The Next Giant Leap – Future Human Space Exploration

by Ms. Ryan Clegg

Washington University The speaker for this month’s meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society will be Ryan Clegg. While NASA has sustained an active program of robotic exploration of the Moon and the planets, human presence in space has been limited to Space Shuttle flights and International Space Station duty, each only a few hundred miles above the Earth’s surface. The last astronaut to travel the 239,000 mile trip to the Moon returned in December 1972. Over forty years later, the question is still open – where should humans venture next? The possibilities include a return to the Moon, perhaps to build a long-term base, or on to Mars, to the moons of Mars, or to one of the asteroids. Ms. Clegg will talk about these possible destinations for manned space exploration and the challenges and scientific rationale for each. Each of these planetary bodies presents exciting scientific questions that need to be answered, and each has its own set of challenges that must be addressed and overcome before humankind can travel there. Ryan Clegg is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University. While her primary research interests are focused on the geology and geochemistry of the Moon, she is also interested in the future of space exploration. Ms. Clegg has been active in a number of science outreach projects that reach pre-college students and the general public. Upcoming meetings: Friday, May 17, 2013: Dark Matter - Ram Cowsik Friday, June 21, 2013: The Moon - Ryan Clegg Friday, July 19, 2013: Relativity - Ian Redmount Friday, August 16, 2013: Cosmic Rays - Martin Israel Friday, September 20, 2013: Cosmology - Mark Alford Friday, October 18, 2013: Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) - Gary Kronk - All meetings begin at 7:30pm

Election for Open Board Position to be held Friday An election will be held for the vacant Board Member at Large position this month at the regular meeting. Nominated members at this time are Tom Nickleson. The term was vacated by Jeromy Naethe and will last through May, 2014. We will also be taking nomina-tions for elections to be held in May!

ST. LOUIS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

Devoted to the Interest and Advancement of the Science of Astronomy

Inside This Issue President’s Corner

2

Comet PanSTARRS

3

50th Anniversary 4

Ayoo and Onowate

5

Board Minutes 9

Events 10

Financials 8

Rockwood Valley 6

MidStates 7

VOLUME 23, Issue 4 April, 2013

THE EVENT HORIZON

President’s Corner by Jim Small

Page 2 THE EVENT HORIZON

The 50th Anniversary of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium celebration week started off well with a weekend of visitors for a nice exhibit about the history of the Planetarium and solar observing by Cook Feldman, Jim Trull, and John Beaury (bring some SPF 50 next time, Cook). Wayne Clark reports that the symphony program about Voyager Monday night went well and the 50th Anniversary talk last night featuring Charles Schweighauser, the Planetarium’s director from 1961-1965 was very well attended. The event last night had all of the people involved with the Planetarium in the past in attendance for a VIP buffet and drinks before the talk began. While the rest of us waited for the doors to open, the 50th anniversary exhibit was a great tour of the history of the Planetarium. Everything from original blueprints to programs, to log notes about the times the planetarium closed, to original equipment from the past were present in the exhibit. For anyone who has been going to the Planetarium over the years, it will bring back a lot of memories. SLAS had a good representation last night with about ten members attending. Charles Schweighauser gave a thorough talk about the history of astronomy from the last 50 years and provided a

glimpse of where astronomy will be going in the near future. It was a lot of material to squeeze into one talk, but he managed to do it! Bert Vescolani, the current president and CEO for the Planetarium was present and had many discussions with the people in atten-dance at the event. He got a lot of feedback about the Planetarium and discussed some good ideas he has for the future. He will be in attendance at Astronomy Day this Satur-day. Astronomy Day will run from 10-4 pm Saturday, April 20. We will have 6-7 tables set up to include membership, general astronomy, toolkits with activities, telescope displays, and solar observing in front. The more people to volunteer for the day, the merrier, so

come on by and help us out! If you don’t know what to do while you’re here, fear not, we will help you get started with whatever activity is available. We need help at all levels, so don’t hesitate to come down! You don’t need to stay the entire day, either. Just volunteer when you can during the day. It will be a BIG help if you RSVP on Night Sky Network and let us know when you are coming. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! I hope to see you then. We will arrive about 9:30 am to set up the tables and displays. We will be giving away a Celestron Firstscope and six Galileoscopes, so we will need someone to help with the raffle forms for those. In addition to the activities during the day, we will also be doing a public telescope viewing on the Archery Field from 7-10pm. We also have a star party at Crestwood Park that evening, so fire up your telescope and RSVP for one or the other! It’s a busy week as we also have stargazing at Ellisville and Old Bonhomme Thursday and Friday. Doctoral candidate Ryan Clegg will be the speaker this month. Paul Baldwin had surgery this week, so he will not be giving the talk this evening. Here’s hoping Paul will have a speedy recovery. The Planetarium was the topic of KWMU’s St. Louis on the Air with Don Marsh on Tuesday. Charles Schweighauser was the guest, so if you missed his talk last night, here is another chance. Here is a link to the show: http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/50-years-astronomy-st-louis In addition, the program On Point, with Tom Ashbrook, featured experimental physicist Charles Lawrence from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and theoretical physicist Sean Carroll from the California Institute of Technology. They were talking about the results of scans from the ESA’s Planck satellite in the radio and microwave frequencies. Here is a link to the program: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/04/16/mapping-the-universe Elections are coming up in May, so we will be taking nominations at the meeting this month. Everyone from the cur-rent board will be running for office again with the exception of Jim Trull, so there will be a Board Member at Large position open for the May elections. We will have an election this month to fill the vacated BML position. Tom Nickleson is the nominee at this time.

Astronomy Day is

this Saturday! Come on by and

help us out!

Page 3 THE EVENT HORIZON

COMET PANSTARRS

Three photos by Jim Melka of Comet PanSTARRS 2011 L4.

Two more photos of Comet PanSTARRS are below.

On the left is a photo taken by Mark Jones

On the right is a photo taken by Jim Small

Above: Bert Vescolani introduces Charles Schweihauser for the 50th Anniversary Talk at the Planetarium. Center: Cook Feldman looks through one of the original Tinsley telescopes that was on the roof of the Planetarium in the 70’s and 80’s. Below: Bert Vescolani and Hal Donovan discuss the history of the

James S. McDon-nelll Planetarium. Hal worked for the Planetarium for many years.

Page 4 VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4 APRIL, 2013

Comet PanSTARRS photo by Grant Martin

Left: Bert Vescolani, Rich Heuermann, Wayne Clark and Gary Meyer meet after the talk and discuss the future of the planetarium and exhibits.

Above: Charles Schweighauser discusses the early years of the Planetarium with Mike Malolepszy and Lynnea, and John Lakey.

Scavenger Hunt: Find the photo of Mike Malolepszy and John Lakey from early years and the note from Rich Heuermann about the outdoor laser shows!

Page 5 THE EVENT HORIZON

Ayoo and Onowate: A Story Told by the Cree and the Beavers by

Bill Biermann It was in the days of before the before. Before the day of the first chief of the tribe……..before the builder of the first Teepee….before the father of the first Beaver. Even in those days , there were men on the earth, and they hunted. And when they died, they went to the plains above, and hunted there forever. Back then, there was no sky , and the sun lit up the Plains below where men resided, and the plains above where spirits resided. On the plains below, men hunted buffalo and moose. On the plains above, the spirits hunted smoke Deer and Bison of fire. It happened that the men on the plains of the earth became discontented, as all men do, and took to watching the hunts of the spirits, and envying them. For what is moose meat, and beaver tail, compared to magic meat of the fire bison, and the flashing skin of the Sky Eagle? One day, Onowate, a man with the strength of 3 bears threw his hatchet into the air, and killed a sky eagle. The Spirits were angry, and complained to the Great Spirit. And so, the Great Spirit hid the Plains above from the eyes of men with a Blue Sky Curtain. During the day , the sun shone on the plains below, and during the night , it shone on the plains above. And men continued to hunt deer, and the spirits, Deer of Smoke. At that time , there lived Ayoo, a woman with the cunning of three mountain lions, and she was curious. She wished to see the hunt of the spirits in the plains above. So she urged the men of the tribe to climb the trees and cut holes into the blue sky curtain. Now the trees back then were not as they are now. They were as large as a mountain, and tall. A hundred men holding hands could not circle the base of the tree, nor could they see to the top. The upper branches of these trees touched the blue sky curtain. And so the men, persuaded by Ayoo’s cunning, the cunning of 3 mountain lions, these men cut small hole in the sky curtain. And when night came, the sun shown on the plains above, and the light leaked out and twinkled. The men spent their evenings peering through the holes in the Sky curtain, and spying on the hunts of the sprits, and Ayoo sat on the highest branch, feeding her curiosity. One night, Onowate, the man with the strength of 3 bears, reached through on opening and caught a fire bison by the leg and pulled it through. Onowate’s arm was seared to the shoulder, and two of his fingers turned to ashes, but that night, he feasted on the dinner of the spirits. Once again, the spirits complained to the Great Sprits , but the great spirit refused to repair the sky curtain. It seemed that he was angry with the men and yet pleased by their audacity. But at last, he yielded to their pleas-ure , and with a twist of his hand, set the sky curtain spinning. No longer could the men look through the holes they had made. No sooner would one put his eye to the opening, and it start to move, and he either had to stop looking or he fell off the tree. Now the spinning has slowed down by now, but keep your eyes on the stars, and in half an hour, you will noticed that they have shifted. So the men in the plains below gave up their gazing and continued to hunt buffalo and moose, and the skin of the beaver. And Ayoo was unhappy, because her curiosity was not filled. Now Ayoo was a women with the cunning of three mountain lions, and she had a plan. She went to Ono-watte, the man with the strength of 3 bears, and whispered her plan. And one night, he went to where a tree grew that was the tallest tree on the flat of the earth. And its name was Gorikan, which means unbreakable. This tree Onawate climbed. And when he came to the top, he took the highest branch of the tree, Gorikan, and thrust it into the nearest hole in t he sky. And it stuck there.

(Continued on page 6)

Page 6 VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4 APRIL, 2013

Round and round that branch did the sky curtain twirl. But that one point never moved. For it was held there by the one that was unbendable. Then the spirits that hunt in the plains above became angry. They complained once more to Great Spirit. But he laughed at them. So they sent lightening. Then Rain, and hail, then stone, and iron. Nothing worked. The tree stood, and Ayoo filled her curiosity So in the end, the spirits aroused the terrible Snow Sprit who lives in the Below the below. And he came with winds and rain that beat on the three. Ice formed on the arms of Onowate, and even with the strength of 3 bears, he could no longer lift them. Hail beat on the head of Ayoo, and even with the strength of 3 mountain lions, she could not think straight. And snow, and more snow piled on the branches of Gorikan, until, with a great crash, the unbendable tree broke, and fell , and all were buried in the snow. Yet to this day, the sky curtain turns around that one point in the sky. And sometimes, at night, Ayoo stirs under her blanket of snow, and whispers into the ear of Onowate. And with his great strength, he begins to lift the tree once more so they can look into the hunting grounds above. And the spirits unchain the terrible Snow Spirit and rout him out from his cave BELOW the Below, and we have such great storms as make men tremble.

Rockwood Valley Middle School Star Party Report by Jim Small We set up before dark on the track around the football field at Rockwood Valley on March 13. It was the first opportu-nity for us to be able to see comet PanSTARRS and we were worried about whether we would be able to see it from our location. There were trees across the way and it seemed possible the comet might be blocked. The school set up sev-eral pairs of binoculars on tripods, I had my 100mm refractor, Jim and Ann Trull had their usual setup, and Mike Malolepszy and Lynnea had a telescope, and Bill Biermann and his son, Nathan had a scope set up.

It was about half an hour after sunset before we found the comet on the western horizon, about 12-15 degrees above the horizon. Once discovered, I instantly had a line of about 40 people interested in looking at it. It was a terrific site! Of course, that made it nearly impossible for me to try to get any images of the comet on the camera rig I had set up next to my telescope. I had to constantly monitor the scope to keep up with the comet. We watched it all the way to the trees, then the crowd pretty well thinned out. The site would be a decent place to view some of the other objects present in an early spring sky, but the crowd had already dissipated by that time.

We received a very nice note from the people at Rockwood Valley: “We appreciate these programs and the time of the volunteers spent with our students. Your volunteers did a great job and they were the focus of the event. Thank you!” They also said the school staff and families complimented the SLAS for the opportunity.

It is certainly rewarding to get notes like this complimenting us on the work that we all do as volunteers for public and school events. It makes all the work worthwhile!

(Continued from page 5)

Welcome New Members!

SLAS welcomes the following new members! Robert Gavaghan 03/01/13

Supratik Dutta 03/05/13 Walter Hass & Family 03/14/13

John Zinn 03/27/13 Connie Gleason 04/03/13 David Scrivner 04/03/13

Be sure to welcome them at our next meeting!

Loaner Scope Auction Postponed Until June

We have been fortunate to have three quality telescopes donated to the Society in the last few months. To make some room for the new additions, some telescopes will be auctioned off to the membership at the June meeting. The decision about which telescopes will be auctioned will be announced in the newsletter for April. Pictures of the scopes will be published in the newsletter so people will have an idea of what will be available.

Page 7 VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4 APRIL, 2013

Mid-States Regional Convention 2013 by

John Johnson, OAS The MSRAL 2013 Convention is less than 2 months away! It is scheduled for May17th & 18th. Here is the link to the MSRAL Convention web-site: http://www.msral2013.org/ There you can register on-line via PayPal or download, print out a registration form, fill it out, and mail it to us at the address provided. We have been working very hard to provide you with an excellent line-up of speakers, a couple of great evening meals, plus many other activities. The beautiful Kiewit Lodge in the Mahoney State Park will serve as the main venue for the convention, plus we will have access to the Strategic Air & Space Museum nearby. We will have two key-note speakers, one for the Star-B-Que on Friday evening, which will be Dr. Bharat Ratra, from Kansas State University. He is a well known astrophysicist and popular speaker on Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Expanding Universe. By the way the Star-B-Que will be in the Strategic Air & Space Museum's atrium under the sus-pended SR-71! The other keynote speaker for the banquet Saturday night is Mr. Richard Harshaw, another very entertaining speaker from the Saguaro Astronomy Club in Phoenix, AZ. There is a lot of information on the site about the Mahoney State Park, the Strategic Air & Space Museum and other ac-tivities to take in around the Omaha,NE area. Please check it out. The Kiewit Lodge is an ideal venue for the conven-tion, and you can stay right there! But if you want a room at the lodge, please get the reservation made soon. OAS is holding a number of rooms at the Kiewit Lodge only until April 15th for MSRAL attendees. There are also some other very reason-able hotels in the area, and all types of camping sites available not only in the park and but also at a KOA camp-ground nearby. Another thought is to team up with other MSRAL'ers and rent a cabin, and split the costs. The cabins do fill up quickly though, so if you are thinking about that option, better make a decision quickly. We at OAS are really looking forward to hosting the convention this year, so please come help us have a great time! If you have any questions, you can post them on the MSRAL yahoo group, or contact us through the web-site. John Johnson Convention Vice-Chair Right top: The Lodge at Mahoney State Park

Right bottom: Group shot from the 2012 Midstates Regional Convention.

Page 8 THE EVENT HORIZON

Page 9 VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4 APRIL, 2013

SAINT LOUIS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MINUTES OF EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING: March 7, 2013

1. Opening Activities Meeting called to order at 7:05pm Board members present: Jim Small, Rhonda Whelan, Mark Jones, Grant Martin, Jim Trull, Greg Gaines February minutes approved. Motion by Jim Trull, seconded by Grant Martin

2. External Business: SLSC Announcements: First Friday Night for April. Theme is Aliens or Astronauts (Costume, alien or astronaut) 7:00 Sky Tonight 9:00 Seeking New Earths First Friday Night for May Theme is Star Trek vs. Star Wars (eve of Star Wars Day – May 4) 50th Anniversary Celebration April 13-20. April 13-14 will have hands on activities & special guests, Monday,15th Science with the Symphony, Voyager, the Golden record, Tuesday,16th Charles Schweighauser talk in evening. If you have photos to share, send to memories@slsc.org Videos, post to youtube and send a link. Astronomy Day April 20th Board approved motion to donate 6 Galileoscopes for Astronomy Day door prizes. Motion made by Jim Small, seconded by Jim Trull, board approved motion. Plans are to have solar viewing outside and exhibit tables inside 10-4pm. Will demo NSN toolkits. Need to setup evening telescope viewing on NSN Also April 20th Telescope viewing at Crestwood Park need volunteers. Link to events: http://www.slsc.org/planetarium

3. Director Reports: President – Jim Small Jeromy Naethe board position needs to be filled. Term goes through May 2014. Nominations in March and vote in April Next board meeting date: April 11 Star-gazing under the Gateway Arch dates are set: May 20, June 17, July 15, August 12, September 13, October 11. September and October are Friday nights, all others are Mondays

Vice President – Bill Biermann Bill sent report as follows: March Introduction to Comets and Visualizing their Orbits (Including C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) and C/2012 S1 (ISON) - Joseph Mar-cus. April Exoplanets - Paul Baldwin. May Dark Matter - Ram Cowsik. June The Moon - Ryan Clegg. July Relativity - Ian Redmount. August Cosmic Rays - Martin Israel. September Cosmology - Mark Alford. October Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) - Gary Kronk

Secretary – Mark J No report

Treasurer/ALCor – Rhonda W Loaner scope equipment needs to be inventoried for insurance purposes. SLAS insurance due May 1st. Financial report through Feb 28th sent to Board. $2270.63 into saving from Star party collections by Lois Fitter, mentioned in last month’s meeting minutes. Profit/Loss report will go into newsletter. N990 tax form has been filed. Sioux passage park do we accept the $5/person fee. Mark will check the minutes. Jim will ask Cook for what previous resolution

Hospitality – Grant M No report Board member at large reports Greg Gaines – two new telescope donations, Zubmell 10” Dobsonian with many accessories; Meade ETX-125 with accessories Motion was made to provide Mr. Knight and Mr. Gavangh, 1 year SLAS memberships for their generous donations. Motion by Jim Small seconded by Rhonda Whelan, motion passed Greg Gaines made a motion as follows: “Due to space limitations the loaner committee make a motion to put up for auction to the general membership the “6 Crite-rion Dynamax SCT and the 6” Newtonian on German Equatorial. Further that the auction be publicized in the March and April Newsletter and e-mails broadcast to the membership though Nigh Sky Network. Auction bids will be accepted only at the April general meeting. Winning bids must be paid for the night of the meeting. “ Motion seconded by Jim Trull motion passed Jim Trull – I volunteered to replaced Mark at last Babler Viewing session. SLAS names are in the reflector for the Venus Transit award

4. Committee Reports: If needed

Membership – Don Ficken sent report. Our society's membership count on 2/28/2013 is 165 members which is five members above the beginning of the year. We gained four new youth members during the month (and lost none) and gained four new family members. The trend report shows that family members are up sharply over the last four years (36 members on 12/31/2009 to 60 members on 2/28/2013) with overall membership up 12% over the same period.

Merchandise – sold the clothes rack $20

Star Parties Coordinator: Mike Malolepszy sent the following report: Volunteers needed! Please contact the Star Party Coordinator (Michael Malolepszy) or SLAS officers, or RSVP using the links below if you can help.

March 13, 2013 (WED) Astronomy Night Rockwood Valley Middle School, March 20, 2013 (9 day old Moon) Francis Park Stargazing, March 29, 2013 (FRI) Avery Park / Kirkwood, April 5, 2013 (FRI) SLSC PTV, April 6, 2013 (SAT) Kirkwood Park, April 17, 2013 (7 day old Moon) Francis Park Stargazing, April 18, 2013 (THUR) Ellisville stargazing, April 20, 2012 (SAT) Stargazing at Crestwood Park, Astronomy Day at SLSC, April 26, 2013 (FRI) Astronomy Night at Wild-wood Middle School, April 27, 2013 (SAT) Creve Coeur Park, Scout program at Beaumont (not confirmed yet)

5. Old Business

None

6. New Business

None

Motion to close to meeting made by Mark Jones, second by Grant Martin

Meeting adjourned 8:56pm

Page 10

Upcoming Star Parties and Other Events

For details on these and other upcoming events, check out the Night Sky Network Calendar linked on the Home Page for SLAS at http://www.slasonline.org

SLAS Executive Board Meetings Location will be at the Edward Jones YMCA. Thursday, May 9, 2013 Thursday, June 6, 2013 Thursday, July 11, 2013 Thursday, August 8, 2013 Thursday, September 12, 2013 Thursday, October 10, 2013 Thursday, November 7, 2013 Thursday, December 12, 2013

Dark Sky Observing Dates Saturday, May 11 Saturday, June 8 Saturday, July 6 Saturday, August 10 Saturday, September 7 Saturday, October 5 Saturday, November 2. Francis Park Events: These events are on Wednesdays the week nearest the first quarter Moon April 17, 2013 (7 day old Moon) May 15, 2013 (5 day old Moon) June 12, 2013 (4 day old Moon) July 17, 2013 (9 day old Moon) August 14, 2013 (8 day old Moon) September 11, 2013 (6 day old Moon) October 9, 2013 (4 day old Moon) November 6, 2013 (3 day old Moon) December 11, 2013 (8 day old Moon)

SLSC Public Telescope Viewing Events: These events are held the first Friday of the month- Friday, May 3 Friday, June 7 Friday, July 5 Friday, August 2

Stargazing at the Gateway Arch Dates: Monday, May 20 Monday, June 17 Monday, July 15 Monday, August 12 Friday, September 13 Friday, October 11

SLAS EVENTS

April 16 Solar Viewing SLSC, 50th Anniversary for the Planetarium 17 Francis Park 18 Ellisville Stargazing 19 SLAS Regular Meeting 20 Astronomy Day (10-4) - JSM Planetarium 20 PTV (7-10) - Planetarium 20 Crestwood Park 25 Embassy Apartments Penthouse Moon watch 26 Astronomy Night at Wildwood Middle school 27 Creve Coeur Golf Course 27 Cub Scouts at Beaumont 29 Manchester Parks May 1 Churchill Center and School 3 SLSC PTV 4 Night Skies Over Babler 15 Francis Park 17 SLAS Regular Meeting 17-19 MSRAL 20 Gateway Arch Stargazing June 7 SLSC PTV 7 Audubon Center at Riverlands 12 Francis Park 17 Gateway Arch 22 Des Peres Campout 29 Girl Scout Camp - Pevely, MO

THE EVENT HORIZON

LET US KNOW YOU ARE COMING! To RSVP for any of these events log in to the Night Sky Network and submit your RSVP. If the event is canceled, you will be notified immediately according to the preferences you have selected. For more information about events, such as Moon phase, clear sky clock, weather report or a map of what’s up, see the calendar online.

Page 11 VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4 APRIL, 2013

SLAS OFFICERS President Jim Small 314-307-0692 president at slasonline.org

Vice President Bill Biermann 314-596-6738 vicepresident at slasonline.org

Secretary Mark Jones 636-394-2342 secretary at slasonline.org

Treasurer Rhonda Whelan 314-750-0262 treasurer at slasonline.org

Hospitality Grant Martin hospitality at slasonline.org

Board Members at Large: Jim Trull 314-842-6165 board13 at slasonline.org VACANT board14 at slasonline.org Greg Gaines 314-277-3082 board15 at slasonline.org ALCOR Rhonda Whelan 314-750-0262 (Astronomical League Correspondent ) treasurer at slasonline.org MSRAL Rep. Jim Small 314-909-7211 msral_rep at astroleague.org

COMMITTEE CHAIRS Membership Don Ficken 636-225-0269 membership at slasonline.org Publicity Rich Heuermann 314-962-9231 publicity at slasonline.org

‘SLASdialogs’ Moderator Mark Jones, Rhonda Whelan dialogsmoderator at yahoo.com

Webmaster Jim Small 314-909-7211 webmaster at slasonline.org

Newsletter Ed. Jim Small 314-909-7211 newsletter at slasonline.org

Loaner Equip. Greg Gaines 314-277-3082 loaner at slasonine.org

Merchandise Grant Martin merchandise at slasonline.org Librarian Jim Small 314-909-7211 librarian at slasonline.org

Star Party Coord Mike Malolepszy 314-781-4701 starparty at slasonline.org Dark Site Coord. Mark Jones 636-394-2342 darksite at slasonline.org

Observing Programs Mark Jones 636-394-2342 observing at slasonline.org Telescope Making Bill Davis, Jim Melka 314-469-3061 telescope at slasonline.org

SLAS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Name: Last __________________________________________________________

First, Middle Initial _______________________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip Code ___________________________________________________

email address ___________________________________________________

Youth @ $10.00 / 1 year (18 yrs or younger) $________________

Individual @ $25.00 / 1 year $________________

Family @ $40.00/1 year $________________

Publications with discount available with your SLAS membership:

Sky and Telescope @ $32.95 / 1 year $________________

(S&T may also be renewed at their website: http://www.skyandtelescope.com)

Astronomy @ $34.00 / 1 year $________________

TOTAL ENCLOSED $_________________

Check all that apply: ___ Renewal ___ Address Change Only ___ Please send my newsletter by regular mail ___ New Member!

Please send completed form with check (no cash please) made payable to

St Louis Astronomical Society

Rhonda Whelan, Treasurer P.O. Box 256

Waterloo, IL 62298 e-mail: treasurer at slasonline.org

ST. LOUIS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

Devoted to the Interest and Advancement of the Science of Astronomy

St. Louis Astronomical Society

Jim Small 13128 Cozyhill Drive St. Louis, MO 63122

Who We Are and What We Do St. Louis Astronomical Society is a not-for-profit organization established in 1936. SLAS is devoted to the interest and advancement of the science of astronomy. Our mission is to promote an understanding of the science of astronomy to our members and to the public. Membership is open to any-one with an interest in astronomy. For more information contact any SLAS officer or visit our website listed above. SLAS is affiliated with the Astronomical League, Night Sky Network and the Mid-States Region of the Astronomical League. Meetings are held the 3rd Friday of each month at McDonnell Hall at Washington University. See the map to the right for directions.

We’re on the Web! http://www.slasonline.org

Chaplain