The November meeting of the Victoria Centre is the Annual General Meeting and Dinner. It will take place at the Cedar Hill Golf Course on Saturday, November 18. The doors open at 6 p.m.
The dinner consists of a buffet with a pre-ordered entree. The entree choices are charbroiled chicken breast or Pacific salmon with dill & lemon butter or vegetarian ravioli with a herb cream or grilled AAA sirloin steak. The buffet will include 4 salads, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, steamed vegetables, and artisan bread, followed by assorted cakes and squares, coffee, and tea. Payment is by cheque (payable to RASC Victoria Centre) or cash. The deadline for ordering your entree was Friday, November 10.
After the meal at around 7:30 p.m., there will be a speaker, the presentation of our annual report, and centre awards. That portion of the evening is open to everyone at no cost. If you cannot attend the dinner please consider dropping by for the meeting. There is ample free parking.
The James Webb Space Telescope: the countdown is on – Chris Willott
The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to the prestigious Hubble Telescope. With a diameter of 6.5 m, this infrared telescope will be launched 1.5M kilometres from Earth for a scientific mission lasting 5 to 10+ years. Canada, one of the main partners in this project with the United States and Europe, provides one of the four scientific instruments and the guiding system. The development of Webb is well underway and the world astronomical community is actively preparing for the planned launch in early 2019. This presentation will provide an update on the state of the development of the telescope and give an overview of the scientific program of the Canadian science team that includes observations to detect galaxies in the early universe and determine the composition of the atmospheres of exoplanets similar to Earth.
Chris Willott is a research astronomer at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria. He studies the most distant galaxies in the Universe to understand how stars and black holes formed soon after the Big Bang. In addition to research, he works at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope archive scientist and is the Canadian Project Scientist for the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope.
Annual General Meeting Agenda
Approximate Call to order: 8:30 p.m.
Minutes of 2016 Annual Meeting: Chris
Centre Annual Report for 2017: Reg
Treasurer’s Financial Report: Bruce.
National Representative’s Report: Nelson
Awards:
Award of Excellence in Astrophotography
Ernie Pfannenschmidt Award in Amateur Telescope Making
Newton Ball Service Award
Special Awards
Election of Victoria Centre Council Members: Sherry
List of RASC Council positions for Victoria Centre 2017 – 2018
Executive Positions
President – Chris Purse (incumbent)
Vice President – Reg Dunkley (incumbent)
Second Vice President – Deb Crawford (incumbent)
Secretary – VACANT
Treasurer – Bruce Lane (incumbent)
Other Positions
Past President – Sherry Buttnor
National Representative – Nelson Walker (incumbent)
Librarian – Michel Michaud (incumbent) Diane Bell (assistant, incumbent)
Telescopes and School Programs – Sid Sidhu (incumbent)
Public Outreach – Ken Mallory (incumbent)
Skynews Editor – Reg Dunkley (incumbent)
Light Abatement – Dave Robinson (incumbent)
Membership – Chris Purse (incumbent)
Webmaster – Joe Carr (incumbent)
Observing Chair – Jim Stilburn (incumbent)
Systems Administrator & Technical Committee Chair – Matt Watson (incumbent)
Members at Large
Jim Hesser
Lauri Roche (FDAO Liaison)
James DiFrancesco (DAO Liaison)
Alex Schmid (UVic Liaison)
Jim Nemec (Camosun Liaison)
David Lee
John McDonald (Astro Cafe)
Li-Ann Skibo
Chris Gainor (National Officer)
New Business
Door Prizes
Adjourn