Outreach Presentations
James Morgan, who probably does more outreach presentations than anyone in the club, shares with us below his secrets of maximizing
his effectiveness.
Step by step. In the first meeting of the year I offer something for advanced previous attendees as well as for newcomers.
Each event includes the same type of subject matter. Many  returning attendees, have appreciated the event as  a review.
For new comers it might be a simple tour of eight Constellations, pointing out stars, features and how to locate them.
For the advanced, it might be discussing and showing with scopes and binoculars two characteristics of stars:   Magnitude and Color.
Depending on the season the stars might be Antares, Betelgeuse, Alberio, Polaris, and Vega.
Another point to stress is the distance of stars and the awareness that most of what we see, is in our own Galaxy.
Every session is a stand alone event so if you miss a session, you can still move on to the next one and expand your knowledge.
Years ago you could attend a movie and go in at any time. You would leave when you got to the point where you originally came in.
" My step by step process” is similar.
For newcomers, the introduction of the Messier objects is of  interest both from an historical perspective  and the object itself.
Using your hands and a dime, you can learn to navigate around the sky. The dime is to show that the moon is not larger at the horizon
 That is an illusion which segues well, into the concept of angular distance.  To debate these things is good, because that leads to more observing
which is the name of the game. How do you handle bad weather?  If you keep updated Email lists, you can notify everyone at the last
minute.  I would not schedule a rain date for the next day because weather patterns are usually longer than one day.  I would advise a full week
for the rain date.   I also try and schedule my events for either a Friday or a Saturday so that people can stay up late.
The full moon and the library are a great way to make use of time when you can't observe. Fun! All of this should be fun for both the attendees
and the people helping out. Most of my helpers are rewarded by having time set aside so they can observe without the general public.
I try and do that at least once a month for them. At these times I can get their questions answered or discuss items of importance to them.
To be effective, the helper’s needs must be met, Another important issue is integration of  newcomers to a club. How do you introduce them
to observing? get them help with a new scope? meet others in the same boat? Get them
to come out and help at a public outreach event. It builds their confidence in themselves and gives them the information they need toget started,
In other words "How do you integrate them into club activities?" Outreach is one way to do it. If you do this correctly, stand back, they will
surprise you in what they learn and are willing to do to help others.
This is a program that I started with the concept of  a club greeter" and is where I get the majority of people willing to come out and help me with
all of  this. . Because club sponsorship for these events is unlikely, I start from scratch with new club members
Demographics in an astronomy club presents problems with distance to reach both people and suitable viewing sites. In New Castle County, it is
often difficult to find the Milky Way. Because of this variability in viewing sites, we must settle  for what can be seen at the sites we have.
 Several members of the DMSG have helped with my events which I greatly appreciate.  Lastly, I ask the DMSG what are your regular scheduled outreach
events? Are you interested in doing this? Do you think you can support it somewhere in your area? Do you have a plan for the involvement
of new members to your club?  Let me know what you think?
James T. Morgan
 
An Improved Calendar
Beth Hartung, daughter of member Bill Hartung, developed and presented a humerous  and lively proposal for a new and improved world calendar.
Unfortunately,her condensed summary was not available at publication time,
 
NASA MISSION UPDATES UPDATE ON MARS ROVERS
Jerry Truitt presented  the high resolution graphic portions of the NASA slide show on the 2 Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity
for the time periods through May 13.’  The text portion for this time period, along with odometry’ had appeared in the June issue of the Stargazer News.
CASSINI UPDATE
As of  June 1, Cassini spacecraft was 12 millioin miles from Saturn with one of it’s first tasks being the flyby of the moon Phoebe
 
Southern Constellations
This month’s southern constellation, Centaurus, was presented by Randall Willis. and will conclude our year-long survey of most of the southern
constellations. Many thanks to those individuals who stepped up and delivered these presentations at the monthly meetings.
Centaurus Stars
Alpha Centauri aka Rigel Kentaurus 
At 4.34 light years away and  magnitude -.27, it is our closest neighbor and the 3rd brightest star in the heavens. Alpha Centauri is a  triple star system
of Alpha A,  Alpha B and a red dwarf flare star Proxima Centauri.(Proxima is slightly closer to us than alpha.)
Beta Centauri (Hadar) This Mag .66 spectral type B1 II, together with Alpha Centauri  forms  the pointer to the  Southern Cross
Deep Space Objects
Centaurus has one of the largest finest and nearest globuar clusters in Omega Centauri at 17000 light years away.
4 1/2 degrees north of  this cluster is the  peculiar elliptical galaxy NGC5128.  In addition , there is a large radio Galaxy called  Centaurus A.
Finally we have NGC 3918, a large bluish green planetary nebula about 12 arc minutes in diameter
 
BELOW: Omega Centauri
The largest and oldest globular cluster known.  If Orion is the nursery of stars, Omega Centauri
hasd to be the cemetery.  Many of these stars burn helium producing carbon an their way to red giant hood.
 
 
 

From the Presidents Desk....
 June 14, 2004
Well, Summer is here again!  Seems like only yesterday that Summer ’03 was nding…remember the hurricane and a state of emergency
declared in Maryland that closed all Maryland State Parks and almost prevented No Frills?  This summer will be somewhat drier and calmer
than ‘03; you heard it here first.
Did you see the Transit of Venus on June 8?  I hope you did because it was a very impressive event.  A group of about 30 folks met at
Woodland Beach on the Delaware River east of Smyrna before sunrise and enjoyed the transit from sunrise until 4th contact around 8:00 am.
Apparently, the River’s temperature vs the air temperature prevented the fog formation that plagued a lot of East Coast observers.
 We were treated to a fine sunrise with only about 5-10 degrees of clouds on the horizon.  It was a bit frustrating to find the sun with the solar
filters on the scopes and the clouds on the horizon but within a few minutes the sun cleared the clouds and we had front-row seats for the
remaining hour-plus of the event.  Just seeing the sun rise from the River and burn through the clouds was beautiful.  My first peek was with a
naked scope (sans filter) through the thick cloudbank before the sun cleared it.  The sun was a deep red with Venus being a jet-black disk; the
large diameter of Venus surprised me.  This could have been related to the horizon  effect.  Remember how large the sun and moon appear on
the horizon vs overhead?   And the seeing on the horizon was “liquid”, ie, the entire circumference of the sun was in motion.  This image is
“burned” into my memory.  And let me say that I do not  recommend using a naked telescope for solar viewing to anyone.  The only reason I
attempted this was the thick cloud cover on the horizon and I looked into the eyepiece only after holding my hand over the eyepiece to see the
intensity of the image and after checking thru the finder.
Back in May 1994, we had a partial (about 85%) solar eclipse.  Luck and the cloud gods dumped on Smyrna that day.  As the eclipse
progressed, the clouds seemed to thicken and the sun disappeared through my filtered scope.  This time I pointed a naked 35mm camera at the
clouds and found the sun…it was a nice subdued milky white in a less than 50% crescent barely visible through the clouds.  So I used the
naked camera and a naked 6” scope to photograph a fully clothed (read that, CLOUDY) solar eclipse.  The worst that could have happened was a
burned camera shutter curtain if the clouds would have suddenly parted; but believe me I was very sky observant and would have ceased this type
of photography if the clouds had parted.  The clouds provided an interesting background for the sun/moon alignment.  So, if clouds are twixt you
and the sun, be careful, but if the opportunity arises to salvage the event, go for it.   Just remember there will be other opportunities to get a view
or a picture but you only have one pair of eyes. BE CAREFUL any time you are looking at Ol’ Sol. Looking forward to our 2004-2005 calendar
and some possible exciting activities for our Club will be the business-related topic of our July 3rd get together at my house (2:00 PM until we are finished).
 I will have a proposal for meeting topics, establishment of special interest groups, events, etc for us to consider.  If you have ideas that you would like
to sponsor within Delmarva Star Gazers or have the Club consider, please bring the details along or send them to me and I will include them with
the package of materials I will provide.  No idea is too large or too small or not good enuf…each one is precious and will be appreciated,
evaluated, promoted or tabled, and could possibly become the next BIG venture of  Delmarva Star Gazers.  Our members’ ideas are the strength
of Delmarva Star Gazers and they must be treasured.
Speaking of July 3rd at my house, 514 Marilyn Road, Smyrna, DE 19977…all DSG members and family members/significant others are invited to attend.
 Fourth of  July Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Corn-on-the-cob, sodas and other liquid refreshments will be provided; desserts and snacks are whatever
you bring.  We are doing our 4th h of July event at my house this time in lieu of the skeeter infested woods we have endured for the past few summers.
To insure the sanity of my wife, Karen, a phone call indicating the number in your party is appreciated.  The phone number is 302-653-9445.
Our organization is growing.   Over the years we have increased the number of members significantly and with the numerical increase in members
has come a geometrical increase in our capabilities, talents, and possible paths of interest. Currently there are so many possibilities for us to pursue that
we cannot do justice to them all.  We must pick and choose those that are “right” for our Delmarva Star Gazers.  We are faced with the choice of
choosing only a path that every member sees as being “right” for him/her or do we choose many different paths that will each fit the interest of a few
members?    This is the dilemma  - a few topics or interest for all or several topics for small groups?  I would like for our organization to choose
the many-path-option because I believe we can create  subgroups of members who can attack a concept, make it bear fruit and then share the fruit
s with the entire organization.  Imagine if we had ten subgroups, ie, special interest groups, and that each group made a single contribution to the club
each year!  Could the number of SIG’s increase to twenty? The rewards for Delmarva Star Gazers would be tremendous.  Think about you personal
desires in amateur astronomy and then think about how a DSG SIG could help you  succeed in those desires.  I believe you and DSG can
work together more effectively than we have in the past. Forward your thoughts
We are making progress on our Ten Year History.  If you have a story, a comment, picture, or any other form of information that is relevant please
consider sharing pit with us.  Our purpose is to document our first ten years, while most of us still possess our memories, for those who may come
along a few years from now and  have questions about the beginnings of DSG and the ornery old F@##$ of the early years.

Delmarva Star Gazer Officers 2004-2005
President........................Don Surles 302 653 9445
Vice President..............Jerry Truitt 410 885-3327
Secretary........................Paul Riley 302 738-5366
Treasurer................Kathy Sheldon 302 422 4695