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With June comes the
Summer Solstice, when the days are at their longest - and
the nights at their shortest! Of course, that means that the
nights will be getting longer again through the summer, but
they will still be a lot shorter than the cold nights of January
and February. At least the nights are finally warming up,
so we don't need the layers of jackets, etc., that get us
through those winter nights - this is the season we look forward
to being comfortable in shirtsleeves all night long.
Before turning to other matters, I'd
like to start with an item that was originally part of last
month's President's Message. Although I'm sorry the topic
didn't make that issue, I'm delighted to report that the reason
it had to be cut was that there were enough articles submitted
that our editor, Darren Thibodeau, didn't have room for everything.
This is the kind of "problem" that we like to see
- so please keep those articles coming!
To me, people who quietly do what
needs to be done because they see the need and are in a position
to do something about it are real heroes, especially when
doing it requires a continuing commitment of time and energy.
We are fortunate that there are many people in the club that
fit that description, but I'd like to tell you about two in
particular whose efforts we too often take for granted.
One of the emails I got about the
Sirius Astronomer delivery last month justly commented that
Don Lynn is "one of the club's greatest treasures,"
with particular reference to his monthly column. He monitors
a tremendous number of publications, websites, etc., and produces
his summary of important astronomical developments every month
(even those rare months when it doesn't make it into the SA
because of a technical glitch), and they're all posted on
our website in either the on-line version of the SA or the
"Astrospace Update Online" section of the OCA website.
The column is just the beginning of his club activities, though.
Many of you know him as the most regular of our "Ask
an Astronomer" panel. He's also active in the Astrophysics,
ETX and AstroImage SIGs, and he's a regular at Outreach events,
even though he works on the other side of LA and has a long,
hard drive to get to them.
What a lot of members may not know
is that Don also devotes hours of time each month to the unglamorous
job of maintaining and repairing things at the Anza site,
and he's been doing that for over 20 years. Stephen Eubanks
is the Anza House coordinator, but Don has been known to make
repairs there on occasion when they were needed, and he works
with Steve on needed modifications, such as repositioning
the TV antenna. As "Anza Site Maintenance" person,
he looks after everything else on the site, including the
club observatory, and is usually the one who spearheads projects
such as the construction of the stairs below the member observatory
level. Recent projects he's done that I happen to know about
(and I know there are many more) include replacing the drive
chain for the observatory roof, finishing off the electrical
outlets in the Football Field, repositioning and filling the
protective posts in front of Anza House with concrete, repairing
the water pump, dealing with plumbing problems in the observatory
bathroom, and reorganizing the eyepiece case and cutting and
marking holes for all of the club's current eyepieces. Of
course, he's also actively involved whenever we have an Anza
Cleanup Day or other major work party out there. Without all
that he does, our Anza site would be a lot less of a pleasure
to visit and to use, and would be a lot less safe.
Another of the club's greatest treasures
whose activities are also unglamorous and done without fanfare
but are even more vital to the continuing health of the club
is Charlie Oostdyk, primarily known to members as the club
treasurer. As treasurer, of course, he keeps track of our
financial obligations and expected future expenditures, pays
the bills, takes care of incoming money, gets our various
tax and other filings in on time, and keeps the board from
spending more than we have. Here's a partial list of what
he does beyond that: he keeps the membership list current,
keeps track of who is supposed to pay when, sends out appropriate
dues notices and follows them up when needed, keeps track
of the member pads and observatories, takes care of problems
on behalf of the club with entities such as our insurance
broker, banks and the post office, keeps track of donations
and sends out the acknowledgement letters, takes care of our
storage lockers, selects and orders merchandise for the sales
table at the general meetings, handles sales as well as other
business throughout the meetings, takes care of group reservations
for the Anza site and also reservations for the observatory,
and picks up and distributes the mail from the club mailbox.
As I mentioned last month, Charlie's
also the one who labels, staples and mails out each issue
of the Sirius Astronomer; our mailing list has around 760
separate addresses on it. For those that go 1st Class, he
has to put them in envelopes, label and stamp them before
mailing. If anything extra is added to the SA before mailing,
such as the ballots in January or important notices that were
too late to put in the SA itself, he's the one who physically
puts the additional document into each one before processing
it for mailing - so we keep those to a minimum! And he's inevitably
the one who does most of the work any time we need to do a
mailing to the entire membership. And, although he hasn't
been able to get out to Anza much in recent years, he was
very active in the early development of the site, and is also
a great repository of information about the site, the neighbors,
etc., as well as of general historical information on the
club (as is Don Lynn).
One of the real benefits to me of
being on the board over the last two and a half years has
been the chance to work with Charlie and Don, and to get to
know them. They both contribute a tremendous amount to the
club without much recognition, and I hope, next time you see
either of them, you'll let them know their efforts are really
appreciated.
Many of you know that members
Minor White and Myke Collins have been engaged in a serious
research effort since 1999 to locate and track new asteroids,
and they now have 62 confirmed discoveries, many of them using
the club's Kuhn telescope. As the discoverers, they have the
right to propose names for their discoveries, which have to
be accepted by the CSBN before they become official; two names
that have been accepted are WilliamKuhn (for the designer
and builder of the club's Kuhn telescope) and AlinaFiocca
(for the touching explanation of this name, see http://www.mpc643.org/discoveries/names/alinafiocca.htm).
They have several confirmed discoveries they have not yet
named, and they have now, very generously, opened the naming
process to allow members of the public, and particularly club
members, to propose names. Check out their website, http://www.mpc643.org/,
for details and for a lot of information about their research
and related areas; the direct link to the "Naming Campaign"
is: http://www.mpc643.org/namingmain.htm. The deadline to
submit names for consideration is July 31. Proposed names
need to conform to the CSBN naming rules, which are explained
on the site. I'm sure a lot of you have good ideas for people
who should be honored by having a minor planet named for them
- here's your chance!
As I write this, RTMC is yet to come, but
it should be behind us by the time you read it. I hope that
all of you who went had as great a time there as I'm hoping
to have. I did make a glaring error in what I wrote in May
about RTMC - Camp Oakes is a YMCA camp, not a Boy Scout camp.
My apologies to the YMCA for the error, and my thanks as a
participant for the use of this great site.
Please remember when you are on our Anza or our Black Star
Canyon sites that they are in wilderness areas, which means
that there's a lot of wildlife about, especially now the weather's
warming up. Picturesque bunnies and less picturesque gophers
leave holes that can trip the unwary. Scorpions, snakes and
spiders (particularly Black Widows) can cause a problem for
any hand, foot or other valued body part that comes in contact
with them. Mosquitoes, wasps, bees, etc., can also leave a
painful reminder of any encounter with them. Coyotes frequent
both areas, and there are probably mountain lions, as well
as a full roster of rodents, bats, and other creatures. There's
no need to be panic-stricken about any of them, but do keep
a weather eye out so you can avoid potential problems. There's
a list of common sense precautions on the back of the Site
Rules that you'll find in the kiosk at the entrance to the
Anza site. Some of the basics: Don't wander off into the brush
at either site after dark, when you can't get a good view
of what's around you, and keep any pets you bring on site
leashed and within your view. Make enough noise when moving
around to give snakes, etc., warning so they can get out of
your way. Don't reach or step into any hole or opening without
checking to be sure it's not inhabited. And, before you use
them, shake out shoes, sleeping bags, and anything else that
is left where a home-hunting scorpion or other unwelcome visitor
could get to it. And, when the mosquitoes are out in force,
bug repellent can keep the annoyance down to tolerable levels.
Our annual summer potluck party this year will be on the date
of the July Anza star party, which is July 26, 2003. We'll
have the barbecue going, so bring something to grill or a
side dish (or even desert!), and plan to party! We're aiming
to gather around 5:30 on the shady side of the observatory,
to give plenty of time for food, socializing and cleanup before
we all settle into what we hope will be a fine night of enjoying
the skies in all our various ways.
We need some volunteers to help with
setting up and cleaning up afterwards. Please let me know
if you're willing to help out - btoy@cox.net or 714/606-1825.
From the emails I've gotten about the April and May deliveries,
it appears that the new office of the USPS we're using is
giving us generally faster delivery times than the old one.
However, there were some unexpected delays in the May deliveries
outside of Orange County, particularly to LA County, and the
pattern of deliveries reported for May was distinctly different
than for April. To help us track this further, please send
me the date you receive the June issue along with your zip
code and city to btoy@cox.net. My thanks to all of you who
have sent this information for past months, who have made
this study possible. For those who are interested in the outcome,
I'll try to include a summary of the delivery patterns we
observe in next month's PM.
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