Happenings at the AAQ

How quickly the year has passed, and before my presidency is out, I shall be convening an SGM, an OGM and an AGM - That's the full set!

The Special General Meeting is to recommend to the Full Members a constitutional change to allow them to determine the amount of, and if required, any schedule of membership fees as they see appropriate. Actually, members can do this already, but the clause about extending membership for applications accepted after October and some clauses regarding the return of Annual fees makes the ability of members to set a schedule of fees not possible in practice. Some gentle pruning should sort that out. Thanks to the Membership Secretary, Geoff Biggs for suggesting the change and drafting up the amendments. If passed by a majority of at least 2/3rds of the Full Members present, then we will then let them exercise their new rights to set the fee schedule for 2012 onwards!

The OGM is our ever chaotic Xmas meet with plenty of talks in the form of extended items of astronomical Interest and lots of goodies to pass around - mugs, stubby coolers, calendars and copies of Astronomy 2012 to all those who placed orders. Keep the Treasurer and aforementioned Membership Secretary busy with payments and subs if you can! In a departure from the normal, we will be holding an end of year BBQ at my observatory at Samford after the meeting, and if we are very lucky, the total eclipse of the moon will be visible around 1am for those able to stay around late enough. For the truly adventurous, the Eclipse is visible from the heated spa! I will pass around directions at the meeting and we will travel in convoy as it is a little bit cross-country from the Uni.

More about the AGM next year.

We have now received have all of the equipment from our grant and half of it is out on loan. I would love to see the whole lot out, so if you would like a PST or goto dob over Xmas, please give me a shout - It serves no purpose gathering dust in my shed and at $10 a month represents an absolute bargain for those either without a scope or wanting to try something a bit different. I may be doing the hard sell at the BBQ.

It is a shame that after a great start to the year, the bad weather has scuppered our observing nights of late. Who can tell what adventures lie ahead weather-wise in Queensland this summer, but remember that a good downpour often leads to great clarity through the atmosphere as the dust is washed out. If you keep an eye on the sky, then even from the city, some great views of Jupiter are there to be had. Our Visual Observing Director Allan Cooney is stepping down after this year. Allan is certainly one of our most active observers and has done the job superbly, thanks Allan. But as is true of most active people, he as a few other adventures in store for 2012 and won't always be on hand. If you would like to be the next Visual Section Director, talk to me or another Councillor.

Have a fantastic festive season, and start getting excited about Qld 2012 with NACAA, the transit of Venus, Queensland Astrofest and the total eclipse of the Sun all to enjoy - what a year!