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Nomination of Officers- May is the time for annual nomination of club officers to be elected in June.
This annual election of officers has 2 major problems;
(1) We do not have enough local people willing to accept the positions.
(2) Certain positions like President and Treasurer could suffer from the loss of annual continuity.
While we dutifully nominated the appropriate candidates, it was done this year with the intent of changing our by-laws ASAP  so that the only elected  positions in the future  would be members of a board of directors.
The candidates nominated were:
President......................... Don Surles
Vice President...................Lyle Jones
Secretary....................Keith Lohmeyer
Treasurer......................Kathy Sheldon
Since they were nominated unopposed and the nominations closed, they were therefore  elected defacto.
This now clears the way for revising our club by-laws to provide for the creation and election of  a board of directors, who in turn, will proceed to appoint the officers.    To avoid any misunderstanding , the only need for a board of directors is to free the the officers from the discontinuity imposed by annual elections.

Improved Tuckahoe Observing Facitlities
Don Surles prepared an outline on this subject which I’ve abstracted below:
WHAT: Small secure building to store equipment  and provide shelter for  Stargazers and provide facilities for public nights.
WHERE: Baseball field area or field on the south side of Crouse Mill Rd, across from the lake (dedicated area for stargazing only).
WHEN:   ASAP.
WHY: To provide shelter for  Observers and increase the use of Tuckahoe State Park by Amateur astronomers. To promote amateur astronomy and science education in the community.
HOW: Funding by Delmarva Star Gazers (gift, annual fees, other).
Manpower by Delmarva Star Gazers (public nights, other).
Equipment by Delmarva Star Gazers (who retain control and ownership).
ISSUES:  Legality of our commitment to State Park and  visa versa.
ACTION:  Establish a committee to expand  and firm up our proposal.   Committee composed of D. Surles, J. Morris,  F. Prettyman, and DSG volunteers.
Meet with Park Supt. and other community officials/reps to discuss possiblities.   The "Tuckahoe committee" is scheduled to meet at Tuckahoe Saturday afternoon(May 18) to review some possibilities aimed at improving our observing conditions.
 
Video Astronomy
Doug Miller played tapes he made recently with a  super low-light video surveillance camera, the PC164C, available from Supercircuits (www.supercircuits.com, $130). A small C-mount lens on the camera attached to a tripod was all that he needed to tape (using a standard consumer-grade VCR) Comet Ikeya-Zhang setting behind trees in the evening twilight. At prime
focus of an 8" S-C, the camera recorded dramatic detail of craters on a crescent Moon. The automatic gain feature makes lunar imaging easy, but limits its use on planets. As a finale, Doug played a short video sequence of an Iridium "flare" or sun glint, again using a wide-angle C-mount lens.  By the way, this is the same camera that Bob Stewart displayed at the Mirror
Making Workshop and is still a hot topic on the IOTA web site and the video astronomy Yahoo group.
Now that Doug and Tom Pomponio have purchased these cameras, look for more video astronomy in coming months.
 
Constellation of the Month: Bootes 
The scheduled presenter did not show up so the group decided to to wing it.  Mythology  was not included so I  add below a brief summary from a previous presentaion.
Mythology: Bootes, aka Herdsman,  aka Arcas.aka Arcturus in one version is leading the dogs of Canes Venatici in driving the Bears (Ursa Major & Minor).
Astronomy After Arcturus was mentioned as the alpha star, our knowledge of Bootes quickly gave out and we proceeded to visit surrounding constellations  and objects. Among the constellations, were. Serpens Cauda, Hercules, Ursa Major, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices and Virgo. Among the objects discussed  were the globular clusters M3, M5,  the spectacular M13
and M53.  There were also tips on locating objects in relation  to other stars. Often the object will
be one of the points of an asterism (e.g. equilateral triangle). You can also locate objects using astronomical reference points rather compass coordinates. (i.e.  Did you know that M13 is located on the Bootes side of Hercules?)
Telescope Drive Systems
Below is a brief summary of  telescope drive systems:
Types of Drive Systems
None – the Dob is an example of this.  No motors, no gears – all movement is by hand in right ascension and declination.
Synchronous motors – normally found on German equatorial mounts.  Can be AC or DC.  Normally, they run at a fixed rate and generally compensate for earth’s rotation.  Satisfactory for visual work; very difficult to use for photography.
Quartz controlled motors – more precise monitoring of speeds; normally a drive corrector is provided for long term precise guiding on an object.
Stepper motors – movement is controlled in precise “steps”.  Most popular mount using this type of motor is the “Super Polaris” family.  ETX series uses this type for simulated goto drive.
Computer controlled – goto – systems is a set of RA and DEC motors controlled by a computer
that allows for the scope to be pointed precisely.  Found in the LX 200 and Ultima 2000 series of scopes.
Poncet mount – a platform for a Dob that allows the Dob to track in RA for short periods of time.
Dob-driver – set of motors and controller that allows the dob to track in RA and DEC.
 
From the President’s Desk...
Drought busters!  Have you noticed the lack of clear nights during the recently declared drought?   It seems most of the days have been very clear but with clouds that are just below the horizon as the Sun sets and then the  clouds just “rise up” to claim the night sky.  Is there a relationship between the inches of rain that did not fall and the number of cloudy nights?
This morning we are receiving a drought buster – a general, heavy-duty rain that should change the equation.  I predict some clear nights soon – probably around the full moon!

What is the lure of stargazing?  Why do you and I return to the open field every new moon? Most of us have seen our favorite M-objects many times, split double stars, hunted down the faintest fuzzies, fed mosquitoes, danced around to warm up, put off sleeping, etc.  Why do we come back and do the same thing over and over?  Probably each of us will have a different
answer to the question; but, the important point is that we will have an answer.  That’s what makes us amateur astronomers, ie, stargazers.  Every hobbiest eventually must ask the same question and satisfactorily answer the question or move on to another hobby.  Bike riding horseback riding, golf, fishing, auto racing, airplanes, all hobbies have some form of repetitious
activities.  We must find a way to decrease the effect of repetitions by continually changing our approach to stargazing.
There was a time when “observing” meant a 60mm refractor or a 6” f-8 reflector in our back yard, a couple of inferior quality eyepieces, the solitude of yourself and the night, a couple of star charts, etc.

Our approach today is much different: 20”-30” scopes, large groups of people, fancy “spacewalk” eyepieces, computers and motors to point the scope, fancy cameras to capture images in incredibly short exposure times, skies that are not as dark as they could be, filters, coatings, the internet…our hobby has changed dramatically.  Will it continue to change?  I see no reason why change should cease; in fact, I believe the rate of change will continue to increase and that is where I see the challenge.
Communications capability is increasing with the electronic improvements that are flooding the consumer market.  With improved communication comes the possibility of improving the sensitivity of our insruments and the possibility of remote control of equipment used to view the wonders of the night sky.  The most important part of the statements above is that the price for these products is reducing rapidly as the quality and capabilities of the products are increasing very rapidly.  Our challenge will be to educate ourselves about the products and choose those which will continually improve our stargazing experience.  I am sure our organization has the talent, the will, and the perseverance to successfully choose and implement those technologies that make sense for amateur astronomers.   We have a proven track record that is impressive in this arena; we will build on our successes Just stay tuned and ready to grasp those opportunities as they become available.

Our next meeting discussion will center around the constellation Ophiuchus and preparing for your next observing session.  Ophiuchus is a very interesting constellation from an astronomical and mythological viewpoint – this one should be fun to review.  Preparing for an observing session can make a tremendous difference in the comfort of the observer and the success of hunting down the elusive critters that inhabit the night sky.  Please plan to attend and make your contribution to the meeting.
We have a new slate of officers for next year.  They are:  Kathy Sheldon - Treasurer, Keith Lohmeyer – Secretary, Lyle Jones – Vice President, and Don Surles – President.  We are anticipating a change of structure that will provide an opportunity for expanded input from members and segments of our organization.  This change should take place over the summer and
be in place by September.  Also, we will make plans during the summer for next year, ie,establishing the goals for our organization and a schedule for accomplishing those goals.  Stay tuned…for the exciting unfolding of our 10th year.
Til next month – see you at the Church or Tuckahoe.  Don…
 
The Editor’s Quadrant....
The Planets in June 
Mercury returns from conjunction with the sun and by the end of June is rising almost 2 hours before the sun.
Venus dominates the June evening sky from sunset until 11:00 p.m.  Mars and Jupiter set ever earlier in June until by the 30th they both set around 9:30 p.m. Saturn emerges in mid June from conjunction behind the sun and joins Mercury as a morning star (see chart below).

As for the remaining planets, Uranus is in Aquarius and Neptune is in Capricornus and Pluto will be found in the southern part of Ophiuchus.
Clear Skies!  Frank Sheldon f.a.sheldon@att.net
 
Club Activities...
Club Meetings- We meet in the First Presbyterian Church in Smyrna, DE (653-8000) on the first Tuesday of each month from 7-9 PM.  From US 13, turn west at Wendy's and go one stoplight on Commerce Street; the church is on the right directly across from the Fire Hall.
Future Meetings...The remaining meeting dates  for 2002 will be:  June 04, July 06, Picnic at Tuckahoe,  August 06 to be announced, September 03,  October 08, November 05, December  03
The regular meeting format includes discussion of club activities, observing highlights and an advertised presentation. We solicit suggestions for topics and presenters.
Club Observing... Observing is (usually) scheduled for the Friday nearest the New  Moon to maximize the hours of  deepnight  without the moon in the sky.   Unless otherwise stated,  the monthly observing site will be at the baseball field in the camping  area at Tuckahoe State Park.
The monthly observing days left for the year 2002 will be:  June 07, July 12, August 9, September 9, No-Frills VII October 2-6, November 1, and December 6.
The cloud or rain date for the monthly Friday observing will be the following Saturday, but don't trust the weather man!  Go outside and look for yourself or check the  weather links on our web page.   If  you still can't decide, Call Don Surles (302) 653-9445 or Lyle Jones (302) 736-9842