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.
Intro and New Members – Marjie Welchframe; Astronomy vs The Billionaire Space Race – Samantha Lawler, USask; Astrophotos – Dave Payne; Space News – Chris Gainor; Rockets – Myles Morrison.
If you’re an astro-photographer, you’ll get it: you never have the right connector, adapter or spacer. I’m getting out of the hobby and willing to part with a huge collection of miscellaneous spacers and adapters. I’m even throwing in a 12mm illuminated reticle, worth the price of this collection alone.
This mono CMOS camera is one of the most sensitive and efficient astro cameras available with peak QE reaching 84%. The sensor diagonal size is 15.86 mm for approx. 20.48M-effective pixel. It is cooled, and has a 256MB DDR3 memory
Complete with tripod, 8×50 finder scope, 90 degree diagonal eyepiece adapter, eyepieces and accessories. 1 ¼” eyepieces included: Accessories Asking $650 Contact Chuck Filtness – email or 778-533-7622 – Saanich Personal advertising appears on RASC Victoria Centre’s website as a
Excellent condition – complete with plastic container The Pentax SMC XW10 is a premium 10mm, 1.25-inch astronomical eyepiece featuring a 70-degree apparent field of view, 20mm eye relief, and high-refraction, extra-low-dispersion lanthanum glass. It uses SMC multi-coating for >90% light
Selling a bunch of astronomy equipment due to upgrades! Victoria buyers preferred, but shipping can be discussed. $450 – Canon T5i $250 – Optolong L-enhance Canon clip-in duo band filter $200 – Askar C1 and C2 2″ duo band filter