December 2004 Club Meeting Report

The first ever West Hawaii Astronomy Club (WHAC) meeting was held as planned at Keck on the evening of Dec 14th. In attendance were 23 participants, with roughly 1/3 representation from CFHT and Keck, and the rest from the community. Some of the more interesting notes include:

Pierre Martin of CFHT said that CFHT wants to contribute to the success of the WHAC. He offered the use of the CFHT conference room for future club meetings. He indicated that there is the possibility of CFHT financially supporting WHAC. He offered certain CFHT outreach materials, such as calendars and posters, to WHAC at no charge. He suggested these can be used to further WHAC, such as selling them to make money for the club, or offering them as prizes. He also offered his technical skill as a professional astronomer to provide education about astronomy to club membership. Everyone was impressed with the generous offers of assistance from CFHT and Pierre Martin. We'll look forward to working with CFHT and Keck in the new year. The club anticipates using both facilities in the future for meeting sites.

During the GearTalk Show&Tell, Craig Combes showed a bino-viewer manufactured by Burgess Optical. Craig Combes indicated that views through bino-viewers and binocular telescopes are fantastic. One person demonstrated an "astro-vest" - a camping vest that has "one pocket per eyepiece". This is a practical way to keep eyepieces handy, and staying warm at the same time. Laura Kraft demonstrated a pair of slitmasks used in Keck instruments. This gave everyone an appreciation for the size of the Keck telescopes. Doug Summers shared a deep sky Observer's Guide. This large, two-volume publication gives detailed information by practical observers for thousands of the finest objects in the night sky. These can be found on the Willman-Bell website.

During the "featured links" section of the meeting, Paul Dill handed out information about web sites about amateur astronomy. He discussed that many sites are international, giving a unique perspective. Clearly there is a near-endless supply of astronomy information on the internet. The club will attempt to organize a nice set of links to the best information relative to club interests, on our web page.

Laura Kraft presented the "what's up in the sky this month" section. She used the overhead projector and The Sky software program. She demonstrated that at the present time the planets are mostly in the morning sky. There was an open discussion about finding Comet Machholz, which is expected to brighten and become a prominent object in the next month. Reports are that it is already faintly visible to the unaided eye under a dark sky (this writer can confirm.) There were reports that the Geminid meteor shower was fantastic!

The club will have a "council" of officers who will help shape directions and plan/organize/conduct meetings. Craig Nance, Craig Combes and Doug have graceously agreed to be co-presidents. It was noted that Steven Cullen, a new member who's still in transition from CA/LasVegas to Kohala, would like a leadership role as well; the group will work with Steve to discover areas where he can assist. Neil Paulson has offered to help out in a treasurer role when and if the need arrises. Laura Kraft has since volunteered to take the first shift as club secretary. Doug, Craig N, and Craig C met separately to discuss initial focus for the club, and will report back status during normal "club business" time during upcoming meetings.

Doug will continue to develop/maintain the website for now.

The club has already started accumulating "stuff". Keck and CFHT both brought "goodies", and these were distributed during the meeting. CFHT will make available some additional items to help the club with fundraising activities, and may provide some limited financial support to help the club with activities. Steve Cullen donated 5 copies of Symantec software products(3 different products). Where/how we'll use these will be left up to the council to resolve.

Regarding planning a Sky Party, CFHT indicated that they will be sponsoring a public event as part of the Deep Impact mission on July 3, 2005. Everyone thought we should do something sooner. March emerged as a good timeframe for a Club Party. Doug suggested that he would like to see the club initiate talks with the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to negotiate permission to use the Pu'u Waawaa site. This is approximately 5 miles south of the Mamalahoa/Waikoloa roads junction.

Craig Nance spoke about plans for a second observing clinic (the first clinic was held at Waikoloa Elementary School a couple of months ago). The next clinic is being planned for Thursday, January 13th, from 5:30pm until about 9:30pm at Waikoloa Elementary School again. Craig asks for help providing technical assistance to people who attend. Also, folks who need help with their own equipment should come to the event.

Craig Combes gave a detailed demonstration of his ultralight airport-ready telescope. This is a 14.5" f/5 Newtonian/Dobsonian telescope which can collapse into a box that is smaller that the American Airlines size restrictions for carry-on luggage. Theoretically, this telescope does not need to be checked. The entire telescope, mirror included, has a weight of ~38-lbs. The telescope is made of carbon fiber materials which offers high strength and extremely light weight. The carbon fiber is covered in a black laminate material for aesthetics. The telescope is an excellent example of a "string telescope." There are four lightweight carbon-fiber poles that connect from the mirror box up to the secondary cage. Then, there are eight "strings" that are put under tension as the poles are mechanically extended. These strings are configured in a truss arrangement much like a classic truss-tube Dobsonian. The strings are made of 450+ archery string, and have zero additional stretch after an initial break-in period. Interestingly, the primary mirror is directly bonded to the bottom of the mirror cell box; there is not adjustment mechanism for the primary. Nor is there an adjustment means for the secondary. The telescope is collimated by adjusting the tension on the four support poles! The secondary is supported by a half-circle "single vane" spider to reduce diffraction. The focuser is a heliacal style made of Delron. For the adventurous telescope maker wanting to copy this telescope, to start a 4' x 4' carbon fiber panel costs about $700. Everyone was amazed at Craig's telescope!

So, those are the major highlights of the December meeting. We've already got portions of the January meeting planned out (with a special talk on the Cassini Huygens probe and Titan Science). We look forward to seeing everyone on January 11th at Keck (7pm). Please don't forget that we are a "participant" club; we need everyone making contributions. The council will organize featured talks, SIGs, and Events, but asks group members to take turns covering smaller sections of the meetings to include "featured links", "What's up in the sky", and "beginner's corner". Please consider helping folks who know a bit less than you do grow in the hobby! These are easy and fun to do; put your own spin on one of these topics and have some fun with it. Send mail to whacmail@yahoo.com to cover a short topic at one of our upcoming meetings.
Aloha, and Thanks!