President’s Message – July 2021

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Do we ever get tired of the view?

I recently picked up my niece from the airport. When we got our first sight of the Olympic Mountains towering over the Juan de Fuca Strait, she asked if people in Victoria ever get tired of the view. I don’t think so.

Similarly, I observe that amateur astronomers just don’t get tired of looking up. The beauty takes our breath away. There is a joy in learning the constellations and getting competent at star hopping. There is the awe in learning more about the processes that produce the spots and fuzz-balls in the night sky. I never tire of improving my knowledge of the craters and mountains on the Moon, but often I just wander about the Moon in my eyepiece, appreciating the view. We keep improving our equipment, trying to see that little bit of extra detail. Why? For the joy and sense of accomplishment.

At the Astro Cafe this week, we hosted two distinguished selenologists. Gary Varney, from Florida, is a renowned lunar astrophotographer who waxed eloquent about the details he loves to watch at the terminator – the line that separates day from night on the Moon. Brian Day, from California, leads a program at NASA that presents map and data portals, available for free on the Internet, of the planets and moons. Brian told us that he enjoys ending his day by flying around over the Moon with Moon Trek, enjoying the view and trying to figure out how features were formed.

We had dinner guests this week, and I got to show them the young (27 hour old) moon through the 8 inch Dob I’m borrowing from the club (Nelson Walker’s old telescope). One guest had never seen the craters on the moon and got wonderfully excited. Do I ever get tired of the view? Not at all. It feels as fresh and exciting as when I first saw the craters when I was 8 years old.

Look Up,
Randy Enkin, President@Victoria.RASC.ca

Astronomy Cafe – July 26, 2021

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Video transcript of meeting

  • The Heart of the Crab Nebula – Reg Dunkley
    • M1 sketched by Philip Teece
    • Images by Reg, John McDonald, Garry Sedun, and other members
    • Image and 3D model from CFHT – SITELLE spectrograph
    • Various analysis of the nebula and how this Supernova and pulsar shockwave nebula is changing size and shape
    • Discussion of Fast Fourier Transforms – used in audio processing, CHIME data beam forming, and other endeavors
    • Spectacular ‘Honeycomb Heart’ Revealed in Iconic Stellar Explosion – Martin, Milisavlievic, Drissen, et al
  • FDAO Star Party – Aug 7th – Lauri Roche
  • Diane Bell Memorial at the Aviation Museum – Aug 15 at 1PM – Lauri Roche
    • Presentation of Diane’s Service Award to her family
    • Tour of the museum by Gord Bell, Diane’s brother
  • The Centaurus A (NGC 5128) Black Hole – Randy Enkin
    • In the southern sky
    • History of the discovery of Centaurus A galaxy
    • Radio, X-ray and visible emissions, along with a jet of high speed particles being emitted – a baby quasar
    • Event Horizon Telescope – April 2017 observations just published
  • SIGs – David Lee
    • Astrophotography – this Wed
    • Beginners – next Tues
    • EAA – next Thu
  • Observatory Construction on Day 1 – Michel Michaud
    • Staked out his backyard in Saint-Anaclet, Quebec
    • Sonotube – at least 5′ deep
    • Rented a Kobota digger
    • Hit rock at 4′
    • Getting construction advice from Bruno Quenneville, Charles Banville, and others
    • Proposed equipment: Paramount MX+, Celestron Edge 14″, Star Sharp 94 Triplet
    • Discussion about some observatory construction details

Astronomy Cafe – July 19, 2021

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Video transcript of meeting

  • ISS Transits of the Moon – Randy Enkin
    • Enkins Daily Moon on Facebook
    • Lunar Eclipse and Solar Eclipse with ISS transiting – Thierry Legault
    • ISS Transit Finder
    • Photo of the ISS and Mars – by Tom Glenn
  • Hubble status – Chris Gainor
    • Hubble HST Computer Problem is solved with the swap to the backup Control Unit/Science Data Formatter
    • First images from rebooted Hubble
    • Operating on 3 out of 6 gyros
    • James Webb and Kepler space telescopes discussed
  • FDAO Star Party – Lauri Roche
    • Solar observing early at 7:30PM – David Lee & Sid Sidhu
    • 8-11PM this Saturday – history of the Plaskett telescope by Dan Posey
    • Scott Wilkinson and Dennis Crabtree – narrator and Ask An Astronomer
    • Event info
  • RASC National – Lauri Roche
    • RASC Robotic telescope demo of acquiring exoplanet data – Samantha Hewitt and Jenna Hinds -Wed nights starting in August –  more info
    • Aug 29th – EPO Astrophotography processing workshop for data from the Mars Perseverance mission – info pending
  • Diane Bell Tribute – planned for Aug 15th, Sunday afternoon at the Aviation Museum – tour by Gord Bell
  • UVic Observatory Open House this Wednesday evening – David Lee
  • NOVA – New Observers of Visual Astronomy program – Lauri Roche
    • Modules are being revamped so it is both virtual and in-person
    • Being done over about four months
  • Edmonton photo – noctilucent clouds – presented by Dave Robinson
  • Victoria Centre photos
    • Venus & Mars conjunction – Mike Webb
    • Solar prominences & surface features – John McDonald
    • Test photos using the new telescopes at Victoria Centre observatory – John McDonald
  • Observing Planets
    • Planets in good positions at 3AM
    • Visual observing of planets at more civilized hours coming up in a few weeks’ time
  • Moon observers – Lauri Roche
    • Completing the RASC Lunar Observing programs
    • Lunar atlases that are useful for finding features
  • The Last Stargazers a book by Emily Levesque – David Lee
  • Resuming in-person meetings discussed
    • Astronomy Cafe in Fairfield – likely to resume mid-September in hybrid form (online & in-person)
    • Monthly meetings at UVic – no plans in place yet
    • Annual picnic at Pearson College observatory – possibly late August, depending on Bill Weir’s schedule

Astronomy Cafe – July 12, 2021

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Transcript video of the meeting

Mike Nash and Randy Enkin hosted a special Lunar Session,  joined by special guests Brian Day and Gary Varney.

Brian is deputy staff scientist at NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. He manages data visualization and analysis projects supporting missions including Artemis. He was Education/Public Outreach lead for the LCROSS and LADEE lunar missions and has participated in various Mars analog field studies.

Gary is an amateur astronomer, planetary astrophotographer, creator of Amateur Astronomy Selenology Project on Facebook, owner/operator Varney Observatory in Pembroke Pines, Florida, and works as Telescope Technician at OPT. Online photo gallery

  • Intro – Randy Enkin
    • Clavius photos by Mike Nash & Gary Varney
    • Amateur Astronomy Selenology Project – review of the Lunar 100
    • Gary Varney and Brian Day intros
  • Lunar Imaging – Gary Varney
    • Lunar Processing Overview video
      • AutoStakkert demo
      • Registax – demo of wavlet sharpening
      • Photoshop – demo of finishing the image
    • Filters
      • Green – helps with ghosting
      • IR650 or IR742 – improvements over standard seeing
    • Completing the Lunar 100 photographically – Gary’s current mission
  • NASA’s Lunar Tools & Missions – Brian Day
    • Mare Crisium – Horseshoe Crater is a breached cinder cone
    • NASA buying commercial “rides” – Firefly Aerospace
    • Moon Trek – online tool for analyzing lunar data from missions
      • GIS for the Moon
      • Generate an STL file for a 3D print of the lunar surface features
      • Draw a path – QR code to flythrough using generic Google goggles on a smartphone 
      • Fly-to features
      • Data layers – helps to interpret the surface features
      • Also displays data from other solar system objects
    • Viper mission to the Moon – rover in 2023
      • Prospecting for water-ice
      • Want amateur photos of the mission area on the south pole
    • Missions to other areas of the Moon
    • 2 landings per year coming up soon
  • Q&A to Brian and Gary
    • US-based teachers can borrow lunar samples for the classroom
    • Touchable Moon rock (fallen to Earth) can be made available
    • Dial-a-Moon – online tool for finding lunar features
  • Lunar imaging – Mike Nash
    • Mostly using a big refractor 
    • 7″ or 8″ Mak for higher resolution
    • Filters – uses various, depending on conditions
    • Daytime lunar imaging is working well
  • Lunar poem by Bruce McCurdy – read by Peter Jedicke
  • Variable Star observing – David Lee
  • Edmonton astrophotos – Dave Robinson
    • Pumpkin Moon rising over Edmonton – Alister Ling & Luca Vanzella
    • Etruscan vase or omega effect with the Sun setting or rising over the ocean – query by Peter Geldart from Ottawa Centre
    • Jupiter and moon time lapse video – Abdur Anwar
  • Other photo sharing
    • Mars, Venus &  Crescent Moon – Brian Day
    • Venus &  Crescent Moon – Logan Grauer, Alec Lee
    • Ha image of  solar prominences, the Sun & ISS – Brian Day
    • Comet NEOWISE  C/2020 F3 – a tribute video by Debra Ceravolo 
    • Jupiter, moons and shadows – Gary Varney

Astronomy Cafe – July 5, 2021

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Meeting transcript video

  • Intro – Chris Purse
    • Next week’s Astro Cafe – Lunar session – Randy Enkin & Mike Nash
    • Photos of the July 4th fireworks from Lopez Island by Randy Enkin
  • Astrophotography of the Year 2021 – Royal Observatory, Greenwich – a short list by Barbara Lane
  • Edmonton Astrophotos – Dave Robinson
    • Moonsweep – rising Moon over Edmonton time lapse – Luca Vanzella & Alister Ling
    • Solar images – Abdur Anwar using a solar filter and C8
    • Solar sunspot sketches – Berta Beltran
    • All sky display of noctilucent clouds time lapse – Murray Paulson
  • Dave Payne’s M57 image data reprocessed – John McDonald
  • SIGs – David Lee
  • Hubble – David Lee & Chris Gainor
    • Uses 386-based processors, upgraded to 486
    • Video on Hubble current status – an explanation of what’s happening
    • Discussion about Hubble systems and updates
  • Henrietta Leavitt Memorial Horizon Watch – July 4th, 2021 – Reg Dunkley
    • Lopez Island fireworks display
    • 28 kms away eastward
    • 5 members setup at Cattle Point
    • Sequence of photos of fireworks
  • Victoria Centre Observatory report – Reg Dunkley
    • Work party getting the two new telescopes operational
    • Refining the pointing accuracy of the Paramount ME with the new telescopes now mounted
    • Discussion about removal of existing Takahashi focuser so Feathertouch focuser can be mounted and used
    • Servicing the Paramount gearing
  • DASCH: Digital Access to a Sky Century – Harvard’s photographic plate collection
  • UVic Observatory Open House – this Wednesday – history of astronomy – zoom info provided in the chat