January   2002

ACT, Inc. has been meeting continuously since 1937 and was incorporated in 1986. It is a nonprofit; tax deductible organization dedicated to promoting, to the public, the art of viewing and the scientific aspect of astronomy.

The Astronomy Club of Tulsa Club
with

Pete Krone from Astronomics

Room M1 inside Keplinger Hall, the Science & Engineering Building at TU. Enter the parking lot on the East Side of Keplinger Hall from Harvard and 5th Street. This will take you directly toward the staircase to enter the building. Room M1 is the first room on the left.

Denny Mishler

Pete Krone from Astronomics in Norman, Oklahoma will be our featured guest. What better way to discuss Telescopes and Astronomical Accessories, as we do every January, than to have the technical guru from one of the largest Astronomy dealers in the world visit and give us first hand information on What's New and What's Best in Astronomical Equipment. Pete builds telescopes, repairs telescopes and sells telescopes and he will discuss some of the large Dobsonians that he builds. Also included in the discussion will be Meade's new line of telescopes coming out this Spring, CCD imaging equipment, and new eyepieces including the new video eyepiece and a new Nagler Zoom eyepiece. Pete will bring several telescopes and accessories and if the skies cooperate, we'll take the scopes outside after the meeting and check their performance. Also speaking will be our own Tony White, an avid collector and refurbisher of telescopes. Tony will also bring some select equipment from his collection. Once again we will have refreshments and a door prize at the end of the meeting. If you bake a mean cookie or are a fudge master or have other refreshment delights you are welcome to contribute to the goodies table.

The December meeting featured Astro Artist Robert Daniels who proved to be a popular guest that we will invite back again. Members gathered around Robert and watched him create and explain the painting that he was creating. When he finished we held a drawing for the painting which was won by our lucky Web-master Tom McDonough. The drawing generated $80 for the club from the $2 chances that were sold. Robert also sold a number of prints to those in attendance. David Stine discussed the Leonid Meteor Storm that was witnessed by fellow Meteor Chasers Teresa Kincannon, Ken Black and Steve and Susan Chapman. The 400-mile drive to West Texas was the right decision. The chasers got to witness the best meteor shower in 35 years, and yes it was a STORM (1000+ meteors per hour).

Other recent events included a partial solar eclipse on December 14th attended by a small group at the observatory. It had been cloudy all day but cleared nicely before the eclipse. We also observed near naked eye comet Linear WM1. Did anybody observe the repeat occultation of Saturn by the moon on December 28th (at 2:30 am - Ughhh)? The Friday January 11th Star Party was blessed by mild weather for January. I made it to the observatory on the next night January 12th and was surprised to find 15 members and guests also out for a view of the beautiful winter skies. With 241st Street in much better condition than last year, come on out to our February 8th Star Party. There are several neat things about viewing in winter: bright stars in and around Orion with lots of star clusters in Gemini, Auriga and Perseus. The monster galaxy M31 stands prominently above us...and you don't have to wait till 9 pm to start viewing. During winter we can start viewing between 6 and 7 and get home for the evening news.

Club Memberships

Several of you have been asking about club memberships and magazine subscriptions. Enclosed in this newsletter is a membership application and renewal form.

One feature we would like to make available is the option to receive your newsletter via e-mail notification. Each month our editor, Richie, posts the newsletter on the web.

Notification of the posting can be sent via e-mail. This is usually 3 to 4 days earlier than postal mail and often contains hypertext links to websites mentioned in the articles. Another advantage is that you get notification earlier don't have to worry about losing the newsletter if you store it on your computer. It would also save the club a bit of money on postage with the rates going up. We also have plans to put an application form at our website in the future.

I apologize for some of the delays on magazine subscriptions. I have been in contact with both the vendors and hope to have an up-to-date list of subscribers and expiration dates at the next meeting. We are in the process of putting all the current club records in electronic form will make information access quicker. John Land - co-treasurer

Name: ________________________ Phone: ( ) ____ _______

Address: ___________________________________________________

City / State / Zip____________________/____________/_____________

________________________________________________________

E-mail address - print clearly 

Check Lines below for YES

____ I would prefer to receive E-mail notification when club newsletter

is posted to the web.

____ I choose to receive my newsletter by E-mail ONLY instead of

postal mail. (Usually 3 or 4 days earlier * Must have web access )

____ Notify me by E-mail of late breaking Astronomy Events

Please check all that apply:

___ New Membership ($25) ___ Student Membership ($15)

___ Membership Renewal ($25) ___ Student Member Renewal ($15)

___ Sky & Telescope Subscription ($30) / year

also includes 10% discount on most Sky & Tel products

___ Astronomy Subscription ($29) / year ($55) / two years

* Magazine rates may change / prices available with membership only.

Please bring this application along with a check for the total amount made out to the Astronomy Club of Tulsa to the next meeting or mail the payment and application to:

Astronomy Club of Tulsa / 25209 E. 62nd St / Broken Arrow, OK 74014

For questions contact John Land< John Land e-mail >

How did you hear of the Astronomy Club of Tulsa? ___________________________________________________________

How long have you been interested or active in astronomy? ___________

Do you have a telescope? _______ Type __________________________

Have you been a member of other astronomy clubs? ____

Where / when ________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

What astronomy club activities would you like to participate in?

____________________________________________________________

Diana Williamson-Smith is looking for a telescope in the $300-$400 range that would be suitable for a newcomer to study deep sky objects. So, if you are looking to sell that scope that you no longer use, contact her at < Diana Williamson-Smithd e-mail >

2002 Calendar of events

   

Astronomy Club of Tulsa, 918.688.MARS

President: Dennis Mishler

Vice President: Teresa Kincannon

Treasurer: Nick Pottorf

Assistant Treasurer: John Land

Secretary:Aaron Coyner

RMCC Observatory Manager: Gerry Andries

Observing Chairman: David Stine

Web Master: Tom McDonough

New Membership: Dennis Mishler