MONTHLY MEETING
October 24, 2014
Loction: Keene State College
Present: Jim Fox, Bob Taylor, Jim & Phinie Faux, Cheryl Burrows, Bruce Norlund, Angel Rosario, and Ryan
Walsh [KSC].
Secretary’s Report:
 Bob reviewed the minutes from September and highlighted the following:
1. Saturday, the 25th, will be a work day at the observatory. Brush and saplings are to be removed
from the western stonewall and south dirt pile along with mowing and weedwacking. General
building cleanup as necessary will occur.
2. The club is on hold regarding creating a process for accepting tax-deductible donations. We are
currently a 501(c)7 IRS approved organization. We are not a 501(c)3 organization which could
accept tax-deductible donations. Bob and Jim Faux are looking into clarifying our current status
and the steps necessary for obtaining the 501(c)3 status. Bob is contacting Barbara Atwood, Jim
Faux is contacting the SoVerA club, and Jim Fox will contact other clubs as needed.
Treasurer’s Report:
Balance as of September 30, 2014: $996.03
Upcoming Events:
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October 25: We have scheduled a star party at our observatory with the KSC CALL class on Astronomy,
taught by Claudio, and the SoVerA club. The gathering is planned for 6pm weather depending.
As of writing these minutes, the weather has postponed the event for 3-5 weeks.
Our November meeting will be on the 14th at 7pmin the KSC Student Union.
The December meeting will be held on December 12th at 7 pm at Bruce’s home in Keene.
Old Business:
 Bob reviewed our IRS status and outlined our current plan of action to seek tax-deductible status.
New Business:
 The Election of officers for 2014-15 was conducted. The unanimous results:
President: Bob Taylor, Vice President: Angel Rosario, Secretary: Jim Faux, Treasurer: Bob Taylor.
 Monthly Observing Charts: The club discussed the value of receiving the What’s Up Doc and SkyMaps
monthly sky charts and the consensus was to have them sent to members monthly by the Secretary.
 Sky & Telescope Article on NH’s Library Program: Jim Faux reviewed the excellent article in the
October issue of Sky & Telescope on the NH state program for public library telescopes.
 Jim and Phinie renewed the club’s domain name for another three years at a donated cost of $47.97.
 Cheryl discussed the astronomical activities of a new KSC Physics lecturer, Dr. Sarah McGregor. Bob
indicated he would approach her to discuss joint interests and possible ventures.
 The SoVerA club is planning on placing an order for the 2015 Observer’s Handbook published annually
by The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Jim Fox, Phinie Faux, and Angel placed orders. Jim
Faux will get the handbooks from SoVerA for the members in December.
 2015 club DUES are now due! Regular membership in the KAA Club is available for a low price of
$20 for single or family memberships per year. Members can subscribe to the Astronomical League for
an additional $7.50 annually. Send your dues check to the club Treasurer or bring your check to the
November meeting.
Meeting Activities:
Considerable further discussion occurred on all things astronomical. Angel assisted members with questions on
the use of the Virtual Moon Atlas 6.0 software. This is an excellent free software program for Macs and PCs
detailing almost everything you would want to know about the moon’s features for observing. Angel discussed
several current and forthcoming quality on-line astronomy courses offered by Couresa, particularly the current
one on exoplanets and one next spring by Mike Brown. They are:
The Diversity of Exoplanets [now] - https://www.coursera.org/course/extrasolarplanets
Introduction to Astronomy [12/1] - https://www.coursera.org/course/introastro
The Science of the Solar System [3/15] - https://class.coursera.org/solarsystem-001
Future Projects & Activities:
1. Observatory
a. Apply creosote on base plates and roof support members.
b. Install stone at bases of roof support posts. Jim Fox will procure stones.
c. Maintaining the T111 siding as long as possible scrape and paint when necessary. And, when
absolutely necessary, install vinyl siding one side at a time over a four yr.
d. Junie will fabricate and install new roof retainer brackets when he can.
e. Install removable skirt around bottom of observatory inside wall.
f. Install exterior rubber shield over south wall drip shield and/or replace existing wood drip shield
where deteriorating.
2. Assemble 6 Dobsonian bases for the 6” telescope tubes at Junie’s.
3. Junie indicated he would determine if collimation is correct for 15” Obsession telescope along with
determining its vibration issues at high magnification and determine if 12.5” mirror needs recoating.
The next monthly meeting will be held November 14 at 7:00 P.M. at the KSC.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Faux, Secretary