Astronomy Cafe – October 19, 2020

Transcript video of the online meeting.

Kevin is a friend of Ken Mallory. Presented by Chris Purse

Astrophotography by the Victoria Camera Club members – John McDonald

• John introduced VCC members who participated in his astrophoto workshop, which was two sessions of 2 hours each
• Mainly used camera and tripod for sky scape photos
• How to find objects using planetarium software
• Work flow for skyscapes, star trails and time lapse (video)
• Software
  • Basic – Photoshop, Starstax
  • Stacking – Starry Landscape Stacker (Mac), Sequator (Windows)
  • Deep sky processing – Deep Sky Stacker, PixInsight
• Slideshow profiling VCC participants’ astronomical photo results

Harvest Moonrise over Edmonton – Luca Vanzella

Black Holes and the 2020 Nobel Prizes – Randy Enkin

• Roger Penrose – Black Hole formation and the general theory of relativity
• Reinhard Genzel, Andrea Ghez – Supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy

TPO 16″ telescope repair status – Reg Dunkley

• The Technical Committee recommended that the 16″ TPO not be replaced under warranty by OPT. Victoria Centre will instead get a store credit to purchase other astronomical gear.
• This recommendation was accepted by Victoria Centre Council.
• Access to the VCO – we can return to Observatory Hill with our Active Observers under limited group rules.

Mars sequential photos – John McDonald