May has started with an incredible celebration. The Plaskett Telescope turns 100 this month and the plaque designating the DAO as a National Historic Site of Canada has been unveiled. I was asked to speak on behalf of the Centre
SPEAKER: Peering through Nature’s telescope – Gravitational Lensing as a window into the distant universe
by Dr. Karun Thanjavur Wednesday May 9th, 2018 at 7:30 PM Room A104 Bob Wright Centre UVic Gravitational lensing, the “bending” of light in a gravitational field is one of the many awe inspiring phenomena predicted by Einstein’s theory of General
Saturday Star Parties at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory 2018
The Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (FDAO) and RASC Victoria Centre will be hosting twenty Saturday evenings at the DAO, featuring guest speakers, solar and nighttime observing with telescopes provided by RASC Victoria Centre volunteers, tours of the historic
President’s Message – April 2018
Our tech committee has made further progress with the upgrade to the Victoria Centre Observatory telescope. More equipment has arrived and has necessitated the installation of some different wiring in the mount. Recently, members of the committee held a work
FOR SALE: Observatory Equipment – BIDDING CLOSED
RASC Victoria Centre is selling surplus astronomical equipment FOR SALE BY BID: telescopes, equipment & optics Due date: April 30, 2018 at 11:59PM BIDDING NOW CLOSED Photo gallery of Victoria Centre’s Observatory Each lot itemized below will be sold to
SPEAKER: Hot Jupiters, super-Earths, and mini-Neptunes! Oh my!
by Dr. Henry Ngo Wednesday April 11th 2018 at 7:30 PM Room 167, Elliot Building No, the lions and tigers and bears have not rebranded! These are categories of exoplanets (planets around other stars). At first, we only knew about
Astronomy Day 2018 in Victoria
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the Royal BC Museum present International Astronomy Day at the Royal BC Museum Saturday, April 21, 2018 10AM to 4PM Amazing Astronomical Activities for all Ages! Poster (408k PDF) – please spread the word
SPEAKER: The Hunt for Black Holes in Globular Clusters
by Dr. Vincent Hénault-Brunet Wednesday March 14th 2017 at 7:30 PM Room A104, Bob Wright Centre Globular clusters have long been used to test theories of stellar evolution, stellar dynamics, and galaxy formation. In recent years, these old clusters have
President’s Message – March 2018
As the spring and summer approaches, planning is underway for our annual season of outreach events. The first event of the season is Astronomy Day on Saturday, April 21 at the Royal BC Museum. We will require volunteers to help
SPEAKER: The Mystery of Dark Matter. by Dr. Guillaume Thomas
Wednesday February 14th 2017 at 7:30 PM Room A104, Bob Wright Centre. During the past two decades, the standard model of the cosmology ΛCDM has commonly been accepted by the astrophysical community and successfully reproduced and even predicted many observational