Announcements

Reminder for "Under One Sky" IDA Virtual Conference

"Under One Sky" IDA Virtual Conference (special event) is scheduled to begin Nov 13, 2020, 01:00 PM. Events continue on Saturday.

Reminder for Astrophotography Special Interest Group Meeting

Astrophotography Special Interest Group Meeting (astrophotography sig event) is scheduled for Nov 10, 2020, 07:15 PM. Please come out and join us!

There is Still Time to Volunteer for the Board!

We have gotten a good response to our call for Board nominations. Thanks to several of you for stepping up. 

The slate of nominees will be finialized and presented before the general meeting on November 18. We will put another general announcement but there is still time for you to add your name.

Again, the positions are 

• President

•  Vice President of Activities

•  Vice President of Education

•  Vice President of Membership

•  Vice President of Publicity

•  Secretary

•  Treasurer

If none of these positions appeals to you but you'd still like to participate let us know. We can find something for you to help out with whether it is as a advisee, or a helper with the website or with the equipment library. Just send a message to John at president@seattleastro.org and we will work with you.

Thanks,

The Nominations Committee

SAS 2021 Board Nominations are Open

The SAS Board elections are coming up in November. We, the nomination committee, are asking our members to consider volunteering to stand for one of the 7 positions. The Board will meet November 1st to assemble the slate of candidates. You are welcome to attend if you would like to get involved.

Running a club like ours successfully requires a great deal of volunteer work, from organizing events and star parties, lining up speakers, keeping track of and recruiting members, managing the books, the website, and coordinating our educational outreach to the public. The pandemic has presented the club with new difficulties but also some new opportunities. Our calendar of virtual events has greatly expanded this year and we hope to continue that as we move forward into the (hopefully soon) post-COVID future.

Here is a list of the positions on the Board and a brief description of the responsibilities. If you value your membership in the SAS and would like to see it continue and improve, please take a look and consider how you might best participate. 

If you would like to help, please send an email to our President, John at president@seattleastro.org 

The Nomination Committee

President

The President shall preside over all meetings of the Society, and perform all traditional duties pertaining to the executive office. Each president, upon retiring from office, becomes a member of the Executive Board as Immediate Past President.

Vice President of Activities

The primary responsibility of this office shall be (1) to arrange for a program for each regular monthly meeting and (2) to coordinate and plan other regularly scheduled and special activities of the organization.

Vice President of Education

The primary responsibility of this office shall be to coordinate, design curricula for, and carry out educational programs in astronomy specifically designed for (1) beginning members and junior members of the Society, (2) elementary and secondary schools, and (3) the general public.

Vice President of Membership

The primary responsibility of this office shall be to coordinate programs designed to (1) recruit new members, (2) introduce new members to the activities of the Society and facilitate their

participation therein, and (3) promote the recognition of members for their activities and service to the society. It shall be the responsibility of the Third Vice-President to assure that a complete and current membership and mailing list is maintained in a form that is suitable for mailings and printing of membership listings.

Vice President of Publicity

The primary responsibility of this office shall be to coordinate efforts to publicize activities of the

society to (1) the general membership, (2) other local, regional, and national astronomical organizations and publications, and (3) to the local and regional public through information distributed to the press, radio, and television media.

Secretary

Primary duties of this office shall be to (1) keep brief minutes of all Society meetings, (2) maintain other appropriate correspondence external to the Society, (3) coordinate the preparation of materials for distribution to Society members via monthly meeting notices and other such publications as concern Society members and (4) coordinate the assembly, organization, maintenance, and dissemination of materials relating to the history and activities of this Society.

Treasurer

Primary duties of this office shall be to (1) receive and disburse all Society funds upon approval of the president, and (2) maintain permanent records of all such transactions.

Reminder for SAS Monthly Meeting - Discovery and Highlights of Sagittarius A*

SAS Monthly Meeting - Discovery and Highlights of Sagittarius A* (general meetings event) is scheduled for Oct 21, 2020, 07:30 PM. Please come out and join us!

Reminder for Astrophotography Special Interest Group Meeting

Astrophotography Special Interest Group Meeting (astrophotography sig event) is scheduled for Oct 13, 2020, 07:15 PM. Please come out and join us!

Reminder for The Last Stargazers

The Last Stargazers (special event) is scheduled for Sep 17, 2020, 06:00 PM. Please go on-line and join us!

Reminder for SOFIA: An Engineering & Scientific Marvel

SOFIA: An Engineering & Scientific Marvel (general meetings event) is scheduled for Sep 16, 2020, 07:00 PM. Please go online and join us!

Reminder for Astrophotography Special Interest Group Meeting

Astrophotography Special Interest Group Meeting (astrophotography sig event) is scheduled for Sep 08, 2020, 07:15 PM via Zoom. Please come out and join us!

Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn August 28 and 29

Watch the Moon move past Jupiter and Saturn as the week ends. Friday evening the Moon passes just south of Jupiter and Saturday evening the Moon will be southeast of Saturn. You can download a free sky map to help you learn the night sky  at http://skymaps.com/downloads.html

Reminder for Summer Observational Sharing

Summer Observational Sharing (general meetings event) is scheduled for Aug 26, 2020, 07:30 PM. Please log on and share what you have been observing and photographing this summer!

Reminder for NASA's Search for Meteorites in Antarctica

NASA's Search for Meteorites in Antarctica (special event) is scheduled for Aug 25, 2020, 06:00 PM. Please come out and join us!

Cancellation for Green Lake Public Star Party

This Green Lake Public Star Party (outreach event) scheduled for Aug 22, 2020, 08:00 PM is cancelled due to government restrictions, still in effect, on the size of gatherings at events.  When event group size restrictions are lifted, regular SAS Star Parties will return to regular scheduled events status.  Please continue to check here each month for new information on status of this and other SAS events.

Help Globe at Night with your observations!

Calling all SAS members. Can you help make an astronomical observation from home by August 19th?

The Globe at Night program is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure their night sky brightness and submit their observations from a computer or smart phone.

This month’s targets are the constellations Cygnus and Hercules. You can find details here: https://www.globeatnight.org/5-steps.php

Cancellation for Goldendale Star Party

This Goldendale Star Party (goldendale star party event) scheduled for Sep 16, 2020, 02:30 PM is cancelled. Due to Covid-19 concerns, Washington State Parks is closing the group campground until 2021.