Cape Fear Skies The Cape Fear Astronomical Society Newsletter - Editor Debbi Hayden This Month's Meeting will be: Sunday, January 9th, 2005 Featuring Ronnie Hawes and his presentation “The Atom and You” – our first edible program! Gastronomy! Join us before the meeting for dinner at Bennigan’s Restaurant on College Road at 5:15 pm. Meeting Minutes for December 5th, 2004 - by CFAS Secretary Terry Herrin President Ronnie Hawes called the meeting to order at 6:40pm. This month's meeting was held during the annual club Holiday Social at Billy and Kristy Kidney's house. Under old business, voting was completed for the new year's club officers. The 2005 officers are:           President - - Ronnie Hawes           Vice President - - Terry Herrin           Associate Vice President - -Alan Hilburn           Secretary - - Billy Kidney           Treasurer - - Ben Steelman           Editor - - Debbi Hayden Ronnie Hawes won the David Maness Award for outstanding work in the field of amateur astronomy during 2004. Debbi Hayden won the Society Service Award for outstanding service to the club during 2004. Also under old business, there will be a vote at January's meeting regarding whether the club should continue to lease the Yamacraw dark sky site. Ronnie discussed the upcoming trip to Bald Head Island, which is planned for Saturday, 12/11/04, rain or shine. Under observing reports, Ronnie and Billy observed near the Holly Shelter site on Saturday, 12/4/04. They drove about 2.5 miles down the road past the landing strip and found a very good place to observe. Closing the meeting, Ronnie said he will give the presentation next month. It will be titled, "The Atom and You". Having no further business, Ronnie adjourned the meeting at 7:20pm. News Cluster It’s that time again! Yes, it’s time to pay your 2005 membership dues! Membership is only $20 for an individual and $25 for an entire family. Your dues help pay for: - The copying, labels, and postage for the CFAS newsletter - Subscriptions to Reflector magazine - Our membership in the Astronomical League - Educational materials, some group equipment, and “rent” for the Yamacraw viewing site Please remember to pay your club dues promptly! Please be thinking of programs for 2005 that you would either like to present or have someone do. This is your club, so jump in and participate! Thank you to Billy and Kristy Kidney for graciously hosting our very successful Holiday Social! I have enclosed an updated address list with the newsletter. Take a look at your entry and let me know if there are any changes I need to make. Sky Calendar Jan 03 - Last quarter Moon at 12:46 pm EST. Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks.           Photo Opportunity! The Moon passes 0.4 degrees south of Jupiter at 9:00pm EST. Jan 07 - Photo Opportunity! Comet Machholz should be at 4th magnitude and very           close to the Pleiades star cluster! Jan 7/8 - CFAS Group Viewing Sessions Jan 09 - CFAS January Meeting at 7:00pm EST – Ronnie Hawes is our presenter. Jan 10 - New Moon at 7:03am EST Jan 14/15 - CFAS Group Viewing Sessions Jan 17 - First quarter Moon at 1:57am EST Jan 25 - Full Moon at 5:32am EST Preview of Some of the Best Sights in 2005 It’s probably going to be pretty hard to beat the great celestial events we’ve experienced in 2004 - the appearance of Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) early in the year, two total lunar eclipses, the transit of Venus, partial solar eclipses, and two occultations of Jupiter by the Moon (one during the day, and the other at night). For the year 2005, we have an annular-total hybrid solar eclipse to look forward to in April - that is, if you are just off the eastern coast of New Zealand at sunrise on April 9th. - Our new friends in the Astronomical Society of Albury-Wodonga may be enjoying this one! We may get to see it as a partial solar eclipse during the late afternoon of April 8th. There will be a partial lunar eclipse on April 24th, but will not be very noticeable as the Moon only passes through the outer edge Earth’s faint penumbral shadow. Another annular solar eclipse will occur on October 3rd, but starts in the Atlantic Ocean and ends in the Indian Ocean. The last of the eclipses for 2005 will be a partial lunar eclipse on October 17th, but again it’s only going to be minor darkening - this time of the Moon’s southern limb. There will, of course, be the wondrous meteor showers but many of them will be affected by moonlight. Only the Eta Aquarids on May 6th (about 20/hr) and the Perseids on August 12th (about 60/hr) will be under dark skies. Perhaps most exciting is the appearance of Comet Machholz, currently being enjoyed in the Southern Hemisphere. It should grace our skies for much of 2005, with its brightest being in early January! It will be quite easy to spot in early March, when it will approach Polaris. The coming year will certainly not disappoint us, and I look forward to sharing the skies with you and our new Sister Club (ASAW) in 2005! ____________________________________________________________ All content unless otherwise stated Copyright (c) 2002-2004 CAPE FEAR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. All Rights Reserved.