Boulder Astronomy and Space Society
General Meeting
January 29, 2005
Fiske Planetarium
Boulder, Colo.

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm.

Business and Announcements:

Interim President Steve Hartung announced that this was a watershed
meeting because the club was now officially incorporated as a
non-profit. Thus those wishing to join can now do so (membership forms
were distributed) and pay their dues.  Members who join were also
asked to vote for the slate of officers nominated at the January
meeting.  Result:

President: Steve Hartung - 9 votes
Vice President: Gary Garzone - 9 votes
Treasurer: John Pedersen - 9 votes
Secretary: Bill Travis - 9 votes
Web Master: Josh Walawender - 9 votes
Director at Large: Archer Sully - 9 votes

Other announcements included plans for dark sky site observing;
telescope making in conjunction with the CU student club; how members
can get checked out on the SBO scopes; and a request from the
Jefferson County School System for contributions and participation in
their K-6 Science Fair on March 7-9 (you can contact Gary O?Brien at:
dgobrien@mines.efu).

Presentation:

Dr. Erica Ellingson, professor of astronomy at CU, gave a multi-media
presentation on cosmology, including a history of cosmological
theories and the latest evidence for an accelerating expansion of the
universe, probably associated with dark matter. She and her colleagues
are testing these theories with observations of supernova and the
lensing of background galaxies by galaxy clusters (which allows her to
calculate the total mass of the cluster). The Q and A went on for some
time as people tried to get comfortable with some of the awkward
concepts of modern cosmology, like whether the universe is flat or
curved; the difference between the observable universe and the rest;
the idea that light gets expanded with the universe; and the notion of
expansion itself (e.g., expansion into what?).

Cloudy weather precluded observing after the meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for February 26, 2005, and will include
short presentations on using telescopes and finding your way around
the night sky.

Submitted by:

William R. Travis
Secretary