Had a pretty good night out Saturday Night the 5th of April. Low temp seemed pretty good at around 65 degrees or so and the wind, well, welcome to south Texas. Little breezy but not bad. Transparency was excellent, seeing was average with a little upper level atmosphere. Saturn looked great even with a little atmospheric disturbance with the cassini division plainly visible. So with the atmosphere acting up and transparency looking good, we went after some galaxy and star clusters.

Saturday night turned out to be a very nice night. Got some good views of Luna, Saturn, Mars, and several of the brighter Messier objects.

February Discussion Topics

Orion – The Hunter
Mars - The Warrior God

CCAS
February Meeting
Friday 2-8-2008

Meeting Topics:
Constellation: Orion
Planet: Mars

We had quite a lively discussion about Orion, the Hunter and Mars, the Warrior God. See the write-up on the website to get all the juicy details!!

Things did rapidly evolve into a discussion about UFOs. Considering the recent news reports about unexplained light s in the night sky of our area, we had quite a bit to talk about!

Now onto club business:

A big star spangled welcome to our new member Chuck Irby
Permanent pads at the water tanks
Roy spoke to Ranger Garcia about the possibility of doing some upgrades on the road at the water tanks. The park rangers said they had no problem with our using the area for viewing, setting up permanent concrete scope pads, etc. However, they do not have any intention for upgrading or widening the road. And they do not have the budget to install concrete pads.
It was then suggested that we might be able to get an Eagle Scout troop to install two pads for us as part of their badge requirements. Chuck Irby has the connections and would look into that for us. Dale Smolik and Roy Ellzey discussed writing up the proposal.

Regarding Public Viewings at Malaquite Beach this summer:
At this point, everything is on hold. The rangers are concerned
about a variety of issues – safety, security, primarily. Also a
ranger would have to be there, even on a volunteer basis. So
the rangers will need to get back to us on that.

Lunar Eclipse on the 22nd:
Chuck Irby is working with Galina Reid to set up a live video
feed of the upcoming lunar eclipse. Access info should be
available on our website by the 20th
Maria brought up the idea of setting up several scopes for
public viewing of the eclipse. Several different locations were
selected. Final notice as to where and when will be posted on the website pending the necessary approvals.

Scheduled Events Calendar:
April 12th – Half Price Bookstore
May 10th - Astronomy Day

Next Meeting Subjects:
Saturn & Leo

Reminder:
Club dues are due
$15.00 for single
$20.00 for family

The End!!