Date: May 24-26, 1996
Attendance: 1,802The theme this year was
"Getting Started in Astronomy - Expanding Your Astronomical Universe." The theme
was chosen to kick off our new Beginners Corner, which was started in 1995 by Bill Seavey.
With heavy promotion by both Sky & Telescope magazine and Astronomy
magazine over 220 people braved the weather to attend the Beginners Corner.
Speaking of the weather, the RTMC eight-year cycle struck
again with a blizzard at the opening of the Friday afternoon vendor selling session. Heavy
snow fell off and on until the following morning, sticking to the ground. Although it
cleared on Saturday afternoon, it remained cold for the rest of the weekend.
The Friday night Show and Tell tradition continued with
many pictures of Comet Hyakutake being shown.
We had great speakers as usual. Highlights included Don
Parker coming out from Florida and speaking about his efforts to image Comet Hyakutake.
Jack Newton came down from Canada and talked about his new observatory. Dr. Ed Krupp
talked about his favorite subject, archeoastronomy. Robert Burnham, formerly of Astronomy
magazine, gave a talk about the changing demographics in amateur astronomy. Also, Leif
Robinson, the editor of Sky & Telescope, talked about the relationship of
publishing to the Internet. We also had a panel on comets with Jean Mueller, Charles
Morris, Alan Hale, and Thomas Bopp.
The Keynote Speaker this year was our own Ashley McDermott,
Professor of Astronomy and History at the College of the Desert. We had let Ashley miss
his first RTMC ever in 1995 so that he could go on sabbatical and took his grandkids on a
a tour of astronomical and space exploration sites around the country.
Speakers
 |
Bob Garfinkle, "Star Hopping" |
|
Dave Kenyon, "Successful CCD Imaging" |
|
Jeffrey R. Charles, "1995 Solar Eclipse of
Thailand" |
|
Joel Harris, "1998 Total Eclipse in South
America & Caribbean" |
|
Dr. E. C. Krupp, "Astronomy and Astronomers of
Ancient Times" |
|
Robert Burnham, "Amateur Astronomy: Changing
Hobby, Changing People" |
|
Leif Robinson, "Magazines of the Future: Paper
or Electrons?" |
|
Steve Meyering, "AstroFair '96" |
|
Tim Robinson, "Astronomy Day '96" |
|
Wayne Johnson, "Searching for Supernova" |
|
Alan Hale, "Discovery of a Comet" |
|
Thomas Bopp, "The Same Comet" |
|
Jack Newton, "Sampling of CCD Imagers and
Images" |
|
Joel Harris, "Group 70 Update" |
|
Richard Combs and Alan Gorski, "Collimation of
Newtonian Telescopes" |
|
Gil Clark, "TIE Goes International" |
|
David White, "PIRA PZT7 - the 25.6"
Refractor at Palomar" |
Merit Awards
|
Robert Pfaff, Unique Modification of Split-Ring and
Construction of a Folded Newtonian |
|
Bill Lennartz, Excellent Wooded Construction in a
Large Equatorial Newtonian |
|
Dave Pitou, Outstanding Workmanship Using Advanced
Materials |
|
John Lightholder, Outstanding Construction of a
Lightweight Newtonian |
|
Bruce Sayre, Excellent Design and Craftsmanship |
|
James and Dan Ritts, Junior Division - Excellent
First Telescope |
Honorable Mentions
|
James Stevens, Large, Quick-Take-Down Dobsonian |
|
Dan Schwabe, Effective Azimuth Bearing Sealing
System |
|
Stephen Collett, Craftsmanship |
|
Randy Johnson, Interesting Use of Materials |
|
John A. Volk, Well-Done First Telescope |
Clifford W. Holmes Award
|
Gil Clark |
Warren Estes Award
|
Don Pies |
Clyde Tombaugh Award
|
Steve Kufeld |
|
.