This post that should have been made a month ago. But sometimes later is better than never. So lets take a stroll back to 2012, a very productive year for the NJAA Research Group. The support from the NJAA board and membership in 2012 was outstanding. The participation from the members of the Research Group was exceptional. We were finally able to utilize for research purposes the previous donations to the club such as the 12” Meade RCX scope. Hence I felt it more than fitting to bestow Researcher of the Year to two particular members of the NJAA Research Group. While many of the members of the group contributed, I would like to point out two particular individuals.
The 2012 Researcher of the Year Award consisted of a 5X7 framed image of the Horsehead Nebula by yours truly.
Vladimir Alexandrov our first recipient was gung-ho to start imaging the planets from the minute the idea of purchasing a CCD Video camera was mentioned. What made Vlad unique was his perseverance to stay up into the late hours of the morning working to capture images of the planets. On many nights Vlad drove home just as the Sun was rising. I remember one night when all of us decided to call it quits by 1:30 am, but Vlad was determined to tough it out until 4:30 am to image Jupiter as it was transiting the meridian. Vlad’s work paid off in more ways than one. His willingness to stay into the late hours also translated into his willingness to work thru the many problems related to the 12” Meade RCX-400 (our main planetary imaging scope). This was quite a boon to myself and otherss. It soon became apparent that many of the problems we faced with the RCX were user-error. Vlad became and expert on the scope and provided very useful knowledge. He even conducted a quick training on the scope and its proper usage.
In 2012, Steve Gale produced more scientific planetary data than all the members combined! This was completely unexpected. But Steve can draw, and draw very well. He took to drawing the planets like a bat out of hell. He even did drawings of the Sun! His drawings were sent to organizations such as ALPO USA, and ALPO Japan. He drew the planets on a nearly consistent basis. This was very useful even at NJAA. At a few of the NJAA Research Meetings we were able to compare Steve’s drawings next to images taken with our new DMK21 imaging camera. When Wayne Jaeschke came for a presentation last year, he stated that professional astronomers do make use of drawings of the planets. Infact a large percentage of the systematic data on the planets consist of drawings.
I am indebted to both Vlad and Steve for their hard work and willingness to share. They exemplify what amateur research is all about. Professional astronomers have only limited telescope time and resources. They count on dedicated amateurs to help maintain a constant observation of the planets. The information provided by amateurs may appear small at first glance, but we must remember that it was amateur astronomers who first spotted such events as the 2009 impact on Jupiter. Not to mention that amateurs have systematically tracked the weather patterns of numerous planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars for more than 100 years!
