ACT, Inc. has been meeting continuously since 1937 and was incorporated in 1986. It is a nonprofit; tax deductible organization dedicated to promoting, to the public, the art of viewing and the scientific aspect of astronomy.

What

The Astronomy Club of Tulsa Club

When*

Friday, 17 January, 2003 at 7:30 PM

Where

Room M1 inside Keplinger Hall, the Science & Engineering Building at TU. Enter the parking lot on the East Side of Keplinger Hall from Harvard and 5th Street. This will take you directly toward the staircase to enter the building. Room M1 is the first room on the left.

*Note: If Tulsa Public Schools are closed due to weather, the ACT meeting will also be cancelled.

Denny Mishler

Chris Brown, Club Member and Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Tulsa Community College will be our featured speaker at the January meeting. Chris will be speaking to us on "Cosmic Radiation and Everything Hitting the Earth," which is related to the Structure and Evolution of the Universe. Chris grew up in Santa Monica, CA but moved to Tulsa in time to graduate from Edison High School. He then obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Northeastern State University with degrees in Math, Physics and Astronomy. Chris carried out additional studies and research at Kitt Peak National Observatory, the Very Large Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in New Mexico, and Fermi National Physics Laboratory near Chicago. But Chris's first love has been teaching and for 27 years he has taught the subjects of Astronomy and Physics at TCC. He has also been our number 1 recruiter as his enthusiasm for Astronomy results in many of his students joining the Astronomy Club of Tulsa. When he has spoken to us in the past, his presentations have been fun, informative and among the best. Join us and learn the excitement of "Cosmic Radiation and Everything Hitting the Earth" presented by Professor Chris Brown.

Our December meeting featured Astro Artist Robert Daniels who did an original painting that he gave away for our raffle which was won by Amanda Lawrence.The raffle earned the club over $100. My pleas for club members to bring Astronomy and Science related items to use as door prizes was well supported. We were able to give away over 30 door prizes consisting of books, eyepiece cases, a barlow lens, finder scopes, Astronomy calendars and other worthwhile items. It is my hope that member provided door prizes will become a tradition at the December meeting. An overflowing refreshment table was enjoyed at the end of the meeting by the 60 members present.

By Gerry Andries

A primer on timing occultations, mainly for new observers, is at http://iota.jhuapl.edu - it includes information for those who might want to videorecord the occultation. Those who don't have short-wave receivers for WWV or CHU might get a WWVB-controlled alarm clock, such as item 63-964 available for $30 from Radio Shack. You can ensure accurate time by briefly removing the batteries an hour or so before the occultation; that will force the clock to reset using WWVB. You should set the alarm to go off 2 or 3 minutes before the occultation; start your tape recorder (or camcorder used for audio recording before that to record the alarm for a few seconds, then your voiced calls of the occultation disappearance(s) and reappearance(s), and then set the alarm to go off again 1 or 2 minutes in the future, and keep the recording going to record it as well. The audio alarm is accurate to 0.01 sec. or so, but the LCD display has a delay of about 0.1 second at room temperature, and much greater as the temperature approaches or drops below freezing. So use the alarm for timing, not the display, which, however, is useful for keeping track of the time to the nearest second so that you know when to observe (this makes these clocks useful even if you have a short-wave receiver).

Club Memberships

Astronomy Club of Tulsa Membership Application / Renewal Form

Name: ________________________ Phone: ( ) ____ _______

Address: ___________________________________________________

City / State / Zip____________________/____________/_____________

________________________________________________________

E-mail address - print clearly 

Check Lines below for YES

____ I would prefer to receive E-mail notification when club newsletter is posted to the web.

____ I choose to receive my newsletter by E-mail ONLY instead of postal mail. (Usually 3 or 4 days earlier * Must have web access )

____ Notify me by E-mail of late breaking Astronomy Events

Please check all that apply:

___ New Membership ($25) ___ Student Membership ($15)

___ Membership Renewal ($25) ___ Student Member Renewal ($15)

___ Sky & Telescope Subscription ($30) / year

also includes 10% discount on most Sky & Tel products

___ Astronomy Subscription ($29) / year ($55) / two years

* Magazine rates may change / prices available with membership only.

Please bring this application along with a check for the total amount made out to the Astronomy Club of Tulsa to the next meeting or mail the payment and application to:

Astronomy Club of Tulsa / 25209 E. 62nd St / Broken Arrow, OK 74014

For questions contact John Land - 918-357-1759 - astroland@gbronoline.com

How did you hear of the Astronomy Club of Tulsa? ___________________________________________________________

How long have you been interested or active in astronomy? ___________

Do you have a telescope? _______ Type __________________________

Have you been a member of other astronomy clubs? ____

Where / when ________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

What astronomy club activities would you like to participate in?

____________________________________________________________

Astronomy Club of Tulsa, 918.688.MARS

President: Dennis Mishler, 918.491.9186

Vice President: Craig Davis, 918.252.1781

Treasurer: Nick Pottorf, 918.495.0719

Assistant Treasurer: John Land, 918.357.1759

Secretary: Jim Miller, 918.627.4551

RMCC Observatory Manager: Gerry Andries, 918.369.3320

Observing Chairman: David Stine, 918.834.1310

Web Master: Tom McDonough, 918.665.1853

New Membership: Denny Mishler, 918.491.9186

Newsletter: Richie Shroff, 918.835.3565