- Intro by Brock Johnston
- Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) – Randy Enkin & David Lee
- Discovered by ATLAS from South Africa in January 2023
- Has been visible in pre-dawn skies over the last week, but may also be visible due west just after sunset Oct 11-13.
- Comet tail modelling by Nicolas Lafaudeux
- Light curve and ephemeris
- 20º long tail
- Composition of a comet (in general terms)
- Discussion of apparent magnitude as it is applied to diffuse objects like comets – The astronomical magnitude scale (Harvard)
- Discussion about observing techniques
- Beginners SIG – David Lee
- Tomorrow evening 7:30PM – contact David to join in
- Usually 10-12 attendees at events held over the summer
- UVic monthly meeting this Wednesday, Oct 9th, 7:30PM –
- Presentation: Beyond the Veil – Hidden Stars in Molecular Clouds – Breanna Crompvoets
- President’s Message – Oct 2024 – meeting in person is valuable!
- Promotion of these monthly events – a discussion
- Draconid meteor shower – peaks on Wednesday evening
- Telescope Donation – Marjie Welchframe
- Bushnell 450 telescope, alt/az mount, eyepieces
- FREE: 6″ Criterion Dynascope telescope & mount – RASC Victoria – a “project” telescope posted on our website
- Astrophotographs – Dave Payne
- Rotton Fish Heat Engine: LDN1251 – take note of the dissertation in the description under the photo
- Dave is taking photos of Type 1 star-forming molecular cloud regions of the sky, and adding dissertations on the processes going on in his online gallery
- Ep.19a Particle agglomerates in microgravity – experiment aboard the ISS narrated by astronaut Don Pettit
- Island Star Party 2025 – Randy Enkin
- St. Stephen’s church worked very well for this year’s Island Star Party, so we will return in summer 2025
- Aug 22-23, 2025 – best dark skies – first choice
- July 25-26, 2025 – shorter night but better weather chances – alternate choice
- Coloring Space – Natasha van Bentum
- Chandra X-ray Observatory imagery combined with Henri van Bentum’s Organiverse artwork highlights how colouring Chandra’s images and Henri’s Pointalist colouring complement each other
- Interdisciplinary public outreach can be very effective
- Lauri Roche – What about copyright issues if they are featured at the Centre of the Universe? Natasha owns copyright, so no issue showing Henri’s work, providing credit is given.
- Kimberly Arcand, Visualization specialist at Chandra could make a presentation.
- Active Observers at the Victoria Centre Observatory – David Lee
- Last night was the first observing session after summer at the VCO attended by several members
- Observing reports from Kirsten Pedersen, Kevin Bertles, Michael Webb, Susan
- May be another observing session at the VCO this Thursday evening if the weather is clear
- Last call for pre-ordering 2025 RASC Observers calendars – contact Lauri Roche quickly roche.lauri@gmail.com
Next week’s Astronomy Cafe is cancelled due to it being Thanksgiving Day. Go outside and look for Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)! We resume Astronomy Cafe on October 21st.
Video transcript of meeting
Astronomy Cafe – Oct 7, 2024