Date: May 22-24, 1998
Attendance: 1,836
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
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Alan Gorski, "1996 RTMC Winter Star Party" |
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Glenn Le Drew, "Astrophoto Calculator" |
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Bob Bell, "Adaptive Optics: Using SBIG AO-7 Adaptive Optics Module" |
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David Chandler, "Observing Comet Trails" |
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John Dobson, "The Dark Matter" |
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Kelly Beatty, "Amateur Astronomers: The Next Generation" |
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Dennis Di Cicco, "Hunting Asteroids in Your Own Backyard" |
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Paul Chodas, "Predicting the Asteroid Impact Hazard" |
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Eleanor Helin, "Detecting Asteroids and Comets with a NEAT System" |
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Mark Trueblood, "Building a Commercial Observatory: How to Do It All Wrong and Still Get It Right" |
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Tony Cook, "Palomar Observatory 50th Anniversary" |
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Peter Ceravolo, "Large Format Astrographs" |
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Peter Abrahams, "Early History of Binocular Telescopes" |
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Tony Ortega, "Robert Burnham Jr. Biography" |
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Chris Schur, "Arizona Digitized Astrophotos - Part II" |
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Jack Newton, "CCD Imaging" |
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Jeff Medkeff, "Cassini Bond & Barnard: How They Did It and You Can Too!" |
Workshops
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Eyepiece Selection, Moderator: Alson Wong |
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Beginning Telescope Selection, Moderator: Allen Hall |
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Deep Sky Observing, Moderator: Wayne Johnson |
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Astrophotography, Moderator: Chris Schur |
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Computerized Star Charts, Moderator: Tom Polakis |
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Build and Enhance a Dobsonian, Moderator: Randy Johnson |
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Telescope Makers Telescope Tour, Host: Randy Johnson |
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CCD Imaging/Image Processing, Moderator: Jack Newton |
Merit Awards
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Leonard Higgins, "Construction of a Portable Spectrohelioscope" |
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Frank Olstowski, "Excellent Mechanical Design of an Astrophotgraphic Mounting System" |
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James Sack, "Design and Construction of a Mobile Observatory" |
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Robert May Jr., "Fine Craftsmanship in a Recreation of a 17th Century Telescope" |
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William Kelley & Kim Hyatt, "Effectively Warping Medium Aperture Sperical Mirror into a Paraboloid" |
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Gerry Logan, "Outstanding Craftsmanship of a 8-Inch Houghton Telescope System" |
Honorable Mentions
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Tristan & Peter Hirtle, "Parent and Child 5.6" Dobsonian Telescope Project" |
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Charles Dawson & Todd Rogelstad, "Parent and Child 6" F/4 Telescope Project" |
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Fred Phillips & Jean Lilley, "Craftsmanship of a 20" Split-Ring Telescope" |
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Gale Gant, "Solidly Built Barn Door Drive" |
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James Windlinger, Microprocessor Controlled Barn Door Mount" |
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Scott Marsh, "Junior Award for a Smoothly Working Crayford Focuser Made From Salvaged Materials" |
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Randy Johnson |
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Richard Swartz |
