Announcements

Girl Scout Badge Workshops for How To Volunteer with Outreach

We are hosting Girl Scout Badge Workshops on an ongoing basis. We currently have high demand for these workshops so I'm looking for volunteers to present about various astronomy subjects. If you're interested in participating in a Girl Scout Workshop, please email Wendy at outreach@seattleastro.org

Bright Sky Digest!

Link: https://mailchi.mp/seattleastro/march-2021-bright-sky-digest This month we are excited to be celebrating Women's History Month with a column featuring Vera Rubin and her profound impact to the field of astronomy. In our monthly Stargazing in Seattle article, Bob tells us the best ways to observe the "Golden Gate of the Ecliptic". Furthermore, we are excited and honored to have Dr. Phil Plait present at our monthly meeting "Strange New Worlds" discussing the search for exoplanets and comparing them to Earth.

Watch the SAS Banquet on YouTube!

THANK YOU to the 130 attendees at our annual banquet! We are also launching our new SAS YouTube page with the recording of the fun event held this past Saturday! (2/13) Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AloV2bA6Gr4 You can watch the whole program or skip to your favorite segments from the description below the video. It was a wonderful night of learning, laughter, and community! - SAS Banquet Team

February Newsletter - Bright Sky Digest

This February we celebrate Black History Month with a profile of Dr. Mae C Jemison, the first black woman in the astronaut program. Don't forget to register soon for our Annual Banquet on Saturday, February 13th! If you'd like to sign-up for our newsletter, please email publicity@seattleastro.org. Newsletter Link: 

https://mailchi.mp/seattleastro/february-2021-bright-sky-digest

Katie Stack Morgan Presentation Recording

Thank you for such a good turnout for this very engaging presentation! If you missed Dr. Morgan's presentation on the upcoming Mars Persevance Rover mission, you can watch the recording here: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/fKzU3PJyqdk30cA2U8usfXTm5JEX8mSbeuU8VhyjUbo_vlFWfn4ng7sVq7NO1B-m.77xmR7kzjqtxnLEj Passcode: ?e0P2aUj  Thank you! - SAS

Meeting Recording (1/20) for Seeking Signs of Ancient Life in Jezero Crater with the Mars Perseverance Rover

Introduction/Presentation/Q&A: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/fKzU3PJyqdk30cA2U8usfXTm5JEX8mSbeuU8VhyjUbo_vlFWfn4ng7sVq7NO1B-m.77xmR7kzjqtxnLEj Passcode: ?e0P2aUj

The Return of "Bright Sky Digest" to SAS

We are please to share our first monthly newsletter of 2021! https://mailchi.mp/seattleastro/january-2021-bright-sky-digest We will look to continually expand the newsletter to incorporate different SAS happenings. All members should be receiving the newsletter the first Monday of every month. If not, please check your spam folders and for gmail users, check your 'social' or 'promotions' folders. Contact publicity@seattleastro.org for any questions.

Astronomical League (AL) Award

Congratulations to SAS member Yu-Hang Kuo for earning the Astronomical League Lunar I Observing Program award. This is the 6^th AL award for Yu-Hang!

The Astronomical League provides many different Observing Programs. These Observing Programs are designed to provide a direction for your observations and to provide a goal. The Observing Programs have certificates and pins to recognize the observers’ accomplishments and for demonstrating their observing skills with a variety of instruments and objects.

Find more information here: https://www.astroleague.org/observing.html

New SAS Board Members

Congratulations to new Board members; President – Aaron Yoon, VP Activities – Soni Rao, and VP Publicity – Alison Alexsy. They join returning Board members; VP Education – David Ingram, VP Membership – Stan Dyck, Secretary Mary Anderson, and Treasurer – David Hoover. Thanks to departing Board members John McLaren and Wendy Froggett.

Reminder for SAS Member meeting - Chandra and the Invisible Universe

SAS Member meeting - Chandra and the Invisible Universe (general meetings event) is scheduled for Nov 18, 2020, Earlier start time! 6pm social, 6:30pm presentation, Board elections following.

SAS November Member Meeting and Board Election

The SAS November Membership meeting will start 1 hour earlier than normal. The meeting is Wednesday the 18^th. Social time starts at 6pm, meeting starts at 6:30pm. This early start time is to accommodate our speaker Dr. Jonathan McDowell presenting “Chandra and the Invisible Universe.”

Board elections will be at the end of the meeting. Nominations are accepted during the meeting, however, that person must agree to the nomination. The current nominees are:

President – Aaron Yoon

VP Activities – Soni Rao

VP Education – David Ingram

VP Membership – Stan Dyck

VP Publicity – Alison Alexsy

Secretary – Mary Anderson

Treasurer – David Hoover

The nominating committee recommends waiving the two-term limit for D. Ingram, M. Anderson, and D. Hoover.

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.