog. He is still taking money for magazine subscriptions. The cost for each is $29.95 for Sky & Telescope and $29.00 for Astronomy.

Rich reminded the club the next meeting will be at Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach on 7/7/02. He also lined up the presentations for the rest of the year. They are as follows: July will be the planetarium. In August Tom Jacobs and Ben Steelman, for September Rich Williams, Ronnie Hawes has October, November features Alan Hilburn, and the holiday social is in December.

Under old business, John Canaday brought up Club insurance. It is offered by the Astronomical League for an annual fee of $75. The application had to be submitted by 6/12/02. A motion was made to buy the insurance. It was seconded and carried by a voice vote.

Moving on to new business, Ronnie Hawes thanked Tom Jacobs and John Canaday for helping with the Camp Bowers Boy Scout presentations on 5/4/02, 5/11/02 and 5/18/02. He said the Scouts may want the Club to give more presentations in the fall. He also announced a lunar viewing session at Plantation Village on 6/17/02, with 6/18/02 being the rain date. Ronnie also talked to Johnny Horne, and Mr. Horne agreed to have us up there for a visit in October or November. He is also willing to come down sometime next year to give a presentation as part of the Club's 20th anniversary celebration.

Continuing new business, Ronnie presented a proposal for a new Club flyer. Alan showed some Tshirts from the Club's 10th anniversary and a "Mars Mania" shirt from 1988 when Mars made a close pass to Earth. John Canaday pointed out that 8/12/02 is the peak for the Perseid meteor shower, and suggested a viewing at the beach on Saturday, 8/10/02.

The meeting broke for ten minutes at 7:40pm, and then Alan Hilburn gave a great presentation on astro-photography. After the presentation Rich asked if there were any other business, and having none, adjourned the meeting at 8:30pm

News Cluster

This month, we are heading to the new Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach. Admission is $5 for adults and $3.50 for children. See you there!

Work continues to progress on our new website! Check it out at www.capefearastro.com

As mentioned in the meeting minutes, Johnny Horne has invited us for a visit to his home this fall. Take a look at his article in July's Sky and Telescope on an astrophotography accessory.