Along with the new Moon the skies were uncommonly clear and and steady, resulting in the best seeing at the RMTC in anyone's memory. Bleary eyes were the order of the day as many participants pulled all-nighters taking advantage of the good viewing.

This year's theme was "Rocks in Space." The Dining Hall was packed for such great speakers as Dennis di Cicco, Paul Chodas, and Eleanor Helin all speaking about asteroids. Also, Tony Ortega's talk on Robert Burnham Jr. was a moving experience for all who witnessed it.

This was the first year the RTMC conducted workshop sessions along with its now popular Beginners Corner. These workshops proved to be a rousing success with the tent for with the workshops packed to capacity.

Speakers

	Alan Gorski, "1996 RTMC Winter Star Party"
	Glenn Le Drew, "Astrophoto Calculator"
	Bob Bell, "Adaptive Optics: Using SBIG AO-7 Adaptive Optics Module"
	David Chandler, "Observing Comet Trails"
	John Dobson, "The Dark Matter"
	Kelly Beatty, "Amateur Astronomers: The Next Generation"
	Dennis Di Cicco, "Hunting Asteroids in Your Own Backyard"
	Paul Chodas, "Predicting the Asteroid Impact Hazard"
	Eleanor Helin, "Detecting Asteroids and Comets with a NEAT System"
	Mark Trueblood, "Building a Commercial Observatory: How to Do It All Wrong and Still Get It Right"
	Tony Cook, "Palomar Observatory 50th Anniversary"
	Peter Ceravolo, "Large Format Astrographs"
	Peter Abrahams, "Early History of Binocular Telescopes"
	Tony Ortega, "Robert Burnham Jr. Biography"
	Chris Schur, "Arizona Digitized Astrophotos - Part II"
	Jack Newton, "CCD Imaging"
	Jeff Medkeff, "Cassini Bond & Barnard: How They Did It and You Can Too!"

Workshops

	Eyepiece Selection, Moderator: Alson Wong
	Beginning Telescope Selection, Moderator: Allen Hall
	Deep Sky Observing, Moderator: Wayne Johnson
	Astrophotography, Moderator: Chris Schur
	Computerized Star Charts, Moderator: Tom Polakis
	Build and Enhance a Dobsonian, Moderator: Randy Johnson
	Telescope Makers Telescope Tour, Host: Randy Johnson
	CCD Imaging/Image Processing, Moderator: Jack Newton

Merit Awards

	Leonard Higgins, "Construction of a Portable Spectrohelioscope"
	Frank Olstowski, "Excellent Mechanical Design of an Astrophotgraphic Mounting System"
	James Sack, "Design and Construction of a Mobile Observatory"
	Robert May Jr., "Fine Craftsmanship in a Recreation of a 17th Century Telescope"
	William Kelley & Kim Hyatt, "Effectively Warping Medium Aperture Sperical Mirror into a Paraboloid"
	Gerry Logan, "Outstanding Craftsmanship of a 8-Inch Houghton Telescope System"

Honorable Mentions

	Tristan & Peter Hirtle, "Parent and Child 5.6" Dobsonian Telescope Project"
	Charles Dawson & Todd Rogelstad, "Parent and Child 6" F/4 Telescope Project"
	Fred Phillips & Jean Lilley, "Craftsmanship of a 20" Split-Ring Telescope"
	Gale Gant, "Solidly Built Barn Door Drive"
	James Windlinger, Microprocessor Controlled Barn Door Mount"
	Scott Marsh, "Junior Award for a Smoothly Working Crayford Focuser Made From Salvaged Materials"

Clifford W. Holmes Award

Randy Johnson

Clyde Tombaugh Award

Richard Swartz

Robert May Jr.'s antique telescope Leonard Higgins' Spectrohelioscope Gale Gant received a Merit Award for this solidly built barn door drive Gerry Logan received a Merit Award for his 8" Houghton telescope system Swap Meet Astrophotography Workshop Irene Szewczuk of Sky & Telescope Space artist Lee Williams Dennis di Cicco of Sky & Telescope Steve & Tom Bisque of Software Bisque William Kelley and Kim Hyatt received a Merit Award for this 13" F/6 with a spherical warped mirror Frank Olstowski received a Merit Award for his astrophotographic mounting system