1. Chris's Introduction

Chris gave a brief introduction for new members. There was a meeting agenda and then a quick review of the summer's activities. Chris asked for any ideas for future speakers.

One speaker that will be in town is Clifford Will of Washington University at St. Louis. He will be speaking sometime on October 24 at the INCO Centre. Chris will send out an email when more information is known.

2. Observing

Randy

Pics of the recent conjunction and planet shots.
Pics of SBQ.
Eyepiece shot of the Moon.
Picture of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon over Kenmount Hill.

David Caruk

David showed us one of the shiny worm gears he has been working on lately, with not much more than a lathe and an electric drill. This was made for $5 from scrap, instead of the usual $300 or so.

3 Garry Dymond and David Caruk

Nova East Trip (Jim Gillard went too).

Garry and David showed pictures from their Astro road trip.

Pics of David Lane's Observatory.

Halifax's Observatory.

Roy Bishop's Observatory. ("Objects in mirror are farther than they appear.") Roy's Observatory is not what Garry expected. Nary a computer in site, and practical gadgets everywhere, right down to an acrylic cover for the mirror that you pull out of the way.

Jim Gillard's Observatory. Garry showed some shots of the inside, and also a view from the outside, showing Jim's location in Twillingate.

NGC 7331 from Garry's modified web camera.

4 Gary Case

Gary covered the Sky Next Month and then showed us a planetarium program, Starry Night. Right now Venus, Uranus, and Neptune are visible. Saturn rises late at night. Mars is good all this month, rising at around 9 pm. On October 30 it will be 20 arc-seconds in diameter, and also fairly high in the sky, making for good viewing.

Gary gave us a tour of Starry Night 2.1. He began by showing us where the planets can be found. We also visited the Summer Triangle (best in September, despite the name), M57, the Dumbbell Nebula in Sagitta, and the Wild Duck cluster in Aquila. Along the way, we learned the interface for Starry Night 2.1. Though an old version, Gary and Randy agree it has a better interface than the more recent versions (you can order Starry Night from http://www.space.com).

5 Coffee

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David Bourgeois

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