Volume 49 No. 02 February 1, 2012

NEXT MEETING 7:30 p.m., Monday, February 6, 2012

Maturango Museum, 100 East Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, California

PROGRAM FOR THE FEBRUARY 6 MEETING – "THERE WILL BE SOMETHING INTERESTING"

Some time will be spent remembering Carroll and his impact on CLAS over the years. If you have

photos that include Carroll at CLAS events or star parties – please bring them to share.

China Lake Astronomical Society Members and Friends of CLAS

It is my sad duty to inform you of the recent death of Carroll L. Evans Jr.

Carroll was the last surviving charter/original member of CLAS; President Emeritus, Historian, Newsletter Editor, Public Outreach speaker, AV technician and has been an inspiration to all in our organization for more than five decades.

In addition to all his contributions to CLAS he was also a selfless community servant and was involved with many other organizations in the Ridgecrest area that will also miss him.

This will serve as the Newsletter for Feb. 2012 and we hope to continue with the full electronic version in the near future. The snail mail version will be temporarily discontinued for the time being due to costs and lack of a newsletter editor. An electronic notification of events and meetings will be sent out as usual but may not be in the full newsletter format for awhile and will only be distributed in MS –Word (*.doc) format.

Earl Wilson

Pres. - China Lake Astronomical Society

Star Parties will resume in March 2012

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - 2012 ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY HANDBOOKS AND CALENDARS ARE STILL AVAILABLE

For many years, the China Lake Astronomical Society has provided the RASC Observer’s Handbook to our membership. The retail price for a single copy (delivered) is $34.95 US. We get them at a group rate, and share the savings with our members. If you buy in person from CLAS, we are charging $20.00 for the handbook and $12.00 for the calendar. Calendar and Handbook will be sold together for the combined price of $30.00. These are the same prices as last year.

Most of you know all about the handbooks and calendars. Suffice to say that the Observer’s Handbook is well over 360 pages of astronomical data, presented as tables, charts and annual and daily information. The Calendar presents useful information, along with great astronomical photographs.

The publications are still available at the February meeting. If you do not get one at the meeting, contact

Roger Brower at 760-375-1181 to pick up a copy.