I just wanted to write a note here, to let NOVAC members know that in May I will be leaving this area.  After 13 years at the U. S. Naval Observatory, I've accepted a new position.  I'll be working at the Astrogeology Department of the U. S. Geological Survey, in Flagstaff, Arizona.  My work up to now has concentrated on determining the Earth's rotation, and improving the terrestrial and celestial coordinate systems (latitude and longitude for the Earth, right ascension and declination for the sky).  My new job will be in the area of improving the coordinate systems of other planets, moons, and asteroids, as part of the USGS planetary mapping effort.  This is something I've always had an interest in, so this job is certainly an exciting prospect for me and I'm looking forward to it.  My wife, JoAnne, who many of you know, will also be finding new work in Flagstaff as well, after working for several years for the Fairfax County Adult Education program.

Aside from the job changes, we're certainly looking forward to moving to northern Arizona.  It seems to us a spectacular area to live, and of course we're really anticipating the clear, dark night skies there. We've got a contract down on a house a little outside of town to the northeast, at 7,000 feet or so elevation, with wonderful views of the mountains, and away from what little skyglow there is from the well designed lighting of Flagstaff (where Brian Skiff, a friend from Lowell Observatory, complains that the limiting magnitude is only 6.5!).  And we're looking forward to being closer to friends and relatives all over the southwest, and to making new friends as well.

Of course the down side of all this is that we will indeed miss our friends back here, particularly from NOVAC.  We joined the club not long after our arrival here in 1987, and we've met a lot of wonderful folks and made a lot of friends.  We've certainly enjoyed ourselves attending and helping out at countless meetings and events, and I tried to help as I could, particularly with programs, and in getting the club incorporated as a non-profit corporation.  But we've really been amazed by all the good people in NOVAC, past and present, and what they've contributed.  There's really no adequate way I can think of to do it here, but still I'd really like to say thanks to all those members, particularly all those dedicated elected and volunteer officials of the club, who've made NOVAC what it is over the last decade and more.

Surprisingly to me, I realize I've been in NOVAC long enough now to have seen much of its history.  NOVAC started only a few years before our arrival here, as a high-school astronomy club in Springfield, with Nils Thomas, Blaine Korcel, and John Huggins as the chief "instigators", and with Al and Marylyn Schumann, Al Boldt, and Brenda and Kevin Jones as some of the early (and still current) members.  By the time we arrived here it was a group of about 40-50 people that met irregularly at Fairfax county libraries.  And now look.  It's an organization of ten times that size, with regular, well publicized meetings, star parties, a great web site, and educational events, and it has done a lot for the northern Virginia area.

In the time we've been here we've also seen the metropolitan area expand and light pollution do it's worst.  The club moved from using the Manassas Battlefield park and Burke Lake Park as regular observing sites, to using other sites like Parsell's Field, now already abandoned. We enjoyed the dark skies of the then new Crockett Park in the late '80's, only to see the skies slowly deteriorate, so that it and the much newer (well, for me!) Savage farm site have a much brighter sky than one would like.  The good news is that NOVAC members are at it again, particularly with the help of Bob Gent and John Nusbaum, in fighting the light pollution problems of this area - and we are seeing great progress in improved lighting and passed or pending ordinances controlling outdoor lighting in VDOT and many counties in this area.

Anyway, we will miss the meetings, we will miss the observing, we will miss you all.  We will never forget the many star parties we attended and helped out with at Crockett Park, particularly the observing of Comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp.  And I'll never forget that trip to Big Meadows with Bob Bunge and Bob L'Hommedieu, to see Comet Hyakutake and its tail stretched a third of the way across the sky!

Still, we sure plan to do some observing out west and to help out with public events there too.  We also plan to stay in touch as much as we can.  We'll of course continue avidly reading the wonderful NOVAC newsletters(!) that Elliott Fein and now Mike Mills have been doing such a great job on, and we'll try to keep up with some of the flood of e-mail on the NOVAC e-mail list.  We'll be back for visits occasionally, and I suspect we'll be running into some of you out west! Our updated address, etc.  will be sent in for a later newsletter.

We plan to attend the May 14 NOVAC meeting, so will see some of you there.  But otherwise, until we cross great circles again, here's wishing you all clear, dark skies.  Keep up the good fight against light pollution, and remember... to observe and help others observe!

Regards,
Brent A. Archinal