AAA President Message – February 2020

Dear AAA Members,

It was great to catch up with so many of you at our Holiday Party! I enjoyed seeing many familiar faces and meeting several new folks as well. A big thank you to Susan Andreoli and Stan Honda for organizing a fun-filled evening, and to Mary Alford, Reina Goodman, Stan Honda, and Gary Young for donating those fabulous raffle prizes! For anyone who hasn’t won an AAA T-shirt yet and wants one, look for opportunities in the coming months to earn one as a volunteer.

Observers have been gearing up for the 2020 season. Site chairs and other observers met the last week of January to discuss dates and logistics for public observing. If you’d like to help out with or without observing gear, please reach out to the Site Chair of an AAA observing location near you. All sites are looking for volunteers to help with staffing telescopes, engaging the public, and more.

Before the public observing season starts, John Bills and Tom Haeberle are organizing Messier Marathon practice and events under both City skies, and darker skies. Join the Dark-Sky-Observers google-group and register for the 2020 Messier Marathon to get updates.

As many of you are aware, AAA has a long, storied history, stretching back to the mid-1920’s.  If you haven’t had a chance to read Patrick Rizzo’s “A History of the First Forty Years of the Amateur Astronomers Association,” I highly recommend it. We are starting to compile more AAA history, picking up where Rizzo’s account leaves off, and are looking for AAA Members or former Members to share their memories of the organization over the past 50 years.  If you’d like to be involved with researching, writing, or otherwise contributing, please contact [email protected].

Note that our February lecture is on the 2nd Friday of the month. Joshua Tan will present Pulsar Companions: Living with a Neutron Star. If you’d like to contribute a summary of this or other AAA Lectures for the Eyepiece, contact [email protected]. The upcoming class, Clocks, Calendars, Coordinates, Orbits, which begins Wednesday, February 19, is nearly sold out. For the latest information about classes, lectures, and other events, visit the AAA website, or check the calendar.

Clear Skies,
Irene Pease
AAA President