QUID NOVI:

Last Updated: Sunday, June 27th, 2006

DFAC Events:

The latest State of DFAC message from your provisional president ...

Stargazing Colleagues: Here's an update on several matters of DFAC business.

Organizational Status:

• DFAC is now a member of the Astronomical League. Don't look for us quite yet on their Member Societies page (http://www.astroleague.org/al/general/society.html), as the processing will take a few days. Our application and check was sent out on June 14th. Members of DFAC will now start receiving "Reflector," the League's own quarterly news magazine. If you've never been to their website, check them out. Plenty of good info and links.
• DFAC has also applied for a quote on liability insurance. The application went out to Seabury & Smith June 15th. Based on my conversation with their agent, I am expecting we will qualify for their minimum rate of $320/year. This is our largest ongoing expense, and we need it to use the BCHS facilities.
• Good news: there will be no rental charge for our use of the BCHS Career Center. Kevin Imes (BCHS Principal) informed me that, since the meetings will be open to any interested BCHS student, our use will qualify under the "student activity or club" rule. That saves us $270/year! On the same topic, we now have "last Wednesday of the month" reserved at BCHS from September through May, inclusive. This means I can begin the process of booking speakers for our first Lecture Series. If you have any suggestions, or would like to do a presentation yourself, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
• Bad news: our BCHS faculty liaison, Kim Lindvig (who many of you met at our charter meeting) has moved to the east coast following a reassignment of her husband. This has no affect on DFAC's plans, as another faculty member will be recruited in August. Access to our meeting facility is still ensured due to the presence of a reliable night maintenance crew with all the keys to BCHS. I have been assured by Kevin Imes that doors will be unlocked and locked as needed.
• Dues are now, well, "due." Since the cost of liability insurance is now known, I am able to set membership dues for the first year. As I explained at our charter meeting, dues for year one will necessarily be higher than subsequent years because of various startup costs. Those startup costs have been, effectively, covered by donations already received. My original estimate of $30-$40 was close, but high. For this first year, assuming 21 members, we can get by with $25.00 per household. If you're interested in the cost breakdown, see my arithmetic: here. You can bring your check or cash to our upcoming observing session on June 24th or, if not attending, you can mail it to me at: 48412 N. Black Canyon HWY, #299, New River, AZ 85087. Thank you.Your prompt response ensures that DFAC's organizational phase stays on schedule.

Our First DFAC Members-Only Observing Session:

• With our first members-only observing session clouded out, I've decided to try a reschedule for July 22nd (also a near-New Moon). I'm still anxious to try out my newly cleaned and collimated Dob, and will probably have it out next clear night. You've got to see M13 through this thing with a 13 mm Nagler ... just awesome. M57 looks pretty good too. Anyway, pray for clear skies, and we'll see what happens next time around.

Other News:

• Ken Reeves outstanding series of deep sky observing articles (originally written for SAC's newsletter) is now available right here on the DFAC website. Check out the Deep Sky Views link on our main menu. Thanks Ken!
• It has been suggested that, with the existence of Quid Novi, a DFAC newsletter may be redundant. That's a good point. The only problem I see is for DFAC members that lack internet access, and to whom a properly formatted printed newsletter would be sent. Sure, we can always just copy and paste this page into a word processor and print it out that way, but it doesn't look nearly as classy, and word processors sometimes chokes on tables (note I've added our events schedule above). Still, it's something to think about. If we do go this route, it'll totally redefine the position of Editor (which still needs to be filled). Your input on this matter is still solicited.

Thanks for reading Quid Novi and staying involved with DFAC. You know where to send your feedback. Clear skies!

Dan Heim
phone: 623.465.7307
email: