Astronomy Day 2019 in Victoria (printable poster – 201k PDF) – please spread the word and stick a reminder on your fridge
All Astronomy Day activities are FREE and available to the general public. Membership in RASC is not required.
Regular admission applies to the Royal BC Museum and IMAX Theatre.
Royal BC Museum – 10AM to 4PM
675 Belleville Street, Victoria
Interactive activities outside on the plaza
View the Sun safely through solar telescopes (weather permitting)
Interactive activities inside in Clifford Carl Hall (Museum main level)
Telescope-making – grind a mirror and build your own telescope
Telescope show-and-tell – try out telescopes and ask questions
Astrophotography – take photos of the night sky with your own camera
Children’s astro crafts – kids make their own astronomy and space souvenirs
Ask an Astronomer – find answers to those questions about astronomy and space you always wanted to ask
Light-based Science – light is energy, and energy is a big part of our Universe
Responsible Lighting – get pointers on how to reduce your own light pollution, and feel better for it
Planetarium – cruise the night sky during the day while sitting on a couch
Presentations in Newcombe Auditorium
11:00AM – Exploring a New World on the Edge of the Solar System, New Horizons and 2014 MU69 – by famed solar system expert JJ Kavelaars of the NRC. Poster (837kb pdf)
12:00 Noon – Space Suite I – Our wondrous universe set to a timeless score – presented by Knowledge Network and Two Story Productions. Poster (837kb pdf)
1:00PM – Observing Planet Formation around Young Stars – planetary researcher Ruobing (Robin) Dong from U Vic. Poster (577kb pdf)
2:00PM – Space Suite II – Our wondrous universe set to a timeless score – presented by Knowledge Network and Two Story Productions. Poster (837kb pdf)
2:30PM – Science & Storytelling: How discoveries of new worlds help tell stories of family – Elizabeth Tasker and Ria Voros. The two authors will discuss how they came to work together unexpectedly through Ria’s novel. Poster (2Mb pdf)
Elizabeth Tasker is an Astrophysicist at the Institute for Space and Astronautical Science at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Her forthcoming popular science book is “The Planet Factory”, on planet formation and exoplanets. The updated paperback edition comes out in Canada late April.
Ria Voros is a local Young Adult novelist whose forthcoming book is coincidentally titled “The Centre of the Universe”. In this story 17 year old Grace’s mother is missing. Grace is obsessed with exoplanets and she meets Elizabeth a few times in the book.
I’m pleased to announce that our own Lauri Roche has won the RASC Service Award.
The Service Award is a major award of the Society given to a member in recognition of outstanding service, rendered over an extended period of time, where such service has had a major impact on the work of the Society and/or of a Centre of the Society.
We all know the many things Lauri does in the Victoria Centre, and at the national level she has also made major contributions, including her work with education programs.
Congratulations Lauri!
Chris Gainor, Ph.D. President Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
Lauri Roche
Lauri Roche has been a member of RASC since 1995. She was an elementary and middle school teacher for many years, using her Masters of Education from Carlton effectively to support kids with a wide range of disabilities as a special education teacher. Lauri switched to teaching grade 7-8 math and science through to her retirement, and she continues to substitute teach those subjects, and tutors students as well.
Lauri has been active in Victoria Centre, volunteering for or leading countless public outreach events, including: International Astronomy Day, public nights at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO), International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009), Vancouver Island Regional Science Fairs, numerous public observing events, and bringing astronomy to the very popular Saanich (agricultural) Fair.
RASC booth at the Saanich Fair – 2009
Lauri is also active at the National level of RASC, contributing to the Education and Public Outreach (EPO) committee. During 2018, she co-hosted a national contest in honour of the RASC sesquicentennial called Imagining the Skies. This online contest highlighted astronomical media through photography, sketching, art and crafts.
Serving terms on Victoria Centre’s Council as Treasurer, Vice-president, and President, Lauri has shown great leadership through collaboration with many Centre members. Her past efforts to involve RASC members in public outreach have resulted in many members who continue to support this most important mission to engage the public in science and especially astronomy. Her support of others’ leadership of events speaks to her excellent collaborative approach to public outreach, and using volunteerism as a fun, social activity to get members involved in RASC’s main mission.
Lauri Roche introducing Nathan Gray at the 2014 General Assembly. Photo by Real Roi
As one of the lead members of the Victoria Centre’s School Telescope Program, Lauri has lent her considerable expertise in interacting with students of all ages (kindergarten to high school), and has helped make this program the most sought after by teachers beyond the local area schools. In the 2017-2018 school year more than 2,000 students took advantage of this program, involving 80 presentations and night sky viewing sessions.
Lauri’s support of astronomy outreach to the public on Observatory Hill through Saturday night events during the summer months at the Centre of the Universe and the historic Plaskett telescope predates her involvement in the Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (FDAO). That said, she joined the board of the FDAO very soon after its inception and has been one of its strongest resources for outreach and education ever since, as the FDAO strives to revitalize EPO on Observatory Hill.
Ben Dorman, Lauri Roche & Don Moffatt – Photograph By ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
Lauri has almost single-handedly kept FDAO’s fledgling volunteer daytime tours program running, not only by being lead presenter and educator, but also by organizing other volunteers to participate. She has also been a mainstay of regular Saturday Star parties for the public every summer, and unstintingly gives her time on other evenings of the week to give talks on basic astronomy and about Canadian observatories around the world to all ages and levels of knowledge. Finally, Lauri is a strong advocate on the board for enhancing public outreach offerings and their accessibility to the widest possible public.
Collaborating with and encouraging RASC members to get involved has been the hallmark of Lauri’s approach to public outreach. Lauri’s contagious enthusiasm for astronomy and science, and her active support outside the classroom of young women choosing science careers can’t help but support astronomy being more inclusive. There is no doubt that her outreach in the classroom has helped younger people to consider scientific endeavours as cool and desirable career choices.
Nominators
Reg Dunkley, President, RASC Victoria Centre Chris Purse, Past President, RASC Victoria Centre Dr. Chris Gainor, President, RASC National Sid Sidhu, RASC Victoria Centre Dr. Ben Dorman, Chair, Friends of the DAO and RASC member Joe Carr, RASC Victoria Centre
On Sunday, January 20th, 2019, we will be able to view a total eclipse of the Moon (weather permitting). The Moon will be in partial phase after rising from the eastern horizon, and move into full eclipse in evening hours as it climbs in altitude and moves to the southeast. The Total Lunar Eclipse will develop over the course of about 3 hours, will be in Totality for about an hour, and will end just before midnight.
This is a perfect opportunity to visually observe this beautiful celestial event, and possibly capture some photographs from a location with an unobstructed view to the east and south.
ECLIPSE TIMELINE
Eclipse begins
Moon’s eastern limb enters the penumbra
6:36 pm PST
Partial eclipse begins – 1st Contact
Moon’s eastern limb enters the umbra
7:33 pm PST
Total eclipse starts – 2nd Contact
Moon entirely in the umbra; deep orange red
8:41 pm PST
Totality
9:12 pm PST
Total eclipse ends – 3rd Contact
9:43 pm PST
Partial eclipse ends – 4th Contact
Moon’s western limb leaves the umbra
10:51pm PST
Eclipse ends
Moon leaves the penumbra
11:48 pm PST
Above Eclipse times are for Pacific Standard Time (PST) for the west coast of North America, and are calculated from UT as presented in the Observers Handbook 2019, pages 127-29.
What’s Happening
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon. During a lunar eclipse the Moon’s position traverses the Earth’s shadow. The Moon’s first contact with the Earth’s shadow is at the outer band of the shadow called the penumbra. The light falling on the Moon is progressively blocked until at the moment of total eclipse the Moon is completely in the darkest central area of the Earth’s shadow called the umbra. At the point of total eclipse the process starts to reverse itself until the Moon is totally out of the Earth’s shadow.
umbra – the darker central area of the Earth’s shadow
partial eclipse – the Moon is positioned within the penumbra
total eclipse – the Moon is positioned totally within the umbra
Observing Tips
What do you need?
Everything from your eyes, binoculars and telescope are suitable. Bear in mind this is a long process and at this time of year dress warmly and bring a chair if you want to be comfortable.
Find yourself a location that has a clear horizon view to the east and south especially if you wish to view during the late stages.
Keep a log of what you see and note the time. Pay attention to how much of the light on the moon is obscured and if there are any colouration changes. During the total eclipse the Moon will take on a deep orange-red colour. The colour of the Moon is a function of contaminants in the atmosphere and varies from year to year.
A good observing project for this long-lasting eclipse will be to observe the craters on the Moon as the eclipse progresses. Craters will be immersed and emerge from the Earth’s shadow on the Moon at times specified in the Observers Handbook 2019, page 129.
Totally eclipsed Moon over the Salish Sea from Cattle Point – Sep 27, 2015
Photographic Tips
Equipment
Any camera with the capability of setting shutter speeds and aperture settings manually will do fine. The ability to use interchangeable lenses will be an advantage for more detailed images of the Moon. For the darker parts of the eclipse, eg. totality you should use a tripod support for best results. If you have access to a telescope you can try capturing the event using prime focus techniques through the telescope optics.
Settings
Today’s digital cameras are very sensitive to light reflected by the Moon. Use ISO 400 to ISO 800 and a long telephoto lens or zoom setting. Smartphones and point-and-shoot digital cameras will not produce rewarding photos of the eclipsed Moon, but can be useful for taking panoramic shots of your surroundings which include the eclipsed Moon.
Technique for smartphone cameras
Smartphone cameras typically do not support manual settings, so using them to capture a lunar eclipse will be less rewarding than using more capable cameras. That said, smartphone cameras can be held up to a telescope eyepiece to capture an image of the Moon. Aligning the tiny lens to the eyepiece can be tricky, however there are platforms made to clamp onto an eyepiece barrel which will hold smartphones steady enough to take acceptable photos of the Moon, including the eclipsed Moon.
Technique for interchangeable lens cameras
The simplest eclipse pictures can be taken with manual settings on your camera and a normal lens, preferably supported by a tripod. For best results use a cable release to minimize vibration. Images taken in this fashion result in a small lunar image. This is why it is preferable to use a telephoto lens to photograph the Moon.
For a full frame camera try a 200mm lens or something close to this, even better a 500mm lens or higher. You may also use teleconverters to increase magnification, these typically come in 1.4x and 2x strengths. Their downside is they reduce the effective aperture of your optical system. A 1.4x teleconverter will decrease your effective exposure by 1 stop, a 2x teleconverter will decrease your effective exposure by 2 stops. Work out your effective aperture of your optical system ahead of time so you don’t have to think about it on the night of the eclipse.
Note for the smaller sub-full frame sensors of some digital cameras you gain an extra advantage as the focal length of the lens is effectively magnified by a factor. For example a Nikon DX body your 200mm lens would be effectively 300mm.
APS-C Nikon DX, Pentax : 1.5x
APS-C Canon EF-S : 1.6x
Four Thirds : 2x
Example:
Focal Length
Aperture
Effective Focal Length with 2x teleconvertor
Effective Aperture with 2x teleconvertor
180mm
2.8
360mm
5.6
480mm
6.8
960mm
13.6
To achieve any higher magnification than what is stated above you will have to use a telescope at prime focus. For this your manual camera does need to have the capability of using interchangeable lenses. For prime focus you will use the telescope optics as your interchangeable lens. To attach your camera to your telescope you will need two things a T-adapter that fits your camera and a telescope camera adapter that fits your telescope.
The telescope camera adapter is designed to fit in the focusing tube of your telescope and is threaded to accept the T-adapter of your camera. With the magnification involved with telescopic optics it is likely that you will need to use a tracking mount. Preferably the mount should be able to track at lunar speed as opposed to sidereal but if the shutter speeds chosen are shorter than 1 or 2 minutes this is not critical.
Exposure times are the next consideration. The following exposure times are based on a medium ISO setting and an effective aperture that would be common with a long telephoto and teleconverter combination. Exposures may vary with your equipment based on ISO speed and effective aperture. The Danjon Lunar Eclipse Luminosity Scale has been included to provide better guesstimates for totality.
Exposure Times: based on ISO 400
Full Moon
1/500 second at f/16
1st Contact
1/250 second at f/16 see note 1.
2nd Contact
1 second at f/16 see note 2.
Totality *see table below
L = 4 :
4 seconds at f16
L = 3:
15 seconds at f16
L = 2:
1 minute at f16
L = 1:
4 minutes at f16
3rd Contact
1 second at f/16 see note 2.
4th Contact
1/250 second at f/16 see note 1.
* Danjon Lunar Eclipse Luminosity Scale
L = 1
dark eclipse; lunar surface details distinguishable only with difficultly
L = 2
deep red or rust coloured eclipse; central part of the umbra dark but outer rim relatively bright
L = 3
brick-red eclipse; usually with a brighter (frequently yellow) rim to the umbra
L = 4
very bright copper-red or orange eclipse, with a bluish, very bright umbral rim
Note 1. 1st and 4th contact times given for the partial phases are biased for the light part of the Moon. Remember you are dealing with vastly different exposures between the light and dark parts of the Moon during eclipse. The bias of about 1 stop minus avoids overexposure of the dominant bright area of the Moon.
Note 2. 2nd and 3rd contact times given for the partial phases are biased for the dark part of the Moon. The bias of about 1 stop plus is a good strategy for negative film not quite so good for slides and digital capture given they don’t tolerate overexposure well.
The exposure times are only recommendations. Remember the cardinal rule about photography … bracket. Always try exposures plus and minus your chosen exposure. This gives you a better chance at getting usable results. Let’s all hope for clear weather. If you have any questions please send email to David Lee at davidflee7331@gmail.com.
David Lee – original text Joe Carr – updated for 2019 Brenda Stuart – illustrations
Gates will open at 2pm on Friday. Camp on the field and setup your telescope for two nights of fun!
Cost: Free of charge! Visiting observers who stay overnight: suggested donation of $20/Adult one day or two.
Everyone who is present is entitled to tickets for door prizes, presentations, and access to the observing field.
Prizes for kids and adults, including three telescopes! See below…
Don’t want to camp? No problem if you live in the Greater Victoria area…you can drive home after an evening of fun on the observing field.
Staying after dark? Please bring a red light with you – no white lights!
Observing Field at St. Stephens Church
Click image for slideshow of 2018 RASCals Star Party photos
Schedule of Events
Friday 7th
2:00 pm – Gates open
6:15 pm – Welcome and door prizes, including a telescope!
6:30 pm – Astro Cafe – Theme: Star Parties
Bill Weir will share experiences from recent Mt Kobau and Merrit Star Parties.
Miles and Dorothy Paul will describe highlights from the latest Oregon Star Party
Nelson Walker will discuss his planning process for observing sessions
Plus Show and Tell Session
8:00 pm until dawn: observing! No white lights during this time, please
Saturday 8th
Solar viewing – all day on the field
Afternoon presentation – TBA
5:00 pm – StarBBQ – burgers!
6:15 pm – Welcome and door prizes, including two telescopes!
6:30 pm – Speaker – David Lee will share his experiences, insights and beautiful images acquired on his recent trip to Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona and during his time amongst the iconic Saguaro cacti.
8:00 pm until dawn: observing! No white lights during this time, please
Sunday 9th
Cleanup – everyone please pitch-in & help
Please, no parking in the church parking lot this morning in consideration of Church members attending their service!
12:15 pm – solar viewing for St. Stephen’s congregation
Early departures please!
Facilities
Camping on the observing field with your tent, trailer or motorhome – bare camping, no utilities on the field
Setup your telescope and other astronomy gear on the observing field
Some power on the field for astronomy equipment, but no RV plug-ins please!
Washrooms and porta potties
Water, self-serve coffee & tea
Visitor and drop-in parking
Please do NOT park on the field with your vehicle if you plan to leave after dark! In this case, move your vehicle off the field after setting up, and park in the parking lot with your headlights facing away from the observing field. The same parking request applies to visitors dropping in for the evening – leave your vehicle in the parking lot and walk into the observing field.
Star Party t-shirts
A very limited supply of RASCals Star Party t-shirts will be available for sale. Pre-order yours by contacting Joe Carr. Black t-shirts available in Men’s M or L sizes ($16 ea), white t-shirts available in Men’s S & XL ($12 ea), and white Kid’s t-shirts available in S & M ($12 ea).
2018 RASCals Star Party white t-shirt
2018 RASCals Star Party black t-shirt
Prizes
Bushnell 4.5″ reflector telescope – Friday night prize – donated by a RASC member
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso P114 4.5″ Matsukov telescope & computerized mount – Adult’s Grand Prize – Saturday night – donated by Quarky Science
Celestron Astromaster 130AZ 5” reflector telescope – Kid’s Grand Prize – Saturday night – donated by All-Star Telescope
Bushnell 4.5″ Reflector telescope
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso P114 4.5″ Matsukov telescope & computerized mount
Please refer to the asking prices of the items listed below. Items will be sold to the bidder who submits the highest bid price.
Once a bid is accepted, prompt payment by bank draft or certified cheque is preferred, payable to: RASC Victoria Centre. Payment by personal cheque drawn on a US or Canadian bank is also acceptable, but will cause delays.
Tie bids will be decided by the date and time the bids are first received.
Local pickup of items is preferred, otherwise successful bidders are responsible for shipping costs in addition to their bid price.
The equipment listed below has been used together for the last 10 years at Victoria Centre’s observatory. Items can be bought separately or together.
All equipment is sold as-is without any warranty or guarantee of fitness for purpose.
Please contact Bruno Quenneville if you need further details about the items offered for sale Email (brunoqvictoria@gmail.com) or call (250) 888-3450.
Each lot itemized below will be sold to the bidder who submits the highest bid price by the due date, providing our minimum bid (reserve) price is met or exceeded.
Once a bid is accepted, prompt payment by bank draft or certified cheque is preferred, payable to: RASC Victoria Centre. Payment by personal cheque drawn on a US or Canadian bank is also acceptable, but will cause delays.
Tie bids will be decided by the date and time the bids are first received.
Local pickup of items is preferred, otherwise successful bidders are responsible for shipping costs in addition to their bid price.
All equipment is sold as-is without any warranty or guarantee of fitness for purpose.
Please contact Bruno Quenneville if you need further details about the items offered for sale Email or call (250) 888-3450.
Postal mail or courier: Attn: RASC Victoria Centre, 3046 Jackson St, Victoria, BC Canada V8T 3Z8. Bids sent by postal mail or courier must be postmarked April 27, 2018 or earlier.
Orion 80mm telescope
LOT 1 – Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 apochromatic refractor telescope – SALE PENDING
Condition: Used showing minor wear, but in good operating condition with no marks.
The Focuser is bent, but operating. Replacement cost would be US$350.
The optics deliver close to perfect star images visually and for photos taken by APS-C and smaller sensors, however when using a full-frame 35mm sensor, some star elongations are apparent in the corners of the photographic frame. Please view this evaluation done by our members for further details. Tele Vue is able to restore the telescope optics to factory specification for a charge of US$495 plus shipping, however this work would be done at a prospective purchaser’s own expense.
LOT 3 – Meade 14” f/10 SCT telescope optical tube
Optical tube only – no diagonals or mounting hardware is included
Includes
Meade standard finder scope
Feather Touch ultra fine thread focuser upgrade – see red arrowed item in photo below
Dew shield
Other accessories available – see below for Hyperstar and cradle mount (both used with this 14″ SCT)
Total Lunar Eclipse on Sep 27, 2015 from Victoria – photo by Joe Carr
On Wednesday, January 31st, weather willing, we will be able to view a total eclipse of the Moon. The Moon will move into full eclipse in the early hours of the morning and will be in partial phase in the western sky as the Sun rises. The Total Lunar Eclipse will develop over the course of about 3 hours. It’s a perfect opportunity to capture some snapshots of the event. Read further to find out what happens during the eclipse and how to capture it photographically.
E C L I P S E T I M E L I N E
Moon below the horizon
Moon’s eastern limb enters the penumbra
2:51 am PST
Partial eclipse begins – 1st Contact
Moon’s eastern limb enters the umbra
3:48 am PST
Total eclipse starts – 2nd Contact
Moon entirely in the umbra; deep orange red
4:52 am PST
Totality
5:30 am PST
Total eclipse ends – 3rd Contact
6:08 am PST
Partial eclipse ends – 4th Contact
Moon’s western limb leaves the umbra
7:11 am PST
Sunrise
7:48 am PST – approximate
Eclipse ends
Moon leaves the penumbra
8:09 am PST
What’s Happening
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon. During a lunar eclipse the Moon’s position traverses the Earth’s shadow. The Moon’s first contact with the Earth’s shadow is at the outer band of the shadow called the penumbra. The light falling on the Moon is progressively blocked until at the moment of total eclipse the Moon is completely in the darkest central area of the Earth’s shadow called the umbra. At the point of total eclipse the process starts to reverse itself until the Moon is totally out of the Earth’s shadow.
Glossary
limb – the outer edge of the Moon
penumbra – the outer band of the Earth’s shadow
umbra – the darker central area of the Earth’s shadow
partial eclipse – the Moon is positioned within the penumbra
total eclipse – the Moon is positioned totally within the umbra
Above Eclipse times are for Pacific Standard Time (PST) for the west coast of North America, and are calculated from UT as presented in the Observers Handbook 2018, pages 126-27.
Observing Tips
What do you need?
Everything from your eyes, binoculars and telescope are suitable. Bear in mind this is a long process and at this time of year dress warmly and bring a chair if you want to be comfortable.
Find yourself a location that has a clear horizon view of the west especially if you wish to view during the late stages.
Keep a log of what you see and note the time. Pay attention to how much of the light on the moon is obscured and if there are any colouration changes. During the total eclipse the Moon will take on a deep orange-red colour. The colour of the Moon is a function of contaminants in the atmosphere and varies from year to year.
Photographic Tips
Equipment
Any camera with the capability of setting shutter speeds and aperture settings manually will do fine. The ability to use interchangeable lenses will be an advantage for more detailed images of the Moon. For the darker parts of the eclipse, eg. totality you should use a tripod support for best results. If you have access to a telescope you can try capturing the event using prime focus techniques through the telescope optics.
Settings
Today’s digital cameras are very sensitive to light reflected by the Moon. Use ISO 400 to ISO 800 and a long telephoto lens or zoom setting. Smartphones and point-and-shoot digital cameras will not produce rewarding photos of the eclipsed Moon, but can be useful for taking panoramic shots of your surroundings which include the eclipsed Moon.
Technique
The simplest eclipse pictures can be taken with manual settings on your camera and a normal lens, preferably supported by a tripod. For best results use a cable release to minimize vibration. Images taken in this fashion result in a small lunar image. This is why it is preferable to use a telephoto lens to photograph the Moon. For a 35mm camera try a 200mm lens or something close to this, even better a 500mm lens or higher. You may also use teleconvertors to increase magnification, these typically come in 1.4x and 2x strengths. Their downside is they reduce the effective aperture of your optical system. A 1.4x teleconvertor will decrease your effective exposure by 1 stop, a 2x teleconvertor will decrease your effective exposure by 2 stops. Work out your effective aperture of your optical system ahead of time so you don’t have to think about it on the night of the eclipse.
Example:
Focal Length
Aperture
Effective Focal Length
with 2x teleconvertor
Effective Aperture
with 2x teleconvertor
180mm
2.8
360mm
5.6
480mm
6.8
960mm
13.6
To achieve any higher magnification than what is stated above you will have to use a telescope at prime focus. For this your manual camera does need to have the capability of using interchangeable lenses. For prime focus you will use the telescope optics as your interchangeable lens. To attach your camera to your telescope you will need two things a T-adapter that fits your camera and a telescope camera adapter that fits your telescope. The telescope camera adapter is designed to fit in the focusing tube of your telescope and is threaded to accept the T-adapter of your camera. With the magnification involved with telescopic optics it is likely that you will need to use a tracking mount. Preferably the mount should be able to track at lunar speed as opposed to sidereal but if the shutter speeds chosen are shorter than 1 or 2 minutes this is not critical.
Exposure times are the next consideration. The following exposure times are based on a medium speed film and an effective aperture that would be common with a long telephoto and teleconverter combination. Exposures may vary with your equipment based on ISO speed of film used and effective aperture. The Danjon Lunar Eclipse Luminosity Scale has been included to provide better guesstimates for totality.
Exposure Times: based on ISO 400
Full Moon
1/250 second at f/16
1st Contact
1/125 second at f/16 see note 1.
2nd Contact
2 seconds at f/16 see note 2.
Totality
*see table below
L = 4 :
8 seconds at f16
L = 3:
30 seconds at f16
L = 2:
2 minutes at f16
L = 1:
8 minutes at f16
3rd Contact
2 seconds at f/16 see note 2.
4th Contact
1/125 second at f/16 see note 1.
* Danjon Lunar Eclipse Luminosity Scale
L = 1
dark eclipse; lunar surface details distinguishable only with difficultly
L = 2
deep red or rust coloured eclipse; central part of the umbra dark but outer rim relatively bright
L = 3
brick-red eclipse; usually with a brighter (frequently yellow) rim to the umbra
L = 4
very bright copper-red or orange eclipse, with a bluish, very bright umbral rim
Note 1. 1st and 4th contact times given for the partial phases are biased for the light part of the Moon. Remember you are dealing with vastly different exposures between the light and dark parts of the Moon during eclipse. The bias of about 1 stop minus avoids overexposure of the dominant bright area of the Moon.
Note 2. 2nd and 3rd contact times given for the partial phases are biased for the dark part of the Moon. The bias of about 1 stop plus is a good strategy for negative film not quite so good for slides and digital capture given they don’t tolerate overexposure well.
The exposure times are only recommendations. Remember the cardinal rule about photography … bracket. Always try exposures plus and minus your chosen exposure. This gives you a better chance at getting usable results. Let’s all hope for clear weather. If you have any questions please send email to David Lee at davidflee7331@gmail.com.
David Lee – original image and text
Joe Carr – updated for 2018
Brenda Stuart – illustrations
RASC Victoria members used the Bob Wright Centre at the University of Victoria for a nation-wide celebration of RASC astronomy in Canada for the last 150 years, from 3-5pm on Saturday, January 27th. We will were joined by astronomy teachers and students from University of Victoria, Camosun College, and Victoria High School. Tours of the 32″ telescope and observing the Sun through solar telescopes was happening outside. Members participated in a series of Youtube “webisodes” from RASC Centres across Canada.
by Michel Michaud, RASC Victoria Centre Observing Co-chair & Librarian
The Lunar X is a claire-obscure effect in which light and shadow creates the appearance of a letter “X” on the rim of the Blanchinus, La Caille and Purbach craters. The X is visible only for a few hours before the first quarter slightly below the lunar terminator. Near the X, the lunar V is also visible, formed by Ukert crater and several other small craters.
If you never had the chance to view the Lunar X, also known as the Werner X, there are several time this year that feature could be visible from Victoria. The time predict the beginning of the event and all in LOCAL TIME.
23 January 2018, 2042 (8:42 pm) – Tuesday evening event
23 March 2018, 2357 (11:57 pm) – Friday evening event
21 May 2018, 0002 (12:02 am) – Monday evening event
19 July 2018, 2314 (11:14 pm) – Thursday evening event
16 September 2018, 2332 (11:32 pm) – Sunday evening event
14 November 2018, 0059 (12:59 am) – Wednesday evening event
September 7-9, 2018
