Cape Fear Skies The Cape Fear Astronomical Society Newsletter - Editor Debbi Hayden This Month's Meeting will be: Sunday, May 1, 2005 This month Terry Herrin will present the DVD: Failure is not an Option, about NASA's Mission Control from Mercury, through Gemini and Apollo. It is narrated by Gene Kranz, based on his book. It will be presented in two parts, with the second part being shown in June or (later). This is an outstanding documentary. Gastronomy! Join us before the meeting for dinner at K & W Cafeteria on Oleander Drive, at 5:15 pm. This is where the club met in"the early years!" Meeting Minutes for April 3rd, 2005 - by CFAS Secretary Billy Kidney Ronnie opened the meeting at 7:05pm. Officer's Reports: There was discussion on Programs for upcoming meetings. Under Old Business: The updates to the Club's Constitution per the newsletter were decided upon by the attending members as follows. 1- A motion was carried to move the officer nominations to October and November. (Webmistress Note: this item was later made moot since it was based on an outdated version of the Constitution, and the updated version addressed this issue.) 2- A motion was carried for changes in the way dues are paid per the newsletter. 3- A motion for Electronic Meetings was voted down, due to the openness of the wording. Terry proposed that it be rewritten to a more presentable form, and brought up at a later meeting. At about this time Susan brought up that we were voting on the wrong edition of the club's constitution. 4- A motion was carried to decide ties in elections by the toss of a coin. 5- A motion was carried to change the club's benefactors to the Grand Strand & Raleigh clubs along with the Mid-Atlantic Star Party. 6- A motion was carried to change the wording of the duties of the secretary, editor and treasurer to correctly reflect their present tasks. A new viewing site was visited by several club members and Tom gave a nice slide show. The site is owned by Mr. Thomas, it can be used under 3 conditions: A) Don't use between April and May 15th, B) Call before coming, C) Remove your own trash. New Business: Carolina Beach State Park is interested in having the club do a public viewing session on Sat. May 7th, with a rain date of May 14th, in front of the visitors center. News Cluster We will be wrapping up discussions regarding the CFAS Constitution at the business meeting this month. Topics will include continued membership in the Astronomical League and clarifying the details of the proposed "electronic meeting" format: Proposal for adding an “Electronic Meeting” to the CFAS Constitution The minimum number of members of the Society to participate in a valid transaction of business during an electronic meeting shall be 25 percent of the regular membership, which shall constitute a quorum. A transaction can be proposed for electronic voting to the CFAS email list by any club member. Members will be allowed to discuss the proposed transaction for a minimum of two days. The President will then approve or deny the transaction for voting. If approved, the President will appoint a Teller to post the official transaction email and tabulate the voting results. Voting will take place for a minimum of three days and a maximum of five days from the date of the official transaction post. The expiration date for voting will be posted in the official transaction email. Voting results will be posted to the email list within seven days of the official transaction post. Ernie Mayo has purchased a new 18" Obsession telescope and now needs to sell his 12" Dobsonian reflector. Please contact Ernie for details at 350-0888. Ernie also has the club's 10" reflector (on an equatorial mount) that needs a new foster home. If you would like to use this telescope for a while, please let him know! We will be having a public viewing session at the Carolina Beach State Park on May 7th from 8pm until 10pm (rain date May 14th). More details to follow at the meeting! Thanks to Ronnie, we have secured Morton Hall for the remainder of the year! Sky Calendar May 01 - CFAS May Meeting at 7:00pm, Last quarter Moon at 2:24am EDT May 06 - Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks this morning. May 6/7 - CFAS Group Viewing Sessions May 07 - Public Viewing Session at Carolina Beach State Park from 8-10 pm EDT May 08 - New Moon at 4:45am EDT May 13/14 - CFAS Group Viewing Sessions (crescent moon may interfere with fainter objects) May 14 - Rain date for Carolina Beach public viewing session May 16 - First quarter Moon at 4:57am EDT May 23 - Full Moon at 4:18pm May 24 - North American skywatchers can see the Moon occult Antares before dawn May 30 - Last quarter Moon at 7:47am EDT What's Up Down Under? News from our Sister Society in Albury-Wodonga, Australia) - ASAW is considering becoming incorporated so as to protect their assets in the event of litigation. They currently have public liability insurance. - A public viewing in Albury on 04/14/05 is expected to draw between 150-200 people! - Member Rob Bruce owns a 30" (yep, not a typo) reflector and has just had it recoated. It could not be commercially done due to its size, so the Anglo-Australian Observatory did it for him. - There is a local radio program that interviews different club members the 1st Saturday of each month! They discuss astronomy issues and are "live to air"! ____________________________________________________________ All content unless otherwise stated Copyright (c) 2002-2005 CAPE FEAR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. All Rights Reserved.