The inaugural meeting of the Hamilton Centre 2018/2019 season was attended by about 25 people who were entertained by not one, but four speakers, each with a unique topic. The September meeting has traditionally been a Members “Show and Tell” evening, when people have a chance to share summer stories, descriptions of new equipment and details about events they attended since our June meeting.
This Sept. those in attendance were not disappointed and left the meeting very satisfied and happy they had made the trip to Waterdown.
Muhammad Basil Ahmad chaired this meeting and began with greeting everyone, welcoming four new members, giving a breakdown on membership and reviewing the club offerings, from outreach events to our own observatory.
Besides Muhammad, there were three other Board directors at the legion to welcome people and answer questions, so thanks to Eric Golding, Chris Talpas, Andy Blanchard and Muhammad.
We also had two special guests attend, our RASC National Past President, Colin Haig and Fundraising Consultant and passionate RASC supporter, Lisa DiVeto.
Muhammad began with a description of the two-day outreach event held at the end of July, when several members set up telescopes at Spencer Smith park in Burlington. During this Mars in Opposition outreach event, hundreds of passers-by were treated to views of not just Mars, but Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and our Moon. Thanks to those who volunteered their time and expertise.
Gordon Haist was the second speaker. He used photos and his own experience to describe Starfest 2018, held in Ayton, Ontario in August. Gordon encouraged others to attend SF 2019 as a great way to be immersed in both amateur and professional astronomy.
Next up was Ross Leonard-McCaffrey. Ross builds complex LEGO models of things like the ISS and large observatories. Some of them are even working models such as the Orrery he built from scratch.
Muhammad showed off some of the great astrophotography images he took at Starfest 2018. He had samples of both distant nebulae and galaxies.
Then Mark Kaye talked about visiting a very unique private observatory during his trip through Quebec. It was actually constructed above a restaurant…cool!
A special thanks to those who made presentations.
Muhammad closed the meeting after mentioning the Board meeting on Sept. 13 and our next Monthly meeting on Oct. 4 and inviting everyone to the Royal Coachman after the meeting for refreshments and to further the discussion.
Thanks to everyone who attended and we look forward to seeing you on Oct. 4.
