Important
Although this area is geared towards new members, all members should read through it. I am sure almost every member will find an answer to something they have been wondering about, but never got around to asking. In reading, should you find something we haven’t covered or didn’t explain clearly, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
In the event you have been thinking about joining CAS, but haven’t got around to doing it yet, please go to the "Join/Renew/Donate" tab, located on this site. Although you are welcome to print out a membership application and mail it, along with a check, the preferred method is to pay by credit card, using PayPal. You Do Not need to be a member of PayPal to do this. It is fast and gives you almost instantly, a receipt for your payment, which also acts as your membership card until your official card arrives. It is acceptable and very convenient to store a picture of your receipt or your official membership card on your cell phone.
Once joining CAS, by sending in your payment, be sure to watch your email for the arrival of your membership card. It can take up to 30 days before your card is sent out. The cards are sent out the first week of the month after a member joins or renews. As stated above, paying by credit card, through PayPal is our preferred method of payment and you do not need to be a member of PayPal to pay in this method. You should carry your card, or a copy of your card, or your payment receipt on your cell phone. Although you may be asked to register at Member meeting or asked to show your card at a function, you will never be turned away from a meeting or function because you do not have your card.
Membership cards are sent out as an email file, which you must print. Often we find that membership cards are going to members "Spam folders", where they sit and the member is not aware they are there. If you have recently joined or renewed your membership and are waiting for it to arrive, please check your “Spam Folder”. In most cases this is what we have found to be the problem. Remember, they can take up to 30 days to arrive and are sent out within the first week of each month. Should you not receive your card after a reasonable amount of time goes by, go to the “Contact Us” tab and send a note to our treasurer. The treasure will look into the matter and see it is properly taken care of.
Once you have joined CAS and are recorded on the “Members Roster” and your “Membership Card” has been sent, you will be sent an invitation to join our CAS Groups.io site. This is where we send out all the information, such as, meeting invitations, notices of special programs and other information you need to know. It also allows you to send an email to all members, telling them about something, show them a picture, to ask a question, or to sell something. You must reply to the “Invite” to be added to the group. Once added, be sure to log in and make your “Password”. We advise you Do Not change the settings of how the mail from Groups.io is delivered to you. Changing how the mail is delivered to you can prevent important, time sensitive information from arriving on time, or at all. This site also allows you to view private information, we do not put on our public site, which you are on now. Information and rules you need to visit our Private Observing sites and rules you must follow, along with other needed information, can be found there. They are listed in the “Files” tab on the left side of the page.
Our monthly Members Meetings are held the Second Saturday of each month, at 8:00 PM at Perkins Observatory, except for the following months: August is our annual Family Picnic and December is our annual Christmas Awards Dinner. Always consult our monthly publication, "Prime Focus" as to time and location of any meeting. We occasionally hold meetings in other locations.
Information as to address, contacts, phone numbers, directions, lock combinations for all CAS “Private Observing” locations are listed on the CAS Groups.io site, in the “Files Tab”, under the name of the location your are planning on going to. Please be sure to read and obey all rules for a location you may be going to. The rules for each location are not always the same. Failure to observe the rules, could result in our loss of permission to use a site.
Our Constitution and its table of contents can be found on the CAS Groups.io site, in the Files, under "Constitution and Table of Contents". It can also be found on this site, at the bottom of the “About” tab.
Information as to how to contact an officer or trustee, or the lead person for a group can be found on this site, under the “Contact Us” tab.
A Directory of members can be found on the CAS Groups.io site, in the "Directory" tab. You must be a CAS member in good standing and member of the CAS Groups.io to visit the site. If you are a new CAS member or a member that has never joined CAS Groups.io, please go to the “Contact Us” tab on this site and send a request to join, to our Groups.io Administrator listed there. The administrator will see you are sent an invitation to join the group.
At present, we have two special interest groups. Please see the “Join a Group” tab for more detailed information.
Any member in good standing is eligible to become an officer or trustee. Nominations are taken during October and November of each year and election of officers takes place in December, at our annual Christmas Awards & Election dinner. Please see our Constitution located on the about tab on this site, for detailed information. Our Officer & Trustee meetings are held on ZOOM the Monday before the monthly Members meeting (unless it is a holiday) from 7:30 PM to 8:30PM.
CAS welcomes and thanks you for any donations you might make. You can donate by credit card through the Join/Renew/Donate tab on this site. Or you can donate through our Donation Jar located at the back of the meeting room at Perkins. Donations of used equipment you no longer use, is always welcome and can be made at any meeting or by contacting the President should you need it picked up. We also welcome donation of members time for help in special programs or projects.
The Prime Focus is our monthly publication. It is sent out the first week of each month by email. It contains astronomy based articles written by officers, trustees, group leaders and members. It also contains charts and calendars of not only things happening in the sky, but also dates, times and locations of CAS programs and meetings. It is a very well done publication, loaded with astronomy information, “how to” articles, club information and is the “Shinning Star” of CAS.
You must be a current, paid member of CAS and belong to our CAS group mail program. Simply go to our groups mail at: columbusastronomy.groups.io and enter your email address and password. Once logged in if you belong to more than one CAS group, click on the Columbus | main group. Once at the Columbus Astronomy main group, look on the left side of the page for "Files". Click on "Files" and a list of various information files will then pop up on the right side of the page. Scroll down until you find the file called "Password for Reading Our Newsletter.pdf". The password is contained in that file.
Please keep in mind the Password will be changed from time to time and is case sensitive.
* In the event you are a paid member but are not a member of our Group Mail, you may apply to become a member by scrolling down the "Login Page" to the large blue box "+ Apply For Membership in This Group", an invitation to become a member will be sent to you. It may take a day or two.