[Chaos-l] August's CHAOS meeting

[Jayme Hanzak]

Greetings to my fellow CHAOS members,

The August meeting, mildly attended by 14 members, was packed with
information. Much was discussed from "What's Up" by Alice Yeaman to
"What's falling by Jon Stewart-Taylor. 

Items that were discussed were as follows;

We are looking into the possibility of moving our meeting over to Carol
Woods. An interest has been expressed in doing so and Walter Fowler is
exploring the possibility. This would make building access easier in that
Walter would not have to be present just to let us into the building. It
would also allow the community of Carol Woods to attend our meetings.
During our July meeting, it was wonderful to have the community
participate by asking some very thought provoking questions.

Now for the very important news;
The September meeting will be held at Bill Walser's Astronomical Compound.
Bill and his wife are opening their Fortress of Astronomy to all Paid
Members of the CHAOS club for some Bar-B-Q, swimming and observing. Stay
tuned to this List Serv for more information. 

The December CHAOS meeting will be held at Morehead Planetarium. Amy Sayle
will be our gracious presenter. Watch the Serv for more information.

Public out reach was discussed. How can CHAOS further promote the
pleasures of astronomy to the general public? Subjects that have been
placed on the table were; The 1000 Yard Solar System. We can continue
helping MPSC with their Sky Watches. Another suggestion is going to
Morehead Planetarium and doing some sidewalk astronomy. John Dobson style
astronomy.

Robert Nielsen is looking into the design and creation of a club T-Shirt.
If you have any suggestions of a T-Shirt printer, send an email. 

Alice Yeaman told us "What's Up" this month. Be on the look out for
Perseid meteors this weekend. Sadly we do have the Moon to contend with.
Sagittarius is up with all of it treasures. Many of it's treasures can be
seen with a pair of binoculars. I was surprised to hear how many double
stars are in Draco. There is much to see, I hope we get some nice clear
skies this month.

Jon Stewart-Taylor and Robert Nielsen gave an excellent tag team
presentation on meteors, meteor showers and meteorites. 
Jon's half covered meteors. He explained what a meteor a meteor. Where
meteors come from. What causes meteor shower. How to watch a meteor shower
in comfort. He also told us how we can take notes on what we see and turn
it into the scientific community as a scientific contribution. Jon also
said that meteor showers are a family event. There something happening the
kids can see.

Robert told the group about meteorites. Now we can watch the Perseid, and
if a meteorite lands at our feet, we can now tell if they are chondrites
or achondrite meteors. With the information he presented, we may be able
to determine if the meteor came from the Moon, Mars or from some asteroid
out in the deepest part of space. 

Gentlemen, you both gave us a great presentation. Well done!

As you can see, we had a busy meeting. 
Remember, September meeting will be at Bill Walser's house if you are a
paid member of CHAOS. Mmmm  Mmmm, Good food.

Clear Skies


Jayme Hanzak
Special Projects Engineer
jhanzak at unctv.org
www.unctv.org