Jan 07
The executive board met briefly following the Girl Scout program on January 7th.
Membership Dues for 2010
Membership dues will be collected at the January 8th general meeting. Individual/family membership is $20. Junior and Senior discounts are available.
Dec 01
There was no board meeting this month, but the following was communicated to members of the board.
1) Girl Scout Program Rescheduled: The Girl Scout Program was canceled due to conflicts with extracurricular school functions on November 19th. It will be rescheduled sometime in January (confirmed: January 7th). Irma Tibbetts provided a list of dates that will work well without conflicts for school events in January.
2) Christmas Program: Larry Logsdon offered to bring a movie on the Star of Bethlehem for the Christmas program next Friday. The movie is approx. 1.5 hours long.
3) Cub Scout Program: We received an email from Pack 3033 who would like a program in the planetarium to help them with an Astronomy Belt Loop award. We are awaiting feedback from the scouts with proposal dates.
4) Adventure Club Program: The Adventure Club from Grand Haven Seventh Day Adventist Church is working on an Astronomy Award and requested a program in the planetarium. We are awaiting feedback from the Adventure Club with proposal dates.
5) Club Banner: Jim will contact Troy Best to obtain graphics for the Club Banner.
6) Payment from Park Township Received: Jim received a check ($84) from Park Township for our astronomy program in October. The check will be transferred to Peter at the upcoming December meeting.
Jim Reier – president
Nov 05
The November meeting took place on Thursday, November 5th at 84 East restaurant.
In attendance: Jim Reier, Frank Roldan, Peter Burkey, George Miller.
Old Business Items
1) Treasury Report:
Account balance as of Oct. 1st $801.03 Reimbursement to G. Miller for snacks -$12.00 Account balance as of Nov. 5th $789.03
Park Township pay check for October’s “Exploring the Solar System” presentation is “in the mail”.
2) Event Updates:
October 9th program for Park Township
We had a strong showing with many people registering the last two days, and some paying at the door. We split into two groups. Peter and Jim presented a planetarium show for both sessions. Frank led the other group on the “Pocket Solar System” scale model activity. George and Doug Sutherland helped out. Frank described different types of telescopes for the second session in the classroom.
October 16th Star Party at Vivekananda Monastery
This event at Vivekananda was cancelled, due to cloudy weather conditions.
October 24th Astronomy Day activities
This event at Curtis Center Park was cancelled, due to cloudy weather conditions.
3) Upcoming Events:
November 13th SAAA meeting
Frank will lead a video presentation of the Aurora Borealis. Jim will help us find Aurora information on the Internet.
November 19th Girl Scout program
SAAA will present a “Phases of the Moon” and Planetarium program for a Holland Girl Scout troop and a Brownie troop. The meeting will take place Thursday at Macatawa Bay Planetarium from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.
December 11th SAAA meeting- Christmas Party
Our annual Christmas Party will be held at Macatawa Bay Planetarium from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Everyone should bring a treat to share.
March 4th Women’s Enrichment Forum
SAAA has been asked to present an astronomy program for the Women’s Enrichment Forum on Thursday, March 4th, 2010. Meeting would take place at Macatawa Bay Planetarium, after our monthly board meeting.
New Business Items
We discussed buying a club banner to hang at gatherings. Jim will work with Larry and Troy to obtain banner graphics.
Park Township asked if we wanted to have a program in their Winter 2010 Recreation schedule. We decided to decline this time, but plan to participate in their Spring 2010 schedule.
George Miller – Secretary
November 15, 2009
Nov 01
What’s Up in the Sky November, 2009
By Peter Burkey
The Sun orbits the earth, making one revolution every 24 hours. No, wait, it’s the other way around. The earth actually orbits around the Sun once per year and the apparent motion of the Sun is due to the rotation of the earth.
The solar system is well understood, but it wasn’t until relatively recently that I could make that statement. For a very long time, people thought that Earth was the center of the universe and everything orbited around it. Now we know a great deal about our solar system and how it works. This change in our thinking came about amidst much controversy. It took a long time for science to convince people of the true nature of our solar system.
We live in a world dominated by science. Most of what we take for granted was once the stuff of science fiction. Weather satellites, cell phones, TV, GPS, computers, and many medical procedures are all products of the scientific revolution. Very few people question the fact that these all rely on the theory of relativity for their validity. Yet other scientific theories are routinely labeled as questionable, open to interpretation, or “only a theory”.
We, as a nation, are scientifically illiterate, but the irony is that our economy, technology, and even our security all depend on science. Why is it, then, that some scientific theories are never questioned while others are extremely controversial?
One reason may be that most scientific principals do not conflict with our long-held beliefs. This was the source of our resistance to the Sun-centered theory which did, indeed, conflict with long-held beliefs. But the science supporting controversial topics is the same as that which supports accepted practice.
Another reason is that most people do not know how science works. Science is transparent and self-correcting. Remember cold fusion? The media had a heyday predicting the end of our energy problems. Unfortunately, the experiments performed after the initial announcements did not confirm the conclusions of the original investigators and the theory was abandoned.
Scientists collect data and interpret the results. The conclusions are based on many observations. Anyone is free to do their own data collection and interpretation. Scientific theories are formed when a great number of experiments lead investigators to the same conclusions. The popularity of a theory has no impact on its validity. If you want to question a result, you will be asked to “show me the data”. This is how science works.
This month in history:
Nov. 6: Tycho Brahe observes supernova in Cassiopeia – 1572
Nov. 8: Edmund Halley born. – 1656
Nov. 11: Vesto Slipher born – 1875
Nov. 13: Mariner 9 is first spacecraft to orbit Mars – 1971
Nov. 19: Second lunar landing made by Apollo 12 – 1969
Nov. 27: Mars 2 probe is first artificial object to hit Mars – 1971
Here are this month’s viewing highlights:
Planets this month: Jupiter continues to dominate the southern sky at nightfall, setting about 6 hours after the Sun. Mars high in SW at dawn. Venus and Saturn are in the ESE before dawn.
Nov. 2: Full Moon
Nov. 9: Last-quarter Moon
Nov. 12: Telescope shows Jupiter moon Europa passing in front of Io at 9:05 p.m.
Nov. 16: New Moon
Nov. 24: First-quarter Moon
Oct 01
The October meeting took place on Thursday, October 1st at 84 East Restaurant.
In attendance: Jim Reier, Frank Roldan, Peter Burkey, George Miller
Old Business Items
1) Treasury Report:
Account balance as of Sept. 3rd $821.03 State of Michigan Non-Profit registration fee -$20.00 Account balance as of Oct. 1st $801.03
Other expenses approved for October:
International Dark Sky Association fee ($50.00)
2) Upcoming Events:
October 8th setup for Park Township program
SAAA will meet at 6:00pm at Macatawa Bay Middle School to prepare for the October 9th program.
October 9th program for Park Township
We may need to split up into two groups. Peter will present a planetarium show for registered guests of Park Township. The other group will watch a pictorial of the Space Shuttle preparation procedures, and perform activities from previous Night Sky Network toolkits. This meeting will take the place of our regular October meeting. George will bring cider and a snack (to be reimbursed from revenue from this event).
October 16th Star Party at Vivekananda monastery
Weather permitting.
October 24th Astronomy Day activities
Peter will contact Ross at Lumir Corp. to reserve Curtis Center Park for Astronomy Day activities on Saturday, October 24th. Please keep this date open to help at the park.
November 13th SAAA meeting
Frank will lead a video presentation of the Aurora Borealis.
New Business Items
1) Girl Scout Program SAAA has been asked to present an astronomy program for a Holland Girl Scout troop and a junior Brownie troop. We chose Thursday, November 19th from 4 dates she suggested. The meeting would take place at Macatawa Bay Planetarium from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.
2) Women’s Enrichment Forum Astronomy Program SAAA has been asked to present an astronomy program for the Women’s Enrichment Forum on March 4th, 2010. This meeting would take place at Macatawa Bay Planetarium, time to be determined.
George Miller – Secretary
