Lots of talk about various astronomy topics and of course the Moon filled the air in anticipation of our speaker Steve Miller and his discussion on Observing and Imaging our nearest celestial body, the Moon. In observance of International Observe the Moon Night what better topic for a meeting than that. The meeting began promptly at 7:00 pm.

Stan H. (dressed as a pirate for it was pirate’s day… har har) introduced our Speaker to start off the meeting. Steve then began his discussion on talking about his enthusiasm as a child watching the Apollo missions and has been hooked on Astronomy ever since. After joining the Coast Guard and becoming a Celestial Navigator his interest moved to imaging the Moon and the Planets mainly Mercury, Pluto, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Steve moved on to discuss various facts about the moon including how the Moon was possibly formed, the diameter of the moon, the distance from Earth, the rotation of the moon on its axis and in conjunction with the rotation of Earth, the orbits of the Moon and Earth around the Sun, and the different phases of the Moon. He went on to discuss some of the features on the Moon including the Terminator, which is where the shadow and light on the Moon meet. This is a focal point for a lot of astronomers who like observing the moon because the shadows that are seen near this line make the ridges on the craters and the mountains really stand out. Steve also discussed a few craters and the Mare, which are the dark regions on the Moon and are old lava fields. Time was pressing so Steve finished his presentation with showing us some of his images he has made. He went over various cameras and video cameras he has used and still uses. His power point presentation was pleasant to look at and we all enjoyed his discussion very much.

Afterwards Jean had a very nice table of refreshments and snacks available. Thanks Jean!!! Yum Yum.

We all moved outside, where there were a total of 12 telescopes, binoculars, and computer Virtual Moon Atlas that were set up by various members and local amateur astronomers focusing on the Moon and Saturn.

Approx. 28 people signed in. According to RPSEC there were approx. 150 people total that walked through and looked through the telescopes we had set up. Lots of excitement in the air and a good time was had by all. Most people began clearing out around 10:30pm.

Thanks to Pat & Angie R, who donated their well-made paper model of the New Horizons spacecraft, which we will be sure to use at SEED.

Our next event will be an observance of the total lunar eclipse which will occur on Sunday evening Sept. 27, 2015 at NMR-DSO. The eclipse times and information can be found on our web page. We will have our next star gaze on the Oct. 3 and we will be prepping for SEED which will be held on Oct. 10.

Respectfully submitted,

Ray Owens - Secretary