Thanks to DFAC VP Jim Renn for setting this up, and to Jim & Jean for covering our honorarium for this out-of-town speaker.

Doors open at 6 pm, the meeting will run from 6:30-8:30 pm. Get there early for a good seat. This lecture had been publicized to other clubs, and we could have a crowd. Hope to see you all there!

This first photo was by Scott Rohrer via his iPad. It's the poster NVRL set up in their lobby to direct our guests to the telescopes. Scott and his wife Dianne stayed in the lobby most of the night to help the guests navigate. You can't find the stars if you can't find the scopes. Their assistance was much appreciated.

Turned out the ambient lighting (which could not be controlled) was a bit brighter than expected. Fortunately, there were enough bright objects to keep our guests interested. Those included: Pleiades, Jupiter, Venus, Orion Nebula, and the usual Betelgeuse/Rigel star color comparison.

We were unable to locate Andromeda and the Double Cluster. Not like we didn't know where to look ... there was just too much light. And the only scope with setting circles was Roger's CAT, which had been dedicated to Jupiter for the evening. The Great Red Spot was clearly visible.

Here's another difficulty we encountered. Two of our target objects (Pleiades and Jupiter) were very near the zenith. That makes for extended (wobbly) tripods, and stiff necks.

And that's where the battery on my camera ran out, so I was unable to get a shot of Roger's setup. He attracted a good crowd all night with his excellent view of Jupiter. Glynn Dunbar, NVRL Education Coordinator, was extremely pleased with the event, and said he'd like to have us back this Fall. I asked him to explore the possibility of setting up in the northeast corner of the parking lot, barricading it, and getting a few of the nearby parking lot lights turned off. He is looking into that.

We adjourned to NNY afterward for the usual food and libations. Or so we thought ... turns out the ownership has changed hands, and it's no longer a Native New Yorker franchise. It's a non-franchised sports bar and grill called Rookies, not unlike Legends (but they don't do poker on Wednesday nights). Service was excellent, food was pretty good, but they're still new and taking written comments from their patrons. I informed them the fries were a bit soggy, and they needed to cook them longer. We'll definitely give them another try after next month's meeting.

Item 2: [repeat from last month] At the request of Terri Finch, PAS Events Coordinator, I've added a non-DFAC event to our calendar above. After badgering him for several years, they finally got William K. Hartmann (who needs no introduction but check out the link if you do) to agree to a presentation. This high-profile speaker is not easy to book. I know. I tried. PAS would like a good turnout for this event, and I'll be attending. If anyone else from our club is interested, I'll have room for 3 car-poolers. Might even do a stop at Magnum's Fine Cigars & Spirits on the way back. Note that March 1st is a Thursday.

Item 3: [repeat from last month] Speaking of which, you might have noticed we added an event to our calendar for Saturday, March 17th. This will be a joint observing session with PAS (who typically fields 5-6 scopes). They'll be car-pooling where possible, as parking space at Heimhenge is limited to about 10 vehicles. DFAC doesn't do nearly as much group observing as the other clubs, but we try to do at least one each year, even if it doesn't always come together. So this is your opportunity for some good observing conditions (still over 20 on my SQM) and observational camaraderie. Please RSVP and consider carpooling with another member if possible. If you need a map, let me know.

Item 4: [repeat from last month] And speaking of group observing, the final public outreach session on this season's calendar is a school event in Black Canyon City at Canyon Elementary School. This is a somewhat disadvantaged group of kids, and not the richest school district. The teacher, Trinka Hall, approached SAC for volunteers, and SAC contacted me for additional help. Trinka says to expect 75-80 people (including the parents), so it would be good to have 5-6 scopes up there.

The problem is that April 25th is a Wednesday night, and I know that weekday events can be problematic for many of you. The good new is, since this is a "school night," it'll be a relatively short session. Setup will be 6:30-7:00 pm, sunset 7:00 pm, observing 7:00-8:00 or 8:30 pm (or whenever the kids get tired or too cold). I'll be there, since it's a 15 minute drive from New River, but if we could get two more volunteers with scopes, that would really help. I'll need to clear this with our Treasurer, but I think DFAC should buy any volunteers a burger and drink at the Roadrunner afterward (time permitting).

These will be younger kids, not likely to appreciate most deep-sky targets. But here's what will be up that night: Waxing Crescent Moon, Pleiades, Orion Nebula, Venus, Mars, Saturn (low in east). I'll put out an "official" call for volunteers in March, since the event is still 5 months off, but if you think you might be able to help out, put it on your calendar and let me know. It's an easy-to-reach venue, just off I-17 at Exit 242. I also have a map that will help you find the school. Thanks!

And thanks for reading Quid Novi. If you have feedback, you know where to reach me. Until next we meet, clear skies!

Clarke's First Law: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."

Clarke's Second Law: "But the only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."

Clarke's Third Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

— Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

"Perhaps the adjective 'elderly' requires definition. In physics, mathematics, and astronautics it means over thirty; in the other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed to the forties. There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!"

— Clarke's later note on his First Law

"When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports that idea with great fervor and emotion, the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right."

— Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) in response to Clarke's First Law

Kst was brought to my attention by member Scott Loucks. He has downloaded and used it. Here's what he said in an email:

Ok, I had a little time last night to go through my cut list and singled out one of the graphing programs. Check out Kst if you get the chance. I was able to import a raw unaltered MetaGuide full report log and it plotted every column in the report without me having to interact at all. It placed about 10 tiled graphs on my screen which enabled me to immediately locate correlations between the various data displayed. Needless to say I was highly impressed. For fun I was able to import a Fit image file and placed it on one of the graphs. It will do matrix plots so stellar 3d graphing is possible. I can’t say enough. Oh, be sure to utilize the Kst plot wizard. Also, I could not find any help manuals on the Kst website but I did come across one at a different site; I don’t have the link but it was easy to find Google-ing. There was also a plot wizard tutorial which I will go through tonight. -Scott

The website for the manual Scott mentioned is here: http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~mamd/kst/handbook/. This is an online HTML manual, and looks fairly complete. If you want to download a (presumably equivalent) manual in PDF form, you can get it here: http://kst-plot.kde.org/kst1/KstHandbook.pdf. Note that this is 5.5 MB, and 332 pages. It's extremely well done, and as a PDF, it's searchable. If you'd like, I can email you a copy. Just ask.

And I haven't downloaded Kst myself yet, but intend to do so soon. I'll write my own review at that time. —Dan Heim