Monthly Meetings

April Meeting

At April’s monthly meeting at the Leitner Observatory, Leo Taylor gave a very informative presentation on solar telescopes.  He described several different varieties of solar scopes and how they work.  He wanted members to be aware that the Society owns three Personal Solar Telescopes (PSTs) that they can borrow, and that these are an under-utilized resource that more members should take advantage of.  These solar scopes are light and very portable, and they can be set up to observe the Sun in just minutes.

Richard La Plante showed the group his own solar telescope, and Bob Carruthers brought and described some telescopes he has built from ordinary materials, including one with his well-known salad bowl mount. In addition, Al Washburn presented some examples of posters featuring the constellation Cygnus that were made by his high-school students over the years.

Leo Taylor explains the design and operation of solar telescopes.

Al Washburn shows a poster of Cygnus made by one of his students.

May Meeting

May’s meeting was held at the McGee Middle School in Berlin so that members could get a first-hand look at Moon rocks and soil samples collected by the Apollo astronauts.  ASNH member Laurie Averill is a Solar System Ambassador, which allowed her to borrow the samples from NASA to show students at the school and anyone else who was interested. To add to the display of extraterrestial objects, Al Washburn brought the Society’s meteorite collection.  In addition, Jim Mazur gave a presentation on “The evolution of astrophotography:  Reflections on the last 50 years.”  His talk highlighted the major technological advances that have led to dramatic improvements in the quality of astronomical images that can be obtained by amateurs.  Jim has been taking pictures of the night sky since the 1960s, and he used examples of his own images to illustrate the progress that has taken place over the years.

The lunar rock and soil samples available for observation at the May monthly meeting.