John Reed presented astrophotos he made using an off the shelf digital SLR camera. He used a 200 mm lens. Each photo covers a 6 degree by 4 degree area of the sky. He took 30 to 60 one minute exposures for each image. Then, he used a computer program to stack the images. Finally, he used Adobe Photoshop to finish processing each image. He was able to capture impressive pictures of the moon, star clusters, bright and dark nebulae, and galaxies!
The roof leak was fixed by Wade Van Arsdale and Danny Flippo on Saturday. The heater in the bathroom had ceased to function. Wade purchased and brought a replacement heater. Wade will be reimbursed for his expenses.
Membership dues are due in January each year. Quite a few membership dues were turned in Saturday night.
William Bryden presented some awesome T-Shirt design options. There was quite a bit of discussion of the designs. We hope to vote to select a design during the next meeting.
Darrell Heath was nominated for Membership Coordinator by William (Bill) Engberg. The nomination was seconded by Roger Gudith. Darrell was unanimously voted in as the Membership Coordinator.
Wade and Darrell volunteered to be the “Info@ Response Team” and answer questions we receive at the info@caasastro.org email address.
Jim Fisher presented NASA Space Shuttle coins to VP Eric Walker and Carl Freyaldenhoven for their help last year.
The LANTERNS Feb 2,3,4 event at Wildwood will be headed by Darrell/UALR. He is checking to see if they want a telescope (or ten!) set up each night. If so, we have a few volunteers on different nights (Carl Freyaldenhoven on Thursday, John Reed on Friday, and Darrell Heath on Saturday night). We hope more will sign up for a night as well. 5000 guests are expected. Show off your scope, make friends, and invite people to CAAS. Once Darrell confirms we are OK to come, he’ll get FREE passes for all attendees from CAAS and get you more info. Contact Darrell.
CAAS Business cards are being ordered by Jim Fisher for all members to give out to guests at star parties…better than writing in the dark.
Ms. Katie McKinney, the youngest person in attendance, drew numbers for door prizes. Those winning Hubble books donated by Engberg were Roger Gudith, and Jane Hurley. Those winning NASA Space Shuttle coins were Greg Hurley, Danny Flippo, and Katie McKinney.
Upcoming Programs
| March | Stephen Meeks | Stellar Evolution |
| April | Rocky Togni | Space Race USSR: 1957-75 |
| May | Darrell Heath | JPL/NASA |
| August | Jim Fisher | International Dark Sky Association |
| November | William Engberg | Mayan Calendar |
| December | Dinner |
We have programs for the months listed above. However, we still need volunteers to present programs in October, September, July, June, and February.
There were many first time guests at the meeting.
Members and Guests Who Attended The Meeting
Wade Van Arsdale
William Bryden
Jack Dixon
Jim Dixon
Patricia Dodson
William Engberg
James Fisher
Danny Flippo
Carl Freyaldenhoven
Roger Gudith
Darrell Heath
Greg Hurley
Jane Hurley
Chris Lasley
Don Lewis
Cliff McKinney
Katie McKinney
James Bruce McMath
John Reed
Coy Scott
Eric Walker
The next monthly CAAS meeting will be at 7 pm on Saturday, February 11. Weather permitting, there is normally observing after the meeting adjourns (usually sometime from 8 pm to 8:30 pm).
Observation Planning Data
According to the Sky and Telescope web site almanac, sunset will be at 5:51 pm. Twilight ends at 7:16 pm. Twilight begins at 5:35 am on Sunday morning with sunrise at 7:01 am. The moon is 79% illuminated and rises at 10:24 pm. Venus sets at 9:09 pm. Jupiter sets at 11:30 pm. Mars rises at 7:54 pm. Saturn rises at 11:00 pm. The Sky and Telescope web site Interactive Sky Chart shows the constellation of Auriga nearest the zenith at 8 pm. The great Orion constellation will be beginning to transit at 8 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Coy Scott
CAAS Secretary