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Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston
A general interest astronomy club

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President's Message: February

At our January 18 meeting, the ATMoB Board agreed to look into setting up two new Club Committees. To compliment our existing Clubhouse and Observing Committees, we’ve considered adding an Outreach Committee and a Telescope-making Committee.

The former would coordinate all forms of public outreach to include star parties, Popscope activities, and public presentations/lectures (i.e., library visits and talks) by ATMoB members. Outreach can be done at virtually any time of year, but we especially want to set our sights on Astronomy Day, slated for Saturday, April 21, of this year. More on that as the date approaches.

The name of our club is the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston (note the emphasis on “Telescope Makers”). Telescope-making has become a minor part of our club activities, due in part to the availability of commercially-made scopes for modest prices, the dwindling number of members available as instructors, and a need to upgrade the telescope-making facilities at our clubhouse. By establishing a formal committee dedicated the construction of home-built telescopes, we hope to revive this noble art within the club.

Believe it or not, the time has come to start planning for a new Board to run the club during the 2018-2019 season. As yours truly heads into the sunset*, we’ll need a new President to preside over the Board. Slots will also be open for Vice President and Secretary. To that end, we’ll need to establish a Nominating Committee to seek out candidates for each office. Until we start actively seeking members to fill these positions, I ask you to seriously consider how you can help ATMoB by assuming a position on the Board. Mull it over on a cloudy night. That’ll give you plenty of time to think things out!

Clear Skies,
Glenn Chaple, President


*From a truly scientific viewpoint, it’s impossible for someone to “ride off in the west.” A spirited horse can trot at a rate of 8 miles per hour. As it heads west towards sunset at that speed, the earth at our latitude is rotating eastward at 732 miles per hour. So as I ride off into the west, I’m really traveling 732 - 8 = 724 miles per hour eastward! Now you know why I write astronomy articles and not western novels.