Important announcements

	Our next meeting will be on Friday, October 9, at 7:30 at Poricy Park in order to accommodate our speaker, Mike Corcoran of Goddard.
	Please pay your membership dues by next meeting. Dues are $15.00 for membership, $29.00 for Astronomy Magazine and $27.00 for Sky and Telescope. You can send your check to:
	S*T*A*R Astronomy Society, Inc.      P O Box 863      Red Bank, NJ 07701
	Or drop off your check at the next meeting.
	We'll be taking order for S*T*A*R T-shirts and hats at the October meeting. Prices are $12 for tees and $8 for hats. The S*T*A*R logo is imprinted on each of these items in brilliant blue and yellow.

Events

	Bucks-Mont Astronomical Association is sponsoring the STELLA-DELLA-VALLEY STAR PARTY Friday 10/16 - Sunday 10/18, Camp Onas -- Ottsville, PA. See http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/bmaa/index.html for details.
	Several meteor showers are in store for fall. 10/9 Draconids - nightfall to midnight. May be a storm as the comet associated with the shower is near. Slow meteors (12 mps). 10/21-22 Orionids - best after midnight. Halley's comet dust. fast (40 mps). 1 meteor every three minutes or so. 11/16-17 Leonids - all night, but sunset to 9 p.m. best time. Very fast (44 mps). Large storm predicted. 12/14 Geminids - all night, 1 per minute at medium speed (20 mps). For more info, see http://www.skypub.com/meteors/meteors.shtml
	Brookdale Community College is offering Viewing the Night Sky: an Introduction to Observational Astronomy, a two-part course on astronomy for beginners by S*T*A*R member Edward Collett, Ph.D., 10/17 Part 1: 9AM-5PM, Part 2: 6:30-10 PM. If it is cloudy, Part 2 will be held on the following Saturday. Register for one or both parts by calling the college.

Notes from September

by Penny Fischer

Our first meeting of the season was held Wednesday, 9/2 at 8 p.m. at the Poricy Park Nature Center in Middletown NJ.

Dan started the meeting with information about the coming year; he hopes to attract new members with observing sessions.

We have a new segment to start our meetings. Each meeting we'll have a member bring in and set up his or her scope, so we can see what scopes are being used and learn from each other. Dan started this off with a bang by assembling his 18" Obsession as he talked. Next meeting Mike Lindner will bring his homemade scope.

Don took the floor (standing at eye level to the Obsession's focuser!) and gave us a comical and rousing description of the star parties he's been to in the last few months. Don also gave us a wonderful description of his Rain's-a-comin' © system. Tarp and heavy objects are required, as is speed

Kay Sears donated two 10" mirror blanks for possible club scopes. Dan has located an optician who will grind and figure them for a reasonable price. A discussion about what to build ensued, and we may build a scope dedicated to solar observing. All to be discussed further at the next meeting.

I was pleased and surprised to find out that our web site, http://www.monmouth.com/~ksears was mentioned in Stu Goldman's column on online astronomy in the October issue of Sky & Telescope!!!! Our online bulletin board was mentioned as a source for communicating with other astro people on the internet! Thanks to Kay and Penny for their efforts!, We urge all members to participate if possible. The direct link is http://www.fitermania.com/starastronomy, or you can access it from the S*T*A*R web site, or Penny's home page http://www.monmouth.com/~govega/

John Batinsey talked about the progress of stamping out light pollution locally. Although no action is being taken on a state level, John has had some success locally. He asked for our help in identifying offensive lights and will return with instructions.

Penny passed around an article written by a friend, Blaine Friedlander, for the Washington Post about the IDA's 10^th anniversary.

Penny discussed S*T*A*R's visit to Rutgers to hear David Malin's talk page.

Our meeting ended with a neat video and slide presentation by Dan and Don of star parties they've visited during the last few summers.

October's Messier Tour

Hale-Bopp then cobwebs?

by Kay Sears

The flurry of excitement about Comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp proved to be a tremendous boon to the sale of telescopes, mirrors, binoculars, cameras and other optical devices. But many purchasers of telescopes never got a chance to see the great comets with them; consequently many shiny new instruments purchased for this purpose are now reposing in closets or storerooms. Did you buy one of these telescopes? Where is it now...covered with cobwebs? Are you finished with it just because there is no comet to look at just now? Why not bring it out and set it up to see some of the other wonders of the heavens? Did you buy it for your son or daughter, niece, grandson? If so, what are you doing about the dreams of these favorite people?

There are many amateur astronomy clubs nearby whose members would be glad to show you how to use your new instrument. Comets can be spectacular objects, but by their very nature they are transients in our corner of the solar system. When they recede into the depths of outer space our telescopes and attention can and should be turned to other more stable and altogether interesting celestial objects. Why not bring your scope out to an observing night hosted by one of the many fine amateur astronomy clubs in your vicinity? Members of most of them delight in showing off their scopes and will give whatever assistance you need to get yours to first light.

Most planetarium directors or high school science teachers can steer you to one, or check S*T*A*R's website at http://www.monmouth.com/~ksears for a list of clubs and planetaria. Especially check http://www.fitermania.com/starastronomy for information about observing nights, observing reports, general astronomy subjects and equipment.

Amateur astronomy clubs offer expert help in the use of your instrument and you probably will enjoy the comradeship such an organization offers. For the expenditure of a few dollars a year (a subscription to any worthwhile periodical costs as much) you can join one of these groups. Most hold regular meetings , discuss topics of common interest, provide guidance in making and using telescopes, photographing with them, hold star parties where members' telescopes are displayed and used, provide interesting lectures, and for good measure most of them offer discounts for subscriptions to Sky & Telescope or Astronomy, or both. When you stop to think about it, that's quite a bargain.

Or, if you are not a joiner, hie yourself to one of the many fine planetaria located in the state. The New Jersey State Museum Planetarium , 205 W. State St, Trenton NJ, offers regular shows featuring interesting topical astronomical subjects and regularly sponsor star parties where the general public is invited to view with their own or planetarium telescopes. Contact them at 609-292-6333 for more details.

The Robert J. Novins Planetarium is located on the campus of Ocean County College in Tom's River, NJ. It offers weekday school programs, credit and non-credit courses in astronomy and related subjects, and is home for A.S.T.R.A. (The Astronomical Society of the Toms River Area), which has membership open to anyone interested in astronomy or space sciences. For recorded show information call 732-255-0342, for planetarium office call 732-255-0343. You can visit the planetarium website at http://www.ocean.cc.nj.us/RJNP/rjnp.htm or ASTRA's website at http://www.monmouth.com/~zimmermann/astra .

Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP) serves the greater Princeton area. The club holds regular monthly meetings, features many excellent speakers from Princeton University staff, hosts star parties and workshop sessions. The club newsletter is Sidereal Times. For more information visit their website at http://www.princetonol.com/eye/aaap.html .

Willingboro Astronomical Society (WAS) has their website at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/wasociety/ . Their contact is Lane Davis whose e-mail address is 73577.1675@compuserve.com .

S*T*A*R Astronomy Society, Inc, located in Red Bank, has approximately 100 members in the Monmouth County area, holds meetings on the first Wednesday of each month (except July and August), hosts star parties, and their club newsletter is The Spectrogram. S*T*A*R's website is http://www.monmouth.com/~ksears/ . For more information contact Dan Pontone at dpontone@monmouth.com or P.O. Box 863, Red Bank, NJ, 07701.

Amateur Astronomers, Inc (AAI), located on the campus of Union County College in Cranford, NJ, operates Sperry Observatory, with a 10" refractor and a 26" reflector, and is open for public viewing every Friday night. Activities include mirror grinding and telescope making, various observing and astrophotography programs, and solar eclipse tours. AAI has a website at http://georgenet.net/aai/ .

New Jersey Amateur Astronomers, Inc, (NJAA), is active in the Somerset/Hunterdon County area, operates the Paul Robinson Observatory in Voorhees State Park, which features a 28" reflector. Club newsletter is Astro-Notes. NJAA's website is at http://www.njaa.org/ . For more information send e-mail to KevTK@aol.com .

The South Jersey Astronomical Club is in Millville, in southern NJ, and their website address is http://members.aol.com/sjastroc/ . For more information contact Fred Schaaf at fschaaf@aol.com .