Astronomy Cafe – April 27, 2026

• Intro – Randy Enkin
• Astrophotos – Vince Geisler
  • Vince is a new Member-In-Charge (MIC) at the Victoria Centre Observatory (VCO)
  • Time-lapse of Jupiter taken with the VCO’s Takahashi and Vince’s planetary camera
• Aotearoa New Zealand’s second New Year’s Day – Chris Purse
  • Recognizing the time after Winter Solstice
  • Maori have a New Year in the southern hemisphere’s Winter Solstice
  • Matrix public holiday floats in late June or early July
  • Other New Year celebrations depend on the particular ethnic group’s own calendar such as Lunar, Gregorian
• Astronomy Day – review by Randy Enkin, Marjie Welchframe, David Lee, Lauri Roche, Ben Spiller
  • Questions from the crowd:
    • 30 local centres of RASC
    • RASC founded in 1868 and received a Royal Charter from King Edward VII in 1903
  • Slideshow shown of the event during the day at the Royal BC Museum
  • Attendees: 30-50 at each presentation; 43 on the floor, 10-20 on the plaza – total about 400
  • Volunteers: 50 or more
  • Attendees also came for IMAX shows
  • Both US visitors from the Coho and cruise ship passengers also came by
• RASC Victoria Centre t-shirts – Randy Enkin
  • New order of t-shirts pending
  • Email your pre-order to Randy pastpres@victoria.rasc.ca
  • Colours: Dark blue, dark green, black, or whatever
  • Size: S, M, L, XL, XXL
  • Cost: probably $25
• Astrophotography SIG project – Dave Payne
  • Share our experiences
  • Merging various data sources is now possible
  • Started in February, but weather has worked against the group, so recent clear skies are finally giving the group some imaging opportunities
  • Subject: Coma Galaxy Cluster – wide field
  • There is a interstellar glow to the background field – a mysterious phenomenon
  • Sign up to the Astrophotography SIG if you’re interested
• Observing from Cattle Point – David Lee
  • Mare Nectaris – long shadows on the crater floor
• Proba-3 mission – Solar Observing – Randy Enkin
  • 6 hours of totality every day using precise occultation
  • Solar coronagraph records the data
  • Two spacecraft fly in close formation in a 20-hour orbit around Earth
  • First set of results now available
• RASC General Assembly – May 2-3 – Lauri Roche
  • Register and pay $25 for members
  • Helen Sawyer Hogg Lecture – 4PM, May 2nd – Register for free, open to all
  • Presenters from Victoria Centre: Darren Delorme, Kirsten Pedersen, Dave Payne, Randy Enkin
  • New Executive Director will appear
• Hail Mary – a book by Andy Weir
  • Book review – Dave Robinson
  • Good story but fictional – David Lee
  • Movie in theatres now, including IMAX
• Telescope Clinic – May 2 on Observatory Hill – David Lee
  • Hosted by several Victoria Centre members
  • Offer help using telescopes
  • Observing advice and techniques
  • Event info and tickets

Video recording of meeting