Category: Meeting Minutes

President Don Ferren called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM.  Full moon, clouds and treat of thunderstorms kept attendance down to 10 members.

Don reminded us of the upcoming Burger Burn at the Red River Astronomy Club site on May 23rd.

Our next start party, one at Pinnacle Mountain State Park, is coming up on June 20th.

A week or so prior to this current meeting, a scout leader named Dick Smith inquired into the possibility of us working with his troop. Outreach Coordinator Sandra Morris talked to him but nothing has been decided on.

President Don Ferren gave a short presentation after which the meeting was adjourned.

On April 11, we had an unusual meeting in that we were hosting the Pinnacle Mountain Master Naturalist group.  Vice-President Jim Fisher started things off before handing the reins over to President Don Ferren.  There were about 12 members and 20 guests in attendance.

Don & Jim covered a little club business before Rocky Togni started a sky tour with the Stellarium computer planetarium program.  Once he completed that, CAAS and the naturalists moved to the observing field for an evening under the stars.  By all accounts, the evening was a complete success.

President Don Ferren called the meeting to order at 7:20 PM.  There was 15 members and guests in attendance including new member Bill Engberg.

We had planned to have Girl Scout Troop 663 here tonight but the likelihood of rain caused them to postpone until the May meeting.

On our  next meeting, April 11, we will host the PMSP Master Naturalist group.  These are people who are meeting with groups of many different disciplines in order to get a foundation in many different areas.  We ill give them a foundation in astronomy.

On May  2, CAAS will join our good friends at Pinnacle Mountain State Park for National Astronomy Day. Lets hope for clear skies and big bubbles.

On the weekend on May 21-23, the Red River Astronomy Club will hold a star party at their facility in Nashville, AR.  In the past this has been called a BurgerBurn but this year it is going to be a little lower key.  All astronomers, even those from Central Arkansas, are welcome.

The “Globe at Night” event is going on March 16-28. This is a coordinated effort to estimate the amount of light pollution in many areas by counting the number of stars that can be seen in the constellation of Orion.  To participate, go to this website – http://www.globe.gov/GaN/ .

Presentation: Despite having approximately 20 hours notice that we would not have girl scouts, president Don Ferren was able to put together an informative and entertaining “10 Things You Don’t Know About Pluto”.

submitted by Jim Dixon