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Location: Chemistry/Physics Building, MUN
Time: 8:00 pm
Present: 24
Chris expanded his introduction since we had three or four new faces this month. Unfortunately, Randy was sick today, so Joe had to rush out to get some coffee. Randy is an important guy!
Doug spoke on the upcoming Special Meeting of the Society, noting that we are losing money, mainly through the Observer's Handbook and the Journal. The meeting will be on February 11. The proposed solutions would be, first, to stop printing the Journal and provide an electronic copy. There would be an option for those who want a printed copy to pay an additional $15. Secondly, the fee structure could be decoupled, so that if National needs to raise money to cover losses, the Centre fees need not rise correspondingly (currently they are fixed at 60% of total membership fees for National, and 40% for the Centres.
Doug passed around proxies, explained how they worked, and showed us who the proxy holders will be.
There was some discussion as to how this will affect Life Members, if at all.
Robert Babb took us on a tour of what will be happening over the next month or so in the sky. We checked up on solar activity to compare with what people have seen through the PST. Skyhound yielded Comet McNaught. Robert showed us the Clear Sky Clock and then various member photos. Finally, from his laptop, we viewed galaxies and planets that should be visible from the city.
Chris showed us how he too has joined the Collective with his headlamp (Garry joined last year).
Ben Llewellyn showed us a book he got for Christmas, Infinite Worlds : An Illustrated Voyage to Planets beyond Our Sun, by Ray Villard, Lynette R. Cook. He showed us a few excellent pictures of exo-solar planets and their environs.
Gary Case showed us how to use the Coronado Personal Solar Telescope and his Celestron Nexstar 114. The PST needs a fairly clear sky in order to make out sunspots or prominences with the hydrogen-alpha filter. Gary gave us a few tips on how to set up the Nexstar. You can find more information at http://www.nexstarsite.com .
Robert Babb showed us how to set up his new binoviewer and there was some discussion on focal reducers and barlows that can be used with these devices.
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