Stories Wanted: Gemini is written en-tirely by our members, for our members! Gemini needs your stories… how you first became interested in astronomy, how your interest has evolved over the years, equipment you use, star parties and events you’ve attended here and elsewhere, how you’ve encouraged others — especially young people — to get involved in this fascinating hobby. Submit your stories to: brownreveugene66@gmail.com

E-mail Update: If your e-mail address has recently changed, chances are your ad-dress used for MAS email distribution lists is not current. Please inform Bob Brose of your new e-mail address at bob@qbjnet.com

October 2015Volume 40 Number 5a publication of the Minnesota Astronomical Society

In the pages of the Gemini

Northern Nights Star Fest 2015

By Valts TreibergsNorthern Nights Star Fest (NNSF) was held at the MAS dark-sky site at Long

Lake Conservation Center in Palisade, Minnesota, August 12-16. We had a record turnout of 58 participants this year. A few even showed up a night early to spy some very nice Perseids.

On Wednesday afternoon many telescopes were set up on the observing field; however, by the time darkness fell, several rounds of storms came through the area, the scopes were securely covered up, and the observing session had to be called off. A few determined observers set their alarms to 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. and managed to peek through some sucker holes to catch some Perseid meteors.

On Thursday the afternoon program kicked off with a talk by Dave Falkner, NASA/JPL solar system ambassador, about the NASA Messenger mission to the planet Mercury. Messenger is one of the lesser-known missions in recent history but was the only spacecraft to orbit the planet nearest the Sun. Dave shared many interesting facts about the mission and Mercury.

After a short break, participants offered their astro items for sale at the swap meet. The afternoon program continued with a talk by Kevin Nasal on his experience choosing and customizing his 18'' Teeter’s truss-tube Dobsonian telescope. A number of MAS members completed keyholder training on the MAS 25'' and 30'' Obsession Dobs, led by Ken Hugill.

The evening program was topped off by Bob Kerr’s talk on Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Kepler fought to get detailed observing data of planetary motions from Brahe, but Brahe did not believe in Kepler’s Copernican theories and did not share data until his death. Kepler finally used Brahe’s data to publish the three laws of planetary motion: elliptical orbits, equal areas over equal time, and orbital harmonies.

After sunset the skies cleared up and we finally got to observe. Both eyeball observers and imagers were pursuing their targets. Greg Haubrich put together a great observing list called “Doubles, Triples and Quadruples,” featuring Messier favorites M31, M110, M32, M81, M82, M13, M51, as well as a number of NGC galaxies and double stars. Lots of people had fun with this list. A few of

Eighth Annual Camping with the StarsBy Dave Falkner…Page 6

Master Observer Award Presented to Kevin Anderson…Page 9

MAS Patron Members…Page 9

Directions to Star Party Locations…Page 10

MAS 2015 Star Party Schedule…Page 11

MAS Board Minutes • July and AugustBy Jerry Jones, Secretary…Page 11

This photo of the Northern Lights is by Bill Kocken.

Minnesota Astronomical Society

GEMINI INFOEditorsBrian Litecky and Eugene Brown

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Gemini is published 6 times annually by the Minnesota Astronomical Soci-ety.

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Send MAS membership dues, chang-es of address and S&T subscriptions to the MAS Membership Coordina-tor. Astronomy magazine subscrip-tions are available by contacting the MAS Treasurer.

MAS Board Members

President: Clayton Lindsey E-Mail: ClaytonLindsey@comcast.net Phone: 651-236-1144Vice President: Steve Baranski E-Mail: steve_baranski@fastmail.fm Phone: 763-792-9262Treasurer: Chris Hansen E-Mail: zurialjazz@gmail.com Phone: 612-701-2785Secretary: Jerry Jones E-Mail: jjones7777@aol.com Phone: 651-439-1877Board-Member at Large: Suresh Sreenivasan E-Mail: sureshks1@msn.com Phone: 612-671-3388Board-Member at Large: Wayne Boline E-Mail: tramp46@aol.com Phone: 763-533-3229Student representative: Josh Torgeson E-Mail: 803031@gmail.com Phone: 952-442-39242GEMINI • www.mnastro.org

the imagers tackled some interesting objects, including the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), the Wolf Cave Nebula (Barnard 175), M31, M27, and others. Wide-field cameras were imaging the sky, looking for bright meteors, Milky Way vistas, and star trails. Unfortunately, sporadic cloud banks caused frustration when stars blinked out briefly and caused imagers to lose their guide stars and observers to lose sight of their faint galaxies. Observing wrapped up by 2:00 a.m. when the clouds became too dense.

Friday afternoon speakers focused on imaging. I described my start into astrophotography and my perpetual tinkering, building GoTo mounts, modifying webcams, DSLR and monochrome CCD imaging, with some aperture fever thrown into the mix. Rodrigo Roesch talked about the capabilities of modern DSLR cameras for astrophotography and how the tools available today rival the best CCD imaging capabilities. He showed many stunning photos taken through his astrophotography rig and demonstrated his passion for photographing auroras whenever he gets an opportunity.

The evening speaker, Dr. Shaul Hanany from the Minnesota Institute of Astrophysics, spoke on his research in probing the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The EBEX balloon-based research in Antarctica uses specially built detectors that scan the sky for CMB polarization—a signature of gravity waves generated during the universe’s inflation period.

The Friday night observing session was the best of the nights, except that transparency was not great. Many continued to tackle the NNSF observing list, and imagers were back at it. The poor transparency was slightly offset with very good seeing. Imagers worked on dark nebulae, Hydrogen-alpha star-forming regions, supernova remnants, galaxies and planetary nebula. A number of observers knocked off some Herschel-400 objects. Dozens of Perseids were still visible—including a few extremely bright ones—resulting in either loud “oohs” or “darn—missed it again.” Because of the poor transparency, a few observers switched to splitting some double stars. The last imagers and observers finally packed it in when twilight was glowing over the eastern sky.

Saturday’s afternoon lecture was by Dick Francini and Tony Kroes of Wisconsin. They discussed observing and imaging extremely faint supernova remnants that have been recently cataloged. Many of the remnants are grouped with other objects; however, careful study has revealed the true nature of the expanding remnant arcs and bubbles. Truly amazing work.

The final speaker of the event was Ron Schmit, also a NASA/JPL solar system ambassador. He spoke about Pluto, with particular emphasis on the latest from the New Horizons mission to the dwarf planet. From its first discovery by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in 1930, Hubble observations and New Horizons stunning images finally give a face to this world. The markings even look like a familiar Disney pooch, according to Ron.

The evening wrapped up with Greg Haubrich awarding nine people observing buttons for completing the NNSF observing list. Some great door prizes were given out, including a brand new Televue DeLite eyepiece.

Mark Connolly took this photo of the Perseids meteor shower at NNSF.

Valts Treibergs took this photo of IC1795.

This photo of the Andromeda Galaxy is by Jack Mogren.

October 20153

The final night of observing started out pretty good, even though a lot of people packed up in anticipation of rain later. Both the 25'' and 30'' Obsession Dobs gave participants great views of galaxies and globulars. Saturn shone brightly in the evening for all to see. To top off the great NNSF, an outstanding Aurora Borealis erupted in the north. The glowing green, red, blue and purple colors lit the north woods in a mesmerizing silhouette. Many snapped beautiful images and movies of the display. After

45 minutes the display ended, leaving just enough time to pack things up and get ready for some incoming rain showers.

Thanks to the LLCC Committee—Wayne Boline, Jim Talbott, Greg Haubrich, Doug Brown, Hen Hugill, Eli Rossman, Valts Treibergs and John Marchetti—for putting on a great event. All of us are looking forward to an even better NNSF 2016. Photographs not captioned are by Father Brown.

October 20154

More Northern Nights Star Fest Photos

Photo of Andromeda Galaxy and Perseids meteor shower by Mark Connolly.

Star trails photo by Mark Connolly.

October 20155

More Northern Nights Star Fest Photos

Drone photos of NNSF observing field by Mark Connolly.Photo of Perseids meteor shower by Mark Connolly.

Meteor Smoke Trail photos by Mark Connolly.

6GEMINI • www.mnastro.org

Eighth Annual Camping with the Stars

By Dave FalknerAn event which started almost by accident in 2008 has

become one of MAS’s most popular events. The 2015 Camping with the Stars (CWTS) was held the weekend of August 21-23. Despite the marginal weather conditions, we had a great turnout and the feedback we received was very positive.

Friday afternoon folks began arriving and setting up their tents in the ballfield. Although the event wasn’t scheduled to kick off until 7:00 p.m., we opened the observatories a little early so we could view the Sun and Moon. The skies were generally clear but there was considerable upper atmospheric haze, courtesy of the large number of wild fires in the western U.S. The smoke was being carried by the prevailing upper atmospheric winds, resulting in a significant impact to the transparency. It did, however, afford us a rather spectacular red sunset.

The event started about 7:30 with a welcome from ELO program director Dave Falkner. After going through some of the park rules, Dave showed the MAS promotional video and concluded with a brief survey of the telescopes at ELO.

Bob Kerr followed Dave with a talk entitled “Into the Deep: The Universe Revealed.” Bob talked about how advances in imaging technology along with large Earth-based and space-based telescopes have revealed amazing things about our cosmos. Bob also had a wonderful display of images taken by various professional telescopes, as well as a number of images taken by MAS members. The stunning images taken by MAS members illustrated how the quality of digital cameras along with processing software can produce images that rival those from professional telescopes.

During the evening, Nancy Rauschenberg from the Beginners Special Interest Group held a telescope workshop to provide guidance and assistance in setting up and using a telescope.

The raffle grand prize was an 8" Orion Dobsonian telescope with

accessories and carrying case. It was won by Jaime Velarde.

The door prize winner was Ryan Glaser, who received a Celestron

FirstScope.

The raffle second prize was a set of Celestron 12x70 binoculars won by Dionne Dabelow.

October 20157

As the skies got darker, some of the brighter objects became visible. Telescope targets included the first-quarter Moon, Saturn, and the brighter Messier objects. The objects directly overhead were easier to see through the haze. Dave Falkner also conducted a tour of the sky, although the stars of fainter constellations were nearly invisible with the haze. By 1:30 a.m. viewing was pretty much complete, and we closed up shop for the night.

Saturday morning brought overcast skies and breezy weather. The forecast was not favorable for viewing and was even predicting severe weather by late afternoon, which was a concern for the B-SIG cookout. Fortunately we had great speakers. Baylor Regional Park offered Stand Up Paddle boarding (SUP) from noon to 2:00 p.m. There were only seven participants but the wind made it pretty difficult. Still, they got the SUP experience.

Parke Kunkle, MAS member and professor of astronomy at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, started the afternoon program by giving an update on the construction of

the new Bell Museum and Planetarium. He showed some of the architect’s conceptual drawings and talked about the various exhibits and the new planetarium. The new Bell Museum is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

Parke then talked about the relationship of gyroscopes to Polaris, discussing the Earth’s precession and how that will change the sky over time. Using planetarium software, he was able to go back in time to 3000 BC to show that Thuban was the pole star then. He then moved ahead 13,000 years to show Deneb as the pole star. Having Polaris so close to the North Celestial Pole during our lifetime is a happy coincidence. Parke also explained the lack of a bright southern pole star right now. Over time other stars will become the northern beacons.

Jake Hairrell followed with a presentation on “Hidden Astronomy.” He showed how from ancient astronomy to more modern days, astronomy has entered our everyday life, sometimes without our realizing it. Perennial favorite Colin Kilbane from

More NNSF photos on page 10.

8GEMINI • www.mnastro.org

Mad Science Minnesota was the next speaker. From air-propelled rockets to chemistry experiments, Colin always provides an educational yet fun presentation.

Throughout the afternoon the weather continued to grow more threatening. Many of the campers decided to pack up. They would stay the afternoon and evening but would be making the trek home after that. We were keeping an eye on the satellite and weather radar. With the National Weather Service predicting the arrival of severe weather around six o’clock, the scheduled time for the B-SIG cookout, we decided to rearrange the schedule and move the cookout up to 5:00 p.m.

Chief cook Mark Job fired up the grill at the lake pavilion and by 5:00 he already had a few burgers and hot dogs grilled. The cookout participants came through with a wide variety of shared dishes and plenty to eat for everyone. We had a nice turnout and Mark was cooking burgers and hot dogs continuously to keep up with demand. The weather cooperated and we were done eating in time to catch the next presenter at 6:00 p.m.

Roxanne Kuerschner kicked off the evening with a presentation on how telescopes are astronomy’s most powerful tools. Over the years they have gradually revealed to us the secrets of the universe. Michael Kauper wrapped up the Saturday presentations, talking about astronomy as a hobby and the simple and inexpensive tools you can use to observe the sky. He also talked about the detrimental effects of light pollution, not only for observing the night sky but its effect on humans and wildlife.

The door prize and raffle drawings followed. A number of great prizes were given away. The door prize winner was Ryan Glaser, who received a Celestron FirstScope. The raffle second prize was a set of Celestron 12x70 binoculars won by Dionne

Dabelow. The raffle grand prize was an 8'' Orion Dobsonian telescope with accessories and carrying case. It was won by Jaime Velarde. Two years ago Jaime’s son won the same telescope at CWTS. Jaime told us he would be giving the telescope to his son’s friend.

The predicted severe weather passed to the north of the park. We did receive a pretty good downpour with a little hail and some wind, but all-in-all we lucked out. Although the rain subsided the cloudy weather persisted into the evening and the temperature was noticeably cooler. We opted to show a movie in Hotspot. We chose “Wall-E” for its entertainment value for young and old alike. After the movie most of the folks left, as they had already packed up their campsites. The skies cleared about 1:00 a.m. but the persistent haze from the western fires was still present and so the transparency was still pretty lousy. We called it a night.

Sunday morning brought a cool, breezy, largely overcast day. We had a continental breakfast and showed another movie, “Galaxy Quest.” Those of us who grew up with Star Trek found the movie spoof quite entertaining. By late morning the clouds began to break up and the intervals of sunshine continued to increase. It was still quite breezy but not nearly as hazy. We had a few visitors who were staying at the park but it was pretty quiet. We packed up the displays and leftover water and food from the weekend.

Despite the marginal skies and blustery weather, I think the participants and volunteers had a good time. Many thanks to the presenters and MAS volunteers who came over the weekend to help out. Special thanks to the ELO committee members who worked very hard to make this year’s CWTS such a success. Photographs by Father Brown and Merle Hiltner.

October 20159

MAS Patron Members

Patron memberships are available to those who wish to contribute a little extra to support MAS activities. Patron memberships are established by constitution at 2-1/2 times the Regular membership rate—currently $65 annually for a patron membership. The $39 additional contribution is tax deductible. Patron memberships help fund equipment acquisitions, facility improvements, outreach activities and more. We would like to thank the following patron members as of August 22:

Hytham Abu-SafiehTom and Arlene AlmScott AndersonWilliam ArdenJack AtkinsSteve BaranskiGreg BarilWilliam BeaucheminBradley BeiselDavid BendicksonScott BilleadeauWayne BolineKen BolvinBrandon BorrilloRev. Eugene BrownJeff BurrowsWilliam BynumKen CarlsonKurt CasbyStuart ChastainDeane Clark, Jr.Mark ConnollyJohn CoonerMike DanielsPaul and Jolie DavisMary Beth Smith & Ted DeMattiesMary Dennis

Brogan DuffyRussell DurkeeJohn Gavin DwyerJim ElmquistSteven EmertJamey EricksonAlan FacklerDennis FaithDavid FalknerAllan FerberJoseph FisherPatricia FlugaurRobert FoucaultAndrew FraserPaul GadePaul GarvieErik GisselquistWilliam GlassMichael GoodmanSteve GrabarkiewiczLawrence GrayMatt GrossJere Gwin-LenthDale HagertBrandon HamilKevin HarrisGreg HaubrichThomas Hawkinson

Michael HaydockJonathan HaymanVictor HeinerRic Heins FamilyJohn HillMerle HiltnerMichael HopfenspirgerGeorge HulmeAnton Jachim, PhDH. Richard JacobsonGale JallenBen JarvisMark JobJulie A. Y. JohnsonKurt JohnsonJerry JonesRon KaselMichael KauperColin KilbaneJim KnudsenDavid KockenTimothy KraemerParke KunklePete LaceyMary LahrJonathan LarsonChristine LaughlinMichael Lee

Louis LeichterClayton LindseyBrad LinzieWalid MaalouliTim MaherBruce McDonaldBrian McEnaneyRon McLaughlinJavier MedranoRebecca & Gary MesserMatt & Jessica MeyerBeverly MillerBob MinorScott MorganBrian NelsonAlan NootDouglas OinesThor OlsonKen PedersonH. Doug PlunkettBecky PollackBrian RembishKirby RichterStephen RiendlEric & Rebecca RobinsonJack Sandberg

Roy Cameron SarverBenjamin SchaffhausenPaul SchalegerDean SchantzenJames SchenzRonald SchmitLoren SchoenzeitDavid SchultzRobert SeaboldDan Siers, Sr.David SiskindCindy and Al SmithThomas SmithGerald SmyserJim TalbottValts TreibergsDavid TruchotEarl TrussSteve UlrichMax Van RiperSteven Vander LouwBob VangenDavid VennePaul WalkerFred WallJohn ZimitschNeal Zimmerman

Master Observer Award

Greg Haubrich is here presenting Kevin Anderson with his Astronomical League Master Observer award. This is the highest honor the Astronomical League (A.L.) has for amateur astronomers and requires completing ten A.L. observing awards—five core observing programs: Messier, Binocular-Messier, Lunar, Double-Star and Herschel 400, plus five gold-level (except for Caldwell) elective observing programs. Kevin is one of only six A.L. Master Observers in MAS. Currently there are fewer than 200 A.L. Master Observers in the United States.

10GEMINI • www.mnastro.org

Directions to the Star Party LocationsFor maps and further details about the sites, please go to our website at www.mnastro.org/facilities.

Baylor Regional Park and Eagle Lake ObservatoryTo reach Baylor Regional Park, head west on Minnesota Highway 5, through Chanhassen and Waconia, to the town of Norwood-Young America. Turn right onto Carver County Road 33 and continue approximately two miles north. Baylor Regional Park is on the right side of the road, marked with a prominent sign. When entering the park, stay to the right and follow the road approx 1/4 mile.

When visiting the Baylor Regional Park, MAS members are requested NOT TO PARK OR DRIVE on the grass. There is a drive up to the observatory which can be used for loading or unloading or handicapped parking only. For an alternate route from the southern suburbs, take U.S. Highway 212 west to Norwood-Young America. Turn right at the second traffic light onto Carver County Road 33. Continue two miles north to the park entrance.

Cherry GroveCherry Grove is located south of the Twin Cities,in Goodhue County, about 20 miles south of Cannon Falls. To reach Cherry Grove, head south on Highway 52. On 52 about six miles south of Cannon Falls, and just past the Edgewood Inn, is a large green highway sign for Goodhue County Rd. 1 “WEST”. Turn right, and follow County 1 straight south for about sixteen miles until you arrive at a “T” intersection with County A. The observatory is immediately at your right, nestled in the shoulder of the “T”. Parking is permitted on the site, or along the road, preferrably County A.

MetcalfHead east from St. Paul along Hwy. 94. Exit at Manning Avenue ( exit #253) Turn south (right turn) and then almost immediately turn left onto the frontage road (Hudson Road S). Continue east on the frontage road for about 1.5 miles. Turn right onto Indian Trail, checking the odometer as you turn. Follow Indian Trail south for just about 1.1 miles, where you’ll see an unmarked chain-link gate on the right, opening onto a dirt driveway with slight up-slope. This is the the entrance to Metcalf.

Belwin/Joseph J Casby ObservatoryHead east from St. Paul along Hwy. 94. Exit at Manning Avenue ( exit #253). Turn south (right turn) and then almost immediately turn left onto the frontage road (Hudson Road S). Continue east on the frontage road about 3.4 miles until Stagecoach Trail South, then turn right onto Stagecoach Trail and go east about 2 miles until reaching Belwin Conservancy on your left at 1553 Stagecoach Trail South. From the Belwin driveway entrance, y travel about 500 feet and turn left at the gate. Travel about 1/4 mile through the woods until you emerge at the parking area near the classroom building and the Joseph Casby Observatory.

Long Lake Conservation CenterFrom Western Twin citiesTake I-94 west to Rogers/MN 101. Go north/right on MN 101 through Elk River, where MN 101 becomes USA 169. Continue north on US 169 approximately 90 miles to Aitkin. At stoplight in Aitkin, turn east/right onto US 169/MN 210 and go out of town eight miles. Then turn east/right, following MN 210 toward Duluth. Proceed seven miles. A large green highway sign marks the turn off 210 to Long Lake Conservation Center. Turn north/left on County Rd. 5. After three miles, turn east/right on gravel County Rd. 88. It is approximately one mile to the LLCC gate. Follow signs to parking and unloading areas.

From Eastern Twin citiesGo north on I-35 to Finlayson/Exit 195. Turn west/left and go one mile to County Rd. 61 and MN 18. At stop sign turn right/north and go two miles. Follow MN 18 west/left and continue 19 miles to MN 65. Turn north/right on MN 65 and proceed 30 miles to McGregor. Intersect with MN 210 and follow 210 west/left (through McGregor) for seven miles. A large green highway sign marks the turn off MN 210 to Long Lake Conservation Center. Turn north/right on County Rd. 5. After three miles, turn east/right on gravel County Rd. 88. It is approximately one mile to the LLCC gate. Follow signs to parking and unloading areas.

More Northern Nights Star Fest Photos

11 October 2015

Minnesota Astronomical Society 2015 Star Party Schedule

Start End Twilight Completely dark Duration of Moonrise Moon % Date Date Sunset: at: from: to: Dark* Moon-rise Moon-set Next Day Illuminated Notes Oct 03 ELO Public Star Night

Oct 09 Oct 10 18:40 19:11 20:21 05:03 08:42 04:04 17:18 05:03 14% ELO Public Star Night/CGO

Oct 16 Oct 17 18:27 18:58 20:48 05:53 09:05 10:57 20:48 11:54 8% LLCC shared – lights may be on/CGO

Oct 17 ELO Public Star Night

Oct 31 ELO Public Star Night

Nov 06 Nov 07 16:53 17:25 18:36 02:55 08:19 01:56 14:49 02:55 27% LLCC shared – lights may be on/CGO

Nov 07 ELO Public Star Night

LLCC nights indicated with an “*” instead of an “X” means we will be sharing the facility with other groups. Not all of the lights will be extinguished.

This schedule is subject to change. Please check the MAS online calendar at www.mnastro.org for a complete schedule of all MAS events. Cherry Grove Star Parties are held on Friday nights, with Saturday reserved as the backup night if Friday is cloudy. LLCC Star parties are held on both Friday and Saturday night. Eagle Lake Public nights are held on Saturday nights only.

The Casby Observatory at Belwin is available to MAS members who have completed the Belwin Orientation and training to use at any time. We will not have scheduled star parties at Casby. To reserve the observatory for yourself, please post your request on the Casby Observatory Keyholders discussion forum.

The Metcalf Observing Site is available to MAS members at any time. We do not have organized, scheduled star parties at Metcalf. Feel free to head out there whenever you wish.

The Eagle Lake Observatory holds regularly scheduled pubic nights. You are welcome and encouraged to bring your own observing equipment to these events. All other nights the observatory is available for trained members use. To reserve the observatory, go to the Onan reservation calendar at http://www.mnastro.org.onankey/reservations/reserve.php Before heading out, Please check the Onan reservation calendar to verify if there is a outreach event scheduled.

MAS Board Minutes • July and August

By Jerry Jones, secretaryJuly

Multi-Year Memberships: The board spent a substantial amount of time working with Steve Emert on the possibility of moving to multi-year MAS dues. Kudos to Steve for his tremendous work at keeping the membership roles clean and well organized! The board voted to continue to move ahead with the multi-year membership dues, with some substantial discussion that doing so might drop the number of patron members we have, which would be a tremendous loss. We are also working on getting subscriptions to both Sky & Telescope and Astronomy a bit more streamlined and web-based. More on that in the future. Student Board Member: The MAS charter calls for us to have a student board member. We are looking into finding someone to fill this position. Recent Gifts of Scopes: We have been given a number of telescopes of various qualities and conditions. The board is in the process of determining the potential of moving them to various MAS locations as well as adding them to the loaner scope fleet. August

Multi-Year Memberships: We continue to move ahead on this subject while at the same time looking for someone to help Steve Emert with the growing membership responsibilities. Also, time was spent discussing the effect these decisions will have upon Gemini, especially for those members who receive the publication in the mail. CGO Work: Vic Heiner and crew have done some wonderful work at GGO with staining the fence as well as replacing the east wall of windows and installing an air conditioner. Student Board Member: The board is making

progress on this and hopes to present a student member within the next few MAS meetings. Changes to MAS Responsibilities: Dave Falkner has requested to step down as B-SIG coordinator and Greg Haubrich has requested—after 13 years—to step down as AL coordinator. Budget Stuff: The board spent considerable time looking at the Q2 budget. Income appears slightly above expectations and expenses appear slightly below—a good place to be. Metcalf: The storage building at Metcalf field is in need of shingles. We are in the process of determining cost. Even though the field is not used as often as it used to be, it is necessary to keep the buildings maintained. LLCC: The red pathway lights are complete and were in use for NNSF. They were greatly appreciated by all. Phone Message System: The board is looking into changing our phone message system to an extension mailbox system which would allow callers to gain information more quickly as well as leave messages more easily. Videos for Training and Membership: The board is looking into the possibility of video-recorded training for various observatories as well as some of the aspects of our membership meetings, making them available to the members via the website. We are in need of someone to take over this task. Liability: Some time was spent discussing certain issues of liability at our observatory sites. We need to continue to look into this issue. Elections: Upcoming MAS board elections include vice-president, treasurer, and one board member at large. Steve Baranski will operate as the election coordinator. If you are interested in running for one of these positions, please contact Steve Baranski. Web Broadcasting MAS Meetings: Some discussion took place regarding web broadcasting our monthly meetings. There are legal and technological challenges that we need to be overcome before this happens.

How to pay your dues October 2015 Volume 40 Number 5Your MAS membership expires at the beginning of the month shown on your Gemini mailing label. Send your payment to the MAS

Membership Coordinator at: Minnesota Astronomical Society, Attn: Membership Coordinator, P.O. Box 14931, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Make checks payable to MAS, or you can pay by PayPal on the MAS Web page. The current annual membership dues and subscription fees are: $26 for regular membership, $13 for student membership, and $65 for patron membership. For a printed copy of Gemini, add $9 to the above memberships. For a subscription to Sky and Telescope, add $32.95. For a subscription to Astronomy magazine, add $34 for one year or $60 for two years.

Membership rates changed as of February 1, 2014. The new rates are posted on the membership application form at http://www.mnastro.org/membership/MembershipForm.pdf

Fees for each of the membership levels were reduced and the option of receiving a printed copy of Gemini and/or Astronomy magazine as well as a place for an additional tax-deductible donation was added.

To Renew Your Sky and Telescope SubscriptionNew subscriptions to Sky and Telescope at the MAS member discount must be sent to the MAS for group membership subscription

processing. Send new subscriptions with your MAS membership to the attention of the Membership Coordinator at the MAS at the Post Office box address shown on the back cover of the Gemini newsletter.

You may mail your subsequent subscription renewal with payment directly to S&T or renew via phone with Sky Publishing at 1-800-253-0245. This method is especially beneficial to those who wait until your subscription is about to expire before renewing S&T. If you wish, you may still submit your S&T subscription renewal to the MAS when you renew your membership in the MAS and we will enter your renewal on your behalf just as we always have done.

You will still need to send in your MAS membership renewal to the MAS Membership Coordinator at the MAS Post Office box ad-dress or renew your membership via PayPal.

How to Subscribe to MAS e-mail Distribution ListsThe MAS uses web Discussion Forums and e-mail distribution lists for timely communications. We highly recommend you subscribe

to the MAS general distribution email list.To subscribe to the MAS e-mail list visit: http://lists.mnastro.org/mnastro/listinfo/ and follow the subscription instructions.There is a general list (MAS), several Special Interest Group (SIG) lists and other lists for special purposes. Archives of the lists are also available by visiting the listinfo page for a specific list.

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