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Newsletter of the Quad Cities Astronomical Society     www.qcas.org

January 2019 QCAS Mission Statement: To stimulate an interest in the science of astronomy in the Quad Cities Area, to nurture an ongoing desire by Quad Cities Astronomical Society members to study the cosmos and to provide members of our community opportunities to experience the beauty and joy of Astronomy.

 

Presidents Greeting:

Welcome to 2019 and the first electronic only edition of the Meridian! I am working on the best way to present the newsletter on our new site, but my intent going forward is to set up each monthly Meridian in 2 sections… a section that is available for guests to read and a section for members only. The guests section will contain the less business related portions of our meetings while the members section will be more business and meeting minutes oriented. I believe that you can subscribe to both sections and receive monthly notifications that they are there. Also, as in any forum, you’ll be able to reply to each Meridian post with any corrections, comments, concerns that you may have regarding that issue and its contents…. Pretty cool!

We are always interested in hearing about things you’d like the club to be involved in, how we can further your interests in the hobby, and help you make the most of your time as a member of the QCAS. It is the Boards responsibility to hear you and figure out ways to best implement those ideas. With the new web site, you’ll have an additional means to communicate your thoughts, and we look forward to hearing them. With a little luck, seeing suggestions and answers and actions on line may entice some of you to seek officer positions… we can only grow through your involvement! Let’s see if we can get 2019 started with a bang!

Clear Skies, Jeff

Last Society Meeting Minutes:

Date/Time Location

6:30 PM on Monday, December 17^th, 2018       

McCarthy Hall, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA

 Attendance (13 in attendance)

Jeff Struve, Sam Santiago, Byron Davies, Cecil Ward, Mike Dannenfeldt, Robert Mitchell, Don Robinson, Rusty Case, Ken Boquist, Alan Sheidler, Paul Levesque, Ian Spangenberg, Matt Neilssen

 Discussion and Topics

2019 Officers – Congratulations!

President – Jeff Struve

Vice President – Mike Ombrello

Treasurer – Matt Neilssen

Secretary – Robert Mitchell

Director – Dana Taylor

Facilities – Mike Dannenfeldt

Publicity – Paul Levesque

Programming – Jim Rutenbeck

Outings – 

Dec 06 – Josue (Sunset to Sunrise!) to Menke

Dec 08 – Ken, Sam, Rusty, Jeff to Menke

Dec 09 – Ken imaging at private property near Joy, IL

Dec 09 – Jim imaging

Dec 10 – Byron imaging

Dec 10 – Alan imaged comet

Dec 15 – PAC

Dec 15 QCAS

• Trouble setting up gear in dark; Ken handled crowds for first 40 minutes
• Pleasant Valley people brought scopes

Dec 16 – Ken backyard imaging

Gear – 

Mike Dannenfeldt – Nebula Filters, 2019 S&T Observation Calendar, and Pocket Atlas

Sam: narrow-band filters for Horizon camera, LRGB filters, power hub, focuser

Byron: CGM from doctor in Bettendorf

Alan: Nikon D7500 camera

Rusty: Nikon D5200 camera             

Jeff Struve – 10 Micron GM1000HPS mount and AstroMi MGP Weather Station

Main Presentations

Jeff Struve – handed out the last of the annual banquet awards

Jeff Struve – Discuss how we can create a group activity to detect exoplanets with our own personal gear.

• sharpcap.co.uk: monthly fee for versions higher than 3.0; earlier versions free
• AstroImageJ: free program, takes images and graphs light curve
• YouTube: The Exoplanets Channel

Matt Neilssen – the new web site www.QCAstro.org

• Admins monitor all posts and will fix mistakes
• Member galleries: uploaded photos will self-publish once your gallery is set up; astronomy-related photos only

Other Discussion

Messier Marathon – Open Discussion

Astronomy Day – Open Discussion

Meteor Shower Party – Open Discussion

Eastern Iowa Star Party – Open Discussion

Observatory Relocation – Open Discussion

St. Ambrose University, “The Buzz Magazine” November Issue

 Review of Minutes

The November Minutes as per the December Meridian were approved.

 Treasures Report

Membership Dues – Registration and renewal in progress

General Fund – $6865.35

Observatory Relocation Fund – TBD

Total Balance –   $6865.35

Old Business

• The doors at McCarthy Hall are kept locked when school is not in session. Those months are as follows: January, May, June, July, and December… On those meeting dates, the doors will be open from 6:30 PM and locked again at 7:15 PM. If you are running late, and need access after 7:15, text Jeff at 309-737-0206 and he’ll send someone to let you in. We hold a brief social/Open Discussion time from 6:30 until the meeting starts at 7:00 PM.

         Please check your email and/or Facebook for potential last minute room change information!

• Observatory Relocation
  • We discussed the continuing endeavor to relocate the Jens Wendt Observatory to the Menke observatory site. We feel that a 24’ X 36’ structure will meet our needs in housing the 20” and 16” Newt’s as well as additional pads/piers for member use.
  • Karl Adlon recommended Steve Gripp, http://stevegrippinc.com/ to move our scopes and dome from Sherman Park to WREEC
  • Robert sent a request for reference to St. Ambrose University to help legitimize our building new structures at Menke. Upon their reply, Jeff will send out similar letters to WREEC and Scott County.
  • Robert scheduled a meeting with Paul Koch, Paula McNutt, Jodi Prosise, and Mike Poster to discuss the project and talk about a reference letter. Along with Robert, Jeff, Jim and George were in attendance. We also discussed grants and Nikki DeFauw and Regina Matheson will lend a hand in helping us with that task. We also discussed the need for insurance. This might be best obtained by joining the Astronomical League where insurance can be purchased at a large discount.
  • Jeff sent initial specifications – building use, proposed size, and telescope dimensions – to Stefan Reichmann, Teleskop-Schutzbauten.de, http://teleskop-schutzbauten.de/ . Stefan advised he would help with plans and specs, w/o charge, if he could place the project on his website.
    • Jeff sent initial specifications – building use, proposed size, telescope dimensions – to Scott Horstman of Back Yard Observatories for review. Scott gave an estimate of $24,000.00 for materials (including motor) and labor in constructing the building on our slab. We install piers, scopes, and hook up electrical facilities. Scott offered to provide CAD sketches for our draftsman. They do not do Dome structures.

 New Business

• Facilities
  • Need Mouse repellent for the observatory
  • 16” Drive not working
  • Lock on Roll Off Roof Bldg is sticking
  • Timer for heater
• Future Presentations:
  • Nebulae Presentation for the public – Jeff Struve
  • Alan Sheidler has a number of presentations available
  • Steve VanHyfte will talk on the LA, Observatory, Crater, Dark Skies….

Adjournment

After the meeting, members were invited to continue the discussion at the Village Inn just a few blocks from St. Ambrose… those attending included Sam Santiago, Mike Dannenfeldt, Jim Rutenbeck, Byron Davies, and

 

 

 

 

 

Next Society Meeting:

Date/Time Location

6:30 PM on Monday January 21^st, 2019

McCarthy Hall, St. Ambrose University, Davenport IA

January Presentation

 Jan – TBD

Feb – Dr. Mitchel on AES

Presentations for future meetings include Steve VanHyfte on Meteor Crater, AZ, Christian Allen on weather forecasting, Jeff Struve on Nebulae for public outreach, and Alan Sheidler on topics to be agreed upon.  Contact Jim Rutenbeck or Jeff Struve if you’d like to make a presentation.

Other Business

• 20” Newt Refurb

Last Board Meeting Minutes:

Date/Time Location

Monday, December 3^rd, 2018

6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Village Inn – Elmore, Davenport

Attendance

Jeff Struve – Present

Craig Cox – Present

Robert Mitchell – Present

Matt Neilssen – Absent

Mike Dannenfeldt – Present

Jim Rutenbeck – Present

Dana Taylor – Absent

GUESTS

Mike Ombrello – Present

Paul Levesque – Absent

Steve VanHyfte – Absent

Agenda

• 2019 board meetings on 1^st Wed… Jan is on the 16^th
• November Dinner Meeting November 19 – Annual Dinner
• 6:00 social 6:30 Meal

 

• 2019 EISP
• Speakers
  • Lee Carkner
  • Natalie Batalla
  • Scott Roberts
  • Sheldon
  • Doug Slauson
• Fee
  • $15 for Star Party and Speakers
  • $10 for Electricity

 

• Jens Wendt Observatory Relocation to the Menke site

• 8/10 Meeting with St. Ambrose to discuss the project and reference letter.
• Grant Committee
  • Steve VanHyfte wrote a cover letter/introduction
    • Attendance Books
    • Separate account for Observatory Fund
    • Need document from IRS on 501
  • Craig Cox has drawn up the sketches and artist rendition
  • George Bailey, Jim Rutenbeck, and Alan Sheidler are compiling list of grantors.
    • Carver
  • Other Details:
    • Roll off Roof Building – 24’ X 36’
    • Piers for 16” and 20” Newtonians and room for tripod mounted scopes
    • Poured floor – Expansion joints to eliminate vibrations
    • Roll off Roof building to be frame, Dome Building to be concrete block for aesthetically matching the current structures – have a warm room for PC remote control?
    • 6’ walls with an additional 18” wall built onto roof for head room when roof is closed
    • Additional electrical capacity
    • Additional pads w/electricity outside
    • Make sure Wi-Fi band width is sufficient
    • Mitchell will check for the Menke Roll Off Building plans and see if their Engineering Class will take on drawing prints and materials list for our building. Jeff has pics of the plans.
    • Stefan Reichmann of Teleskop-Schutzbauten provided an online 3D model of the project and will try to have additional specifications ready by Sept 1.
    • Scott Horstman of Backyard Observatories gave an estimate of $24K for a 24’X32’ roll off roof structure including motor. This would be on our slab, with us doing all electrical and pier work.

 

• Web Site

• PayPAl
• Will contain Treasurer Info (Board Member Access), Minutes, Applications, Links, Other
  • Approved budget of up to $2500.00 for web site less picture gallery

 

• Treasurer Report
  • Funds $6791.85
  • SAU has donated $1300.00 toward the 2018 EISP
  • We need to do a complete inventory of items owned

                                                                                      

OTHER

• Administrative
  • Main agenda topics for 2019
• EISP
  • Moving Jens Wendt Observatory to the Menke site
  • New Website
• Trifolds
  • Jeff to try to have draft ready for the April Board meeting
• Membership Registration/Renewal Forms
  • Jeff to try to have ready for June Board Meeting
• Membership Cards
  • Use current until they run out
• Astronomical League
• Discounted club insurance for club members
• $10 for club
• Minimum of 5 members
• $7.50 per member unless all join then $5.00 per member
• Public Nights
  • Lights Off Signs and Parking Area Signs
    • Craig will investigate
  • Canned Presentations
• Jeff has the following presentations completed
  • Binary Star Systems (manual and automated)
  • The Moon (manual and automated)
  • Spectroscopy 101 (manual)
• Jeff has the following presentations in progress
  • Nebulae
  • Intro to Imaging
  • Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors
  • Star Clusters
• Revamp 20” (Steve VanHyfte) – Mirror cell revamp to 18 point (we are 9 point), Mirror edge support, Flip mirror, Replace the drive cover – Tentative completion date, July 14^th Public Open
  • Add a refractor?
• Focusers not aligned properly
• Inferior focusers may be adding the flexure
• TT John Baker about 18pt floatation system…
• Drive Cover Box – has template ready

Next Board Meeting:

Date/Time Location

Unless otherwise noted, Board Meetings will be held on the 1^st Wednesday of the month at 6:30 PM at the Village Inn Restaurant on Elmore and 53^rd in Davenport, IA. Please notify Jeff Struve if you plan on attending so seating arrangements can be made. Ordering from the menu is Dutch treat.

The January Board Meeting will be held on January 16^th!

 Agenda

• 2019 EISP
• Upcoming Events
  • Moving Jens Wendt Observatory to the Menke site
    • Messier Club
  • New Website
  • Treasurer’s Report
• New documents
• Trifold
• Application Form
• Membership Renewal Form
• Membership Cards

 Other Business

• Discuss work to be done on the 20”
• Discuss continued inventory
• Discuss selling our heavy fiberglass step ladder and replacing it with an aluminum ladder for use in the roll off roof building.

 Secondary Topics

• SCT Collimation Party
• Exoplanet Detection
• PixInsight meetings/class
• Here is a new PixInsight Tutorial! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvuMrHEWaS8&feature=youtu.be

Submitted Articles:

Skyward—December 2018

By Dr. David Levy

Inner Starlight

In 1994, Star Trek:  The Next Generation was one of the most popular shows on television.  The episodes were so good that it was easy to tell that the cast was especially enjoying themselves.  One of the episodes that year was “The Inner Light.”  It was a beautiful story in which a strange probe approaches the Enterprise and attaches a beam to Captain Picard, who loses consciousness and has a dream in which he is living on a distant planet.  He enjoys a full life there, with a wife, two children and a grandson, and he becomes politically active in his community.  He even outlives his wife.  One day his daughter asks him to watch a rocket launch.    He hesitates, but then his deceased wife and best friend appear.  The Captain then exclaims, “It’s the probe that was sent for me!”

After  enjoying this episode many times, I was reminded of another beautiful story.  Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1824, it is called The Great Stone Face and concerns a large natural face-like structure hanging near Franconia Notch, across some granite rocks in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.  The site was magnificent, at last until a few years ago when the face fell down in a big heap.  The cliffs are still there, but no more face.

The night sky is much like Star Trek, and much like Hawthorne.  We look at a group of stars, perhaps a constellation or two, and our brains begin to make connections.  On Star Trek we share the idea of travelling through space, even if all we have to warp through space with our two good eyes and a telescope.  Some of us may even remember chapter 12 of Hawthorne’s  masterpiece The Scarlet letter, in which the “A” is likened to a meteor crossing the sky at midnight:  “…before Mr. Dimmesdale had done speaking, a light gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky. It was doubtless caused by one of those meteors, which the night-watcher may so often observe burning out to waste, in the vacant regions of the atmosphere.  … And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom; and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting link between those two.”

Was the meteor an interpretation of the scarlet A parading across the sky?  The night sky is full of messages, and only some of those messages come from astronomers.  The rest come from people like you and me, people who have innocently stood up a looked at the stars, and who have wondered.  The rest come from Shakespeare, and Tennyson, and perhaps even Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The next time you look at the stars, picture yourself not just watching them but reading them.   Learn the stories they tell, as interpreted by your favorite writers  whether they be Shakespeare, Tennyson, Hawthorne, or even you.  What sparks your imagination can be something as simple as a story you have heard, seen read, or even written.  Even in our modern age, the message could indeed be written in the stars.

Although this is not what Captain Picard saw from his planet during “The Inner Light” it is a view of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, seen from East Jordan, Michigan. 

Photograph by David H. Levy on Thursday, September 18, 2014.

 

MOVEMENT OF COMET 46/P WIRTANEN, 10 DEC 2018 0400U TO 0420U

By Ken Boquist

 The following four images show the movement of Comet Wirtanen over a 20 minute period.  The first photo has an arrow to show a star that can be used as a reference point in following the movement of the comet.  The pictures were taken under terrible conditions, so various exposures were being used, and conditions changed from one image to the next.

 

300 second exposure ending at 04:00.

 

180 second exposure ending at 04:05.

 

420 second exposure ending at 04:12.

 

360 second exposure ending at 04:20.

 

Gallery:

 

2018_12_15 Jens Wendt Open

 

Byron

 

Ken and Jeff

 

Alan Sheidler

Above are two pictures taken last evening from my back yard in Moline, Illinois.  These pictures were taken at 7:26 and 7:28pm.  The 2 minutes between snapshots is sufficient to easily show the motion of the comet relative to the background stars.  These were taken with a Nikon D7500 SLR camera attached to a 10″ Meade LX200 telescope with a 0.63 focal reducer, yielding an effective focal length of 1575mm.  The camera was set to ISO6400 and 10 second exposure time.  The comet was just visible to me in the finder scope, so I would guess binoculars would deliver a nice view.  If it is clear tonight, you might want to go out and try for it.  Good hunting!  Thanks.  Al.

After the Dec 10 PAC meeting, I made the above attempt at capturing 46P/Wirtanen from my back yard.  I used a D7500 Nikon camera and 35mm F1.8 lens, ISO 1600 and 5 sec exposure time.  There is significant haze and light pollution, but the comet is clearly visible as a fuzzy little ball near the center of this image.  Neat!  Thanks.  Al.

 

Dana Taylor

 

Byron Davies

Played around with the imager on the AR152 tonight (Dec 10).  Focused on M42 for now since it is any easy target.  Camera appears to do better with out filters. This was the first time I used the imager on the refractor.  I had to buy an extension to align for focus.  It will only reach focus with the reducer on the short camera extension and also without the reducer being used.  The filter works great with the naked eye viewing but with the camera image turns red period.  My EgdeHD performs great with filters and without but the stars are crisper in the refractor.  For EAA both scopes perform really well.  I think my eyepieces will be collecting dust!

Byron. 

 

Ken Boquist

I played around with the Mallincam in the backyard tonight, 12/16/18 and ended up trying to image a few planetarys.  The attached shot of NGC 7662 turned out real nice, although it has more of a greenish cast than blue.  It looks somewhat like some of the pics I’ve seen on the web.

I’ve determined that for some reason, my computer doesn’t recognize my Mallincam frame grabber, but it does recognize yours.  So, I guess that means there’s something wrong with mine.

The pics labeled 2200, 2205, 2212, and 2221 are a copy of each of the four pics I took, and they were cropped to make it easier to see the motion of the comet over the 21 minute period of the pics.  The numbers represent the time (24 hour clock) they were taken on 9 December.  The 2200 image has an arrow to draw the reader’s attention for use as a reference point in seeing the movement.  These four images should be shown in sequence at the meeting.  I couldn’t achieve a very good consistency in appearance from one image to the next.  A lot of this has to do with my lack of knowledge of image processing, which I’m never going to be good at, and some of it probably has to do with the lousy conditions.  Some of it is due to different exposure times for each one, since I was trying to find what would work given the conditions.

The other pic is a larger image (i.e., not cropped) of the 2221 image.  It is a 300 second image, and I thought this was the best of the bunch.

2200

 

2205

 

2212

 

2221

 

Jim Rutenbeck

Attached are 5 monochrome photos I took using my ASI 290mm planetary camera in my back yard with the moon present.  Software: SharpCap using its live capture and stretching tool.  Three images taken with an AP 155mm refractor operating at f5.2.  The smaller NGC 891 and M33 were taken with an ES 80mm f6 refractor.

NGC891  with 6 inch  Total exposure 66 minutes

NGC891  with 3 inch  Total exposure 168 minutes   Moon in the sky

M27         Total exposure 40 minutes

NGC 7635   Bubble    Total exposure 35 minutes   (needs more exposure time)

M33             Total exposure 61 minutes    Moon in the sky

 

I used individual exposures of from 5 to 20 seconds.  This camera has very low read noise so you can take hundreds of short exposures.  SharpCap live capture stacks each image as it is downloaded and subtracts a master dark.  The darks are 5 to 20 seconds so it doesn’t take long to take the darks!  Outside temperature was about 25 degrees F which helped since this is an uncooled camera.  I was cold but once the computer and camera were running I went in my house to warm up.

The process is pretty easy.  Short exposures are forgiving for mount tracking.  SharpCap rejects bad individual frames caused by wind, drifting focus, a few clouds, etc. This camera has a chip with a diagonal dimension of 6.5mm so the field of view is small. 

M33 doesn’t look good.  There was moon in the sky, frost forming and some haze.

Interesting there is almost as much detail in the NGC 891 taken with the 80mm refractor but the exposure time was about 2.5 times as long. 

Josue Granillo

I have been pushing my setup to see what is the limit of what a phone can do. I had 2 targets that evening, the Flaming Star Nebula, and the Horsehead. With surface brightnesses of 26 and 28, I found a point where the object is too faint to properly image with a cellphone over an eyepiece on a 8″ telescope. While there is some signal on the Horsehead and the Oxygen emission from the Flaming Star Nebula, multiple hours gives such a noisy image that I feel my time would be better spent on brighter targets. Also I am pretty sure that I am losing a significant portion of Hydrogen alpha emission from a glass filter in the phone.

P.S.

It was so cold ice formed on the inside of my car. Ice formed on the outside of my scope and eventually the secondary. I stayed warm with blankets and winter garb.

No pics yet!

Jeff Struve

Ken, Sam, Rusty and I met at the Legion at about 5:30, and had burgers fries and some Pepsi’s. We got to the observatory about 7:30,  and decided  that we would wait on any outdoor set up to see if the clouds cleared. Well, the clouds never went away, we might have seen Mars and maybe a star or two peek out, but nothing even promising enough to think about setting up scopes other than my new one inside.

It was fun messing around getting it set up properly, there will be a learning curve, but nothing that we can’t handle. The mount is very, very, very, very, quiet! We didn’t know that it was even slewing when I was poking around the buttons to see how to check things like the location coordinates. At any rate, we figured out how to set up the coordinates, stored the coordinates and saved it as Menke Observatory, checked out the encoders to see if it remembered where it was at when the power was off, it did! Also played around with the balance routine and we did find that Ken is a master at manually balancing scopes. Both the RA and the DEC we’re only .1% off!

Anyway, we did run them out for a while and play around with some techniques, decided but about a quarter to ten that things were never going to clear oh, so we packed up and left at about 10 p.m.

It was a good time though!

 

For Sale – Wanted

 

• Jeff Struve has purchased a new mount and is streamlining/consolidating his inventory:

 

• $1,000 – 1 Orion Atlas mount with PAS, HC, tripod and extension, 2 or more weights, and a wood homemade mount box also has hardware for PoleMaster and an EQMOD cable (PENDING)
• $1,100 – 1 Orion Atlas mount with upgraded wedge, HC, PAS, 2 or more weights and a plastic mount case also has hardware for PoleMaster and an EQMOD cable (PENDING)
• $50 – 1 Orion duffle bag that will hold 2 Atlas tripods
• $75 – 1 Orion Atlas GPS (PENDING)
• $500 – 1 SBIG STIc planetary/guide camera with guide kit
• $400 – 1 Celestron AVX mount and tripod with PAS, 2 weights, also has hardware for PoleMaster (SOLD)
• $225 – 1 PoleMaster w/universal ADM dual dovetail adapter. (SOLD)
• $175 – 1 observation tent
• $1500 – Explore Scientific 127mm F7.5 Carbon Fiber Triplet and accessories (PENDING)
• $TBD – Explore Scientific 80mm F7.5 Carbon Fiber Triplet and accessories

 

Email PwrHsePro@aol.com or text 3097370206 for details

 

• Frank Olsen of CAA has the following for sale: Astro-Physics 6-inch F9 Star Fire apochromatic refractor.  Includes Model 600 German equatorial mount, portable pier, and rechargeable battery pack.  $4,800.  Contact Frank Olsen in Cedar Rapids at fdolsen@mchsi.com (PENDING)

 

Not the actual gear but same model

• April Sanders was wondering if you folks would be interested in purchasing her brand new telescope. It is a Celestron C8. It has a few accessories such as a Celestron 9×50 finder, and an ultima LX 8mm lens. I can assemble and deliver if so. It truly is an astounding piece of equipment. My cell phone number is 563-349-1226

 

 

• A gentleman by the name of Jerry Hansen is selling his telescope, filters, and other associated equipment.  If you are interested in finding out more about it, please let me know and I will send you his contact information so you can find out more and negotiate directly with him (if interested).  It looks like a nice unit.  Thanks.   Al Sheidler. ADSheidler@gmail.com

 

• New 2^nd Addn “Inside PixInsight” by Warren Keller. $30.00 – 1 left! Contact Jeff Struve at PwrHsePro@aol.com

 

• A local gentleman called me advising that he had some gear that he wanted to sell. Apparently he just doesn’t have time for the hobby…

 

I didn’t see the gear, but he sent the following list and few attached pics:

• 8″ Meade LX90 with field tripod,  Autostar controller, smart finder and manual
• Hard carrying case for telescope
• 7mm, 18mm, 26mm, 2″ 30mm eyepieces
• Case for series 5000 eyepieces
• 2X Amplifier
• 3 focal reducer
• Deep Sky Imager camera (older version), camera adapter
• Set of series 4000 filters
• Kendrick dew remover
• Set of three vibration

He went further to add the following info:

“Looking back on my cost the case alone was $500, the eyepieces, amp, reducer were $600, the misc. stuff $400, and the scope was around $1700.”

With the description, prices, and pics, I did a bit of checking on Cloudy Nights Classifieds and found a Meade LX90 8″ with tripod that was listed for $675 that sold this past month… The case for the scope about $200… The eyepieces and reducer and Barlow maybe $425… Not sure about the filters but a set of 3 of the 4000 series went for $24… I didn’t check on the camera, Kendrick, or vibration pads but those would probably be in the $200 range…

After a few emails back and forth, he advised that he’d like to ask $1325 for the lot….

 

Let me know if you want his contact info! 

 

• An amateur astronomer by the name of Noe Vega is wanting to sell his 10” Collapsible SkyWatcher Dobsonian and a Celestron OMNI XLT 150 Telescope.

 

Here’s the link for the Omni: http://machlink.com/~nvega/OmniXLT-150/
Here’s the link for the Dob: http://machlink.com/~nvega/10-DOB/

 

He can be reached at Vega1247@gmail.com

 

 

I’m considering selling the Genesis Sdf telescope (thinking around $1500), and 2 Nagler eyepieces plus the Televue Big Barlow ($200 new). I have a few other less expensive eyepieces as well. The most expensive eyepiece I have is the Televue Nagler 20 mm Type 2. Also have a Televue Sky Tour ($300 New).
Everything is like new – hardly used – a hobby that never got off the ground.

Thanks, Joe DeAngelis
1-718-216-7553     https://www.scopereviews.com/page2.html#7

 

Editor’s Note:

Please help improve the substance of our newsletter by submitting articles and pictures for publication. Variety is the spice of life… is spicy!

Types of articles that would really be interesting could include What’s In the Sky This Month, equipment reviews, experiences you’ve had in astronomy, sketches you’ve drawn, trips you’ve taken to observatories or star parties, a high level overview of your favorite astronomer, movie, book or article reviews, list astronomy gear that you want to buy or sell, and of course pictures you’ve taken and how they were done…

If each member submitted 1 article per year we could have an incredibly varied and interesting newsletter… that is my challenge to you!

Also…. Drop an email, text, or make a phone call or two… members want to get together outside of normal club events to discuss and work on our hobby!

Jeff

 

Calendar of Events – 2019                                                                                                         BOARD     QCAS     MENKE     OTHER

 

Jan 16 – Board Meeting

Jan 21 – Society Meeting

Jan 26 – QCAS Membership Night – Waning Gibbous 65% full moon

Feb 06 – Board Meeting

Feb 09 – QCAS Membership Night – Waxing Crescent 18% full moon

Feb 18 – Society Meeting

Mar 06 – Board Meeting

Mar 08 – Messier Marathon

Mar 09 – Messier Marathon

Mar 18 – Society Meeting

Mar 30 – QCAS Membership Night – Waning Crescent 28% full moon

Apr 03 – Board Meeting

Apr 15 – Society Meeting

Apr 27 – QCAS Membership Night – Waning Crescent 45% full moon

May 01 – Board Meeting

May 03 – NCRAL

May 04 – NCRAL

May 11 – Astronomy Day at Bett High School & QCAS Membership Night – First Quarter 50% full moon

May 20 – Society Meeting

Jun 05 – Board Meeting

Jun 08 – Menke Public Night – Waxing Crescent 30% full moon

Jun 17 – Society Meeting

June 21 – Founders Day Solar Viewing

Jun 29 – QCAS Membership Night – Waning Crescent 13% full moon

Jul 10 – Board Meeting

Jul 15 Society Meeting

Jul 27 – QCAS Membership Night – Waning Crescent 26% full moon

Aug 03 – Meteor Shower Party at Pleasant Valley Junior High School

Aug 07 – Board Meeting

August 17 – Menke Public Night – Waning Crescent 97% full moon

Aug 19 – Society Meeting

Aug 24 – QCAS Membership Night – Waning Crescent 41% full moon

Sep 04 – Board Meeting

Sep 07 – QCAS Membership Night – Waxing Gibbous 64% full moon

Sep 16 – Society Meeting

Sep 21 – Menke Public Night – Last Quarter 50% full moon

Sep 27 – Eastern Iowa Star Party

Sep 28 – Eastern Iowa Star Party

Sep 29 – Eastern Iowa Star Party

Oct 02 – Board Meeting

Oct 12 – Membership Night – Waxing Gibbous 98% full moon

Oct 19 – Menke Public Night – Waning Gibbous 70% full moon

Oct 21 – Society Meeting

Oct 24 – David H Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party

Oct 25 – David H Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party

Oct 26 – David H Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party

Oct 27 – David H Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party

Oct 28 – David H Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party

Oct 29 – David H Levy Arizona Dark Sky Star Party

Nov 06 – Board Meeting

Nov18 – Society Annual Dinner Meeting and Elections

Nov 23 – QCAS Membership Night – Waning Crescent 13% full moon

Dec 04 – Board Meeting

Dec 16 – Society Meeting

Dec 28 – QCAS Membership Night – Waxing Crescent 06% full moon

QCAS  Correspondence: Please contact the society at: P.O. Box 3706, Davenport, IA, 52808. Members are welcome and encouraged to submit articles for The Meridian. Submit any and all interesting items (via e-mail) to: PwrHsePro@aol.com and/or MitchellRobertC@sau.edu
QCAS Officers and Contacts:
Officers President: Jeff Struve Vice-Pres: Mike Ombrello Secretary: Dr. Robert Mitchell Treasurer: Matt Neilssen Director: Dana Taylor Chairpersons Facilities: Michael Dannenfeldt Meridian Editor: Jeff Struve Outreach: Matt Neilssen Programming: Jim Rutenbeck Web Master: Matt Neilssen Publicity: Paul Levesque	PwrHsePro@aol.com Ombrello@mac.com MitchellRobertC@sau.edu Matt.Neilssen@gmail.com Dana@NelsonTaylor.com   DactylAviator@gmail.com PwrHsePro@aol.com Matt.Neilssen@gmail.com JRutenbeck@frontier.com Dana@NelsonTaylor.com Levesque5562@att.net