Astronomy Cafe – Sep 22, 2025

• Intro & Welcome by Lauri Roche
• Space News – Chris Gainor
  • NASA
    • 6,000 exoplanets have now been discovered
    • Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) – upcoming launch in a few hours time – mission to explore the heliosphere surrounding the Sun
  • Chris will be attending the International Astronautical Congress in Australia, and speaking on the connection between Canada and Hubble
• Observing Highlights all from Sep 19th – David Lee
  • Lunar Occultation with Venus and Regulus
    • Fairfield – Randy Enkin
    • Rithet’s Bog – David Lee
    • Photos from worldwide locations – compiled by Randy Enkin
  • Minima of Algol
    • Comparison stars
    • Almach – mag 2.1
    • Gorgonea – 4 stars
    • Algol dims from magnitude 2.1 to 3.4
    • More info from Calgary Centre
  • Titan Shadow Transit of Saturn
    • Alex Schmid used a 12.5mm eyepiece 2x Barlow on 8″ Newtonian f/9.75 from Cattle Point
    • Bill Weir observed from Pearson College, but seeing was poor
    • Brian Chapel observed with a 10″ telescope
• DAO 16″ Telescope Rehabilitation Update – Brock Johnston
  • Some mechanical problems persist
  • Motor tuning technicians worked remotely to analyze the telescope’s drive system
• Photo of Saturn – Brock Johnston
  • Shallow tilt to the rings now visible
  • 7-year sequence from full-tilt
• Events – Lauri Roche
  • No Astro Cafe meeting on Oct 13th – Thanksgiving
  • UVic – Oct 8th – Northern Star documentary with Nick Versteeg (Producer/Director)
  • NOVA – second part of the beginners’ course – 5 nights at the Centre of the Universe
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • The Solar System
    • Stars
    • Deep Sky Objects
    • Fully subscribed, but iParts 1 and 2 will likely be repeated next year
  • Victoria Centre AGM – Feb 9, 2026
    • Online meeting for members only
    • Elections and reports
  • Annual Victoria Centre dinner – Feb 23, 2026 at Four Mile Pub
  • Buy & Sell – Nov 24th at Fairfield Astronomy Cafe meeting room
    • Bring your astronomical gear to sell
    • Bargains and deals to be had – bring cash
    • Will not be on Zoom, in-person only
    • List big or expensive items and submit to Randy Enkin (pastpres@victoria.rasc.ca)
  • RASC National Calendars – Lauri Roche
    • 35 have been ordered
    • Contact Lauri to pre-order
    • Also let Lauri know if you want to purchase any other publications from RASC – observing guides and workbooks
  • Astrophotography SIG is happening online this Wednesday – Dave Payne
• Astrophotos – Dave Payne
  • Needle Galaxy (Cald38 / NGC4565) – galaxy bulge and other structures – photo and description
• Human eyes perception of stellar objects – Bill Weir
  • One “good” eye and one “noisy” eye
  • Contrast, colour and acuity varies between eyes
• Problems observing M74 – Brian Barber
  • Very challenging face-on galaxy with a tiny core
  • Suggestions: cover your head with a dark cloth, find a very dark observing spot, use large aperture telescope

Video transcript of meeting