Date/Time: Wednesday March 11, 2026 starting at 7:30PM Location: University of Victoria, Bob Wright Centre, Lecture Theatre A104 The Vera C. Rubin Telescope is on the verge of officially coming online. Literally any day now, the Rubin science community will receive a hotly
This mount was purchased brand new from All Star Telescopes. Asking $1,200.
Intro – Jeff Pivnick
Planetary Alignment on Feb 28th – David Lee, Vince Geisler, Brock Johnston, Brian Barber, Alex Schmid
Citizen Science – Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipse – 2006 – Randy Enkin
The Moon, a Meteorite, Monk and Me – Leslie Welch
Artemis 2 and Wet Dress Rehearsal – Jeff Pivnick
Artemis Mission Changes – Chris Gainor
RASC Victoria Centre’s annual social, dinner and 2025 awards held at the Four Mile Pub on Feb 23, 2026,
Newton-Ball Award 2025 For Distinguished Service to RASC Victoria Centre – Randy Enkin.
Ernie Pfannenschmidt Award for Telescope Making – Brock Johnston
Awards of Excellence in Astro-Imaging and Astro Sketching
Winner – Orion and Running Man Nebula by Megan Meraz
Honourable Mention – Montage of the March 13, 2025 Lunar Eclipse by John McDonald
Honourable Mention – M106 (NGC 4258) Galaxy – Packing a Water Megamaser by David Payne
Certificates of Appreciation – Alex Schmid, Kevin Bertles, Chris Purse, Kathie Koziol, Elaine Dunbar, Dave Payne.
Intro and Important Reminders – Chris Purse
Astro Imaging Corner No 151 from Edmonton Centre – Alistair Ling
Plaskett’s Director’s House – Dennis Crabtree
Events – David Lee & Lauri Roche
Astrophotos – Dave Payne
Jeremy Hansen’s mission patch – Natasha van Bentum
Artemis II Mission to the Moon Update – Chris Gainor
Astronomy from Namibia – Alistair Ling
Intro and New Members – Lauri Roche
Sid’s Books – Lauri Roche
Remembering Mark Tovey – Peter Jedicke
Coordinated Universal Time and UTC, GMT and all that – Jeff Pivnick
Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) – Randy Enkin
Artemis II Mission to the Moon – Chris Gainor
Jeremy Hansen’s mission patch – Natasha van Bentum
Aurora and hunt for Comet 24p/Schaumasse – Jan 20th early morning – David Lee
VCO Jan 23 Observing Report – David Lee and Reg Dunkley
Events – Lauri Roche
Intro and New Members – Jeff Pivnick
Remembering John McDonald
Sid Sidhu’s Legacy Astronomy Gear – David Lee
New Zealand: Ventures in Astronomy and iPhone Astrophotography in the Southern Hemisphere – Chris Purse
Astrophoto of the Horsehead Nebula – Vince Geisler
Current Solar Wind and Possible Aurora – Randy Enkin
Dr. W. John McDonald, 1936-2026 John became active in astronomy in 2005 when he found some RASC Victoria Centre members who were equally passionate about observing the night sky visually and capturing images through cameras, lenses and telescopes as he was.
Always the passionate scientist (particle physics), John was also involved in amateur research as it relates to astronomy and astrophysics. He enjoyed the social aspects of being involved in one of Canada’s venerable Learned Societies, attending conferences, general meetings and star parties. As Victoria Centre President, he encouraged other members to participate and contribute to the mission of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Intro and New Members – David Lee
What’s up in the solar system in 2026 – Phil Stooke
Risk of Satellite Collision or “Fall” – Jeff Pivnick
Events – Kevin Bertles, Randy Enkin, Lauri Roche
Date/Time: Wednesday January 14, 2026 starting at 7:30PM Location: University of Victoria, Bob Wright Centre, Lecture Theatre A104
You may be familiar with the 1.8m Plaskett telescope at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO), but it is not the only noteworthy telescope on the hill. Located just across the road from the visitor’s centre, the 1.2m telescope and McKellar spectrograph has a vibrant history as well. Its namesake, Andrew McKellar, did lots of important work with spectroscopy at the DAO and designed the telescope’s coudé spectrograph. It saw first light in 1962 and has been in use for active research ever since. This talk will dive into Andrew McKellar’s research, his design of the coudé spectrograph, how spectroscopy works, and the role it has played in past and present astronomy research.