Charlottesville Astronomical Society

Meeting:  March 3, 2010

7:00 pm

McCormick Observatory, University of Virginia

26 members present

· New Members present

Whitney Richardson – Fan Mtn. Telescope operator

Paul McKee

· 40 paid active members

· $2868.73 in the checking account

· Dues are due in December

$25 individual

$30 family

$15 student/senior/military

· 6 club scopes available to members – contact Wes Epperly for information  wepperly@yahoo.com

· News of Astronomical Interest

o Earthquake in Chile – impact on ALMA and other Scopes

o Piedmont Science Fair – CAS traditionally participates as judges

o WISE – first results rolling in

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· Outreach Opportunities abound – check web site

· Important Dates

o April 9 – Fan Mountain Open House

o April 10 – Rocksish Valley Star Watch

o April 13 – 125^th Anniversary of McCormick Observatory Dedication

· Guest Speaker:  Ryan Lynch:  Recent results in Pulsar Astronomy at NRAO

· http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~rsl4v/

· Occultation Team – two opportunities on March 21

· Astrograph Team – off for the winter months

· Website of the month –

o Wheel of Stars  http://wheelof.com/stars/

o My Solar System http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/my-solar-system/my-solar-system_en.html

· April Speaker – Ed Murphy – 2009 China Eclipse Tour

· Door Prize Winners

Steve Layman – singling moon 

Ben Farmer – Pluto files