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Messier ¡. Uhh Walk?
Well we tried, but the CT weather didn¡¯t cooperate.?
Tonight¡¯s CSC for Propbusters shows some improvement in cloud cover after dark, but would probably not support a Messier Marathon. ?I¡¯m planning on going to Alan¡¯s Trail 53 session if you want to try and observe tonight. Arriving 7:30-8:00. ?TAAS members welcome.? Monday night¡¯s forecast looks better. ?Anybody else want to try then, too?
Mark |
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April Meeting Minutes
¿ªÔÆÌåÓý
Sorry for the delay in getting the minutes out.?
We had family in Vermont the weekend after the meeting (Easter for those who celebrate) and we got distracted with teaching grandson Wilder (3) to ski. ??
NOTE: TAAS has committed to having a table at Catherine Kolnaski STEAM night THIS Tuesday, April 29, from 5-7 p.m. They would love us to have a solar scope there,if anyone is available to provide guidance for observing.? Mark and I will staff the TAAS table
inside. The TAAS table plan is to have a small telescope, the Seestar, and membership applications. I am also going to try and find a fun Night Sky Network activity to have available, also.?
MINUTES BELOW!?
TAAS Monthly Meeting Minutes April 17, 2025
?Present: Mark S., Deb F., Lee P., George B., Alan S., John S., Gerry K., Leslie B., (RM) Max, Jeff D., Brian R., Jerry?T.
?Mark attended the ASGH meeting on Wednesday night via Zoom, and he enjoyed the meeting and the presentation on the new planetarium in Stamford.
?Mark asked if everyone had reviewed the agenda. Lee remarked he added an agenda item regarding Shoreline¡¯s May 17 event. It is a town sponsored event. Jeff will share more information when he gets the official flyer. No dogs are allowed. 8:30-10:30 p.m.
?Mark called the meeting to order. He reminded everyone of the agenda he had sent previously. The last item on the March agenda was a discussion about club growth based on an article Mark had read in Reflector Magazine. The discussion in March was cut short
due to lack of time so Mark put this as the first agenda item for the April meeting. ?
The three primary methods of growing your club were:
¡¤? ? ? Outreach ¡¤?????? Social Media ¡¤?????? Leadership turnover
Mark felt we were doing well with outreach. Lee mentioned he thinks we do a lot with young people at the schools, Hammonassett, and Avery Point. He felt those events reach young people, tourists, and the college students. He was wondering if there were other
things we can do to attract adults, who are more likely to become members. He suggested library events. Mark and Leslie mentioned TAAS does two or three events a year at the Waterford Library. Lee wondered about putting more posters/flyers in schools and libraries.
Leslie mentioned the East Lyme high school planetarium (supported by the Stars to STEM organization) is planning to do beginner level astronomy programs once a month on the last Saturday of the month, starting April 26 from 7-9 pm. Leslie would love to have
TAAS support these programs. The first Friday of each month they are doing laser light shows with live music.
?Mark asked for a motion to go forward with getting brochures and flyers for the libraries and other public locations. These would include membership forms.? Max-motion/four seconds.
?John brought up having a tri-fold brochure with one-fold being the membership. Deb commented we already have a brochure with one-fold being the membership application. Deb emailed a pdf of the brochure to everyone and asked for suggestions of any changes to
make as we are almost out and will need to make more copies.
?John suggested that the groups.io is going to reach capacity. Leslie suggested that if people have not been active in a year,
perhaps they?should be removed.
?George suggested that although lots of people may want to look through our telescopes, the number who will join, get a telescope, frequently check the Clear Sky clock, observe with the group, and go to NEAF is
rather small.
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John asked if George could include a membership application when people email him with questions. George will do so.
?Jeff chimed in about how SAS has grown their club from 8 to 32 members in a year and a half. They also gained their 501(c)3 status. They have club telescopes, are active on social media for anyone who wants to learn more. Social media is also their advertising
and marketing. They save their groups.io for members and club dynamics. They recently rolled out a PayPal on-line membership.
?Jeff suggested Mark¡¯s intention with this discussion is to try to poll the club members to determine what members of the club want to see for the future of TAAS.
?Mark said we have covered outreach, and moved into social media (FB, website, Night Sky Network). Mark asked if we should spend more effort promoting the club on Facebook. Also, the website needs a refresh. It is a great start that Lee built, based on what
we wanted 2 (?) years ago. Leslie suggested we need to add some fresh content; maybe more members astrophotos. Discussed that we also have a lot of unused material from the Night Sky Network.
This brought us to the final method for growing the club, which is leadership turnover. Deb added that we should choose a meeting time when we take nominations for our leadership so that we can be self-sustaining for the future.
Other Items Leslie provided a Conn College Observatory update. They are hoping for a TAAS day in May. Lots of equipment is here but the equipment is not yet installed.
Deb reported in as the Night Sky Network Coordinator. Deb reported on 29 outreach events in 2024 to the Night Sky Network (five are required to maintain our membership). Deb has started entering our 2025 events. She has more past and upcoming events to enter and then will be reporting on all of them. As we have many more events than five scheduled for 2025 we will have no trouble meeting our five required events so we will continue to benefit from our Night Sky Network and continue to get more of their very cool materials for outreach. She hopes to have all currently scheduled 2025 events entered and any that have already taken place reported on by the May meeting, now that she has once again retired from her seasonal full-time Snowsports job.
?George reported on our finances in his role as the treasurer. Finances are the same as last month. We have twenty-five paid members.
?Upcoming calendar events
Tuesday, April 22-Sturm Lecture at Wesleyan (see flyer from John S) 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 24-Hamden Library Hubble Telescope Anniversary & Solar Observing ?3-5 PM (Some ??????libraries got ? solar scopes from a CT Library Repository)
Friday, April 25- Lyme Land Trust 8 PM (postponed to Sunday, the 27th)
Friday, April 25-26 Messier Marathon at Propbusters in Salem (postponed due to weather)
Tuesday, April 29 Groton STEAM Day Catherine Kolnaski School 5-7 pm
Saturday, May 17 Shoreline Star Party ? (Jeff is awaiting approval from the town for these events)
East Lyme Planetarium shows (see link! There are lots!) ?
https://www.starstostem.org/programsevery Saturday April 26 through May 17
?NEAF discussions were held for the remainder of the meeting.? Members who attended and made purchases apologized for the upcoming clouds.
Leslie got SkyWatcher Wave 100i mount and Stellervue 90 APO Raptor Carbon Fiber.
John S. was busy working the booth while encouraging others to buy things. He succumbed to another Ha solar filter.
Jerry bought a 2X TV Powermate.
Lee got the new ZWO field rotator(?)
?John motion to adjourn/second by Leslie
Submitted by Deb Fennell, Secretary
Deb
? Deb Fennell Debskifennell1617@... ? ? |
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Re: Photo NGC 4631 Cropped.jpg uploaded
#photo-notice
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Re: Photo NGC 4631 Cropped.jpg uploaded
#photo-notice
Lee,
The Whale (with pup) and Hockey Stick came out great.?
I liked M101, too. The long integration time really paid off on that one. Mark |
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Re: Weekday Observing
I had good conditions for imaging. Imaged the Whale Galaxy and M101. Looking to see what I get tonight before I process.
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On Apr 24, 2025, at 10:41 AM, GEORGE BLAHUN <ks1u@...> wrote: |
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Re: Weekday Observing
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýWow George! Great work.?We observed on Sunday with Mark¡¯s son , Michael. Here¡¯s my recent Seestar jpg¡¯s.?
Last night it was clear here. We did some short naked eye observing so we were with you in spirit. But I was tired from a day of skiing g and Mark from working g on the race car so we went to bed. Looking to try a Messier Marathon Sunday night in Salem.?
Deb Fennell
On Apr 24, 2025, at 10:27?AM, GEORGE BLAHUN <ks1u@...> wrote:
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Alan Sheiness
Mark Strollo
Lee P.
Deb Fennell