Iowa Great Lakes Astronomical Society

The Iowa Great Lakes Astronoical Society Presents

The Society Page

March 2010 Issue #001

What's Happening?

Greetings sky-watchers and welcome to issue #001 of The Society Page, the official newsletter of the Iowa Great Lakes Astronomical Society. I have been very busy getting everything ready for the upcoming astronomy season. Some new things this year include monthly (fingers crossed) meetings, a complete revamp of the website, a brand new handbook, a whole slew of new members, and the birth of this newsletter.

You may be asking yourself, "Why all the changes?" It all really started when I was comparing our group to other larger clubs and decided to adopt some of their ideas for our own Society. By the time I had finished I realized that not only had I made a our Society a homepage that stood head and shoulders above any others I had seen, I had essentially reinvented the Society itself. At this time I was bouncing most of my ideas off of Steve Timmons, whom I had just recently met. When Steve decided to officially join the group he brought with him not only years of experience in the hobby, but also a small list of names.

Each month in this newsletter I will bring you the latest goings-on in the club, a brief calendar of upcoming astronomical and societal events, and a lunar calendar. What's more, each edition will feature one article from the website which I feel is worthy of print.

As I type this I have to admit that I am very much looking forward to our first meeting. That is, I look forward to meeting all of you and I look forward to the first gathering of the Iowa Great Lakes Astronomical Society.

Adam J. Dietrick
Founder

Upcoming Society Events

Friday, March 5: Spring Meeting, 5-6PM in the Community Room at the Estherville Public Library
Saturday, March 20: International Sidewalk Astronomy Night, 10:00PM, Location TBA

Upcoming Astronomical Events

Thursday, March 11: 3:00AM Mars Stationary at 9h UT. Ends retrograde motion and resumes direct (eastward) motion. Mag. -0.3.
Friday, March 12: 4:00AM Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth); angular size 29.4'.
Saturday, March 20: 11:33AM Vernal equinox.
Monday, March 22: 6:00PM Saturn at opposition (opposite the Sun) Saturn is at its brightest (mag. +0.5) and closest all year (disk diameter 19.5"). Saturn's rings are near edge-on but still appear magnificent even in a small telescope.
Sunday, March 28: 11PM Moon at perigee (closest to Earth); angular size 33.0'.
Tuesday, March 30: 8:25PM Lenten Moon

Want to Contribute?
E-mail articles, stories, or images to adamdietrick@live.com