How many of you joined this group to get out observing - looking through telescopes and learning about the night sky - or dipping your toes into imaging?  There have been a lot of new members joining over the past few months... and as more have joined I've though about how to meet the needs of newcomers.  This is what I've determined -

This AANC Group is essentially the Meetup side of TAC - "The Observing Connection" - which began about fifteen years ago in the south San Francisco Bay Area and became quite popular.  It still exists as a web-page and more important - a mailing list.  That list is available to you - beginners especially - to ask questions, share experiences, and arrange to go observing with others.  And, a big benefit, it is a friendly and open place with some very experienced members.  If you want to learn, to get out and have a great time - get on the TAC lists...  I suggest joining, introducing yourself, and asking a question.  You'll get a friendly and helpful response!

Here they are, the two TAC mailing lists:

VISUAL OBSERVING -

TAC's web-page is at: (but read the rest before clicking):

http://www.observers.org  -

Here is the mailing list archive:

http://observers.org/tac.archive/current/ -

And where to join the list:

http://www.observers.org/joining

Want to see where people are going observing?  Here's an OI (Observing Intents) Calendar:

http://www.observers.org/observing-intents

And a list of observing sites people in the greater bay area use:

http://www.observers.org/observing-sites

There is even a repository of observing reports - people's notes and experiences:

http://observers.org/tac-or.archive/

IMAGERS:

If you are interested in "Imaging" - TAC has a great list on Yahoo:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/TAC-imaging/info

This Meetup seems to serve very well at announcments - but for discussions, it has proven to not be such a helpful venue - I highly recommend joining and using TAC's mailing lists.

If you have any questions - please feel free to e-mail me here....

Clear skies,

Mark