Astronomy Cafe – April 22, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • General Assembly – Lauri Roche
    • Invitations sent out by email to all RASC members
    • $15 for two days of online activities
    • Speaker on Saturday night
    • Gather Town – meet and greet
    • Sunday Night Astronomy Show – from New Brunswick
  • Voyager 1 & 2 – Garry Sedun, Chris Gainor
    • Voyager 1 now communicating again, once a fix was installed
    • Launched in 1977
    • Now in heliopause – outside influence of the Sun
  • Regional Science Fair – Lauri Roche (roche.lauri@gmail.com)
  • Astrophotography – Dave Payne
    • Triangulum Galaxy – by John McDonald
    • NGC 2403 – about the same size bur further away
    • Markarian’s Chain of galaxies in Virgo
      • 18 hours of exposure
      • Tried 50 hours of exposure to find more Ha data
  • David Lee (david@victoria.rasc.ca)
    • Beginners’ SIG – moved to 14th
  • Recurrent T Coronae Borealis
  • John McDonald
    • Some good books by Carlo Rovelli, cosmological physicist
      • Seven Lessons on physics
      • White Holes – time reversed version to Black Holes
      • Books available in local bookshops,online and audio versions
    • 2024 Total Solar Eclipse – Composite photo of a series from partial to Totality
  • Uplands street lighting – update from Dave Robinson
    • Met with involved parties in Oak Bay
    • Will meet further with mayor and engineer to try to head off the poor choices to try to get responsible night lighting when heritage street lights are replaced
  • Garry Sedun
    • Lava Lake on Io, moon of Jupiter
    • Recent Solar Eclipse caused time shifts for satellites
  • Chris Gainor
    • Alan Dyer’s Chasing the Cross-continental Eclipse
      • Texas to Ontario to Quebec to successfully photograph the eclipse
    • Being President – odd emails
      • Where is George Ball’s observatory?
      • RASA 14″ telescope – owners want to install it at our site on Observatory Hill
  • Inflatable planetarium available – contact Lauri Roche (roche.lauri@gmail.com)
  • International Astronomy Day in Victoria – Lauri Roche
    • Posters and other graphics to share event with others
    • Contact Lauri or Randy (pastpres@victoria.rasc.ca) to volunteer
  • Astrophotography SIG – this Wednesday – Dave Payne

Astronomy Day 2024 in Victoria

Posted by as Special Events

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the Royal BC Museum present

International Astronomy Day

at the Royal BC Museum and Observatory Hill, Victoria, BC, Canada

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Amazing Astronomical Activities for all Ages!

2024-PressRelease-IAD – contact Randy Enkin (email) (250) 893-9067

2024-Astronomy Day Poster – (6.4Mb PDF printable at 8.5″x11″)

Royal BC Museum – 10AM to 3PM – event

675 Belleville Street, Victoria

Interactive activities outside on the plaza

  • View the Sun safely through solar telescopes (weather permitting)
  • Ask an Astronomer – find answers to those questions about astronomy and space you always wanted to ask
  • Interactive activities inside in Clifford Carl Hall (Museum main level)
    • Telescope show-and-tell – try out telescopes and ask questions
  • Astrophotography – take photos of the night sky with your own camera and see our members’ work
  • Children and families 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
  • Responsible Lighting – get pointers on how to reduce your own light pollution, and feel better for it
  • UVic Astronomy & Physics – interactive astronomy for students
  • Science Venture – hands-on, minds-on science, engineering and technology learning opportunities for youth entering grades 1 through 12 (STEM). Experience the Spiro Mars Rovers (robots)!
  • Camosun College Astronomy – astronomy courses, university transfer
  • Oak Bay High & Monterey Middle schools – students, teachers and parents

Public Lectures in Newcombe Auditorium

  • You Versus the Universe – Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
  • The Stars – John McDonald
  • North Star to Freedom – Amy Archer
  • Making the Most of Spilled Milk:  The Story of the Milky Way, Our Home Galaxy – Simon Smith

IMAX Cosmic Series – May 17-19, 2024

Centre of the Universe and the Observatory – 7:30PM to 11PM – event

The Hon. Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor looking through Chuck Filnesss' telescope

Observatory Hill, 5071 West Saanich Road, Saanich

Reserve Your Tickets (free – available May 15th) – only ticket holders will be admitted to this evening event. (Daytime events at the Museum do not require tickets!)

  • Plaskett telescope tours
  • Planetarium shows
  • Observing through telescopes
  • Virtual reality with the Rift
  • Centre of the Universe gallery
  • Children’s Activities
  • Gift shop
  • Presentation – Looking for precious metals at the end of the galactic rainbow – Dr. Trystyn Berg

Please Note:

  • 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 exhibits and IMAX Theatre.

Astronomy Cafe – Mar 11, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Astrophotography – Dave Payne
    • Orion Nebula, M78 – reflection, emission and dark nebulae
    • Triangulum Galaxy M33
    • Monoceros (next to Orion) – Fox Fur Nebula
  • Barbara Lane 1955-2024
    • Memories of Barbara shared by Randy Enkin and other members
    • Hosted Astronomy Cafe along with her husband Kurt
    • Awarded a Certificate of Appreciation in 2022 for her contributions to Victoria Centre
    • Past Secretary of Victoria Centre, creating wonderful annual reports
    • Kurt and Barbara were a team, volunteering at public outreach events
  • New Crescent Moon of Ramadan 1445 – Randy Enkin
    • Muslim months start at the first glimpse of the New Crescent Moon – beginning of Ramadan
    • Observing a very new Crescent Moon is tricky!
  • They Promised Her the Moon – Dennis F
    • A local play by St. Luke’s Players
    • Originally, women were being tested for the Mercury Program
    • Chris Gainor added to the history of women in space
  • Chris Gainor
    • Canada Post 2024 Eclipse stamp – available this Thursday from your local post office
    • Comet 12/P Pons-Brooks – brightening as it falls apart. It might be visible during Totality on Total Solar Eclipse day.
  • Discord for RASC Victoria – Darren Delorme
    • Private chat room with channels and discussion threads for specific topics
    • Useful as an alternative to email
    • Post information of interest to everyone
    • Join the RASC-Victoria Discord Server!
  • UVic presentation this Wednesday at 7:30PM – Reg Dunkley
  • Volunteers needed
    • Astronomy Cafe – Randy Enkin email
    • Astronomy Day – Lauri Roche email
    • Victoria Centre’s Volunteers List – Marjie Welchframe email

Astronomy Cafe – Jan 29, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Meeting transcript video

  • Intro – Randy Enkin
  • FDAO Star Party – Jan 27 – Randy Enkin
    • Games Night – Jeopardy – was a lot of fun
      • Teams: FDAO, RASC (Nathan, Randy, Chris Gainor)
      • Emcee: Amy
  • 2024 Total Solar Eclipse – Randy Enkin
    • 15% obscuration in Victoria
    • Observe first, photograph next
    • Eye safety – contact Lauri or Randy to pick up some eclipse glasses
    • RASC Eclipse Task Force – Lauri
      • Southern Ontario – mid-afternoon, school kids are being let out early
      • Maritimes – late afternoon, after school
      • Education of teachers in eastern Canada
    • Early March – next eclipse presentation at Astro Cafe
    • Total Solar Eclipse – April 8, 2024 | RASC Victoria
  • Victoria Centre Events – Randy Enkin
    • AGM – Feb 12th
      • Zoom only
      • Quorum of 25 needed
      • Financial Report
      • Election – slate in place except for President – contact Reg Dunkley
    • Social Dinner – Feb 26 at ~ Four Mile Brewpub
      • 22 people registered
      • Contact Marjie to sign up by Wed, Feb 21
      • 55 attendees allows exclusive use of the restaurant, so please sign up!
      • Starts at 6PM
      • Drinks and meals at own expense
      • Awards and speeches
      • Victoria Centre report of activities for 2023 – send info to Randy
    • Astronomy Day – May 18
      • Venue is the Royal BC Museum
      • Need a working committee
    • Island Star Party
      • New Moon weekend is Aug 2-4, but Aug 5 is BC Day so that is a holiday weekend
      • Following weekend to New Moon – Crescent Moon & Perseids – Aug 9-11
      • CVRD has decided no camping and no events outside of park hours, so a new venue probably needed
  • Space Missions
    • Japanese Lunar Mission – now active, despite being on its side
    • Helicopter on Mars has crashed, so that mission is over
  • Good Lighting in Metchosin – Bill Weir
    • Bill had success with controlling streetlights with full cutoff fixtures
    • Ted White is pursuing International Dark Sky certification for municipality
    • Patrick Earl and Dave Robinson will assist
  • Zoozbe “moon” of Venus – Bill Weir
    • Radio Lab podcast
    • Zoozbe is actually an asteroid!

Next Astro Cafe – Feb 5th, then none for the rest of the month. Monday, March 4th will be the next Astro Cafe after Feb 5th.

Astronomy Cafe – Jan 15, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Intro – Brock Johnston
  • DAO Virtual Reality – Light Wave ObserVR – Darren Delorme
    • Photogrammetric capture using Drone Deploy to create a point cloud of the outside of the observatory site
    • Modelled the telescope and mount inside using Blender from smart phone imagery and archival images
    • Working on windows, dome shutters, viewing platform, surrounding buildings and terrain
    • Unity – star catalog data – currently using 100,000 stars
    • VR headsets and hand motion tracking
    • VR tour starts at Elk Lake built on Lidar data
    • Multi-user experience/star party (up to 64 people), rooms, Meta platform launch
    • Inspired by Loki on Disney+
    • Next step is to create the stories and lessons
    • Perhaps add John Plaskett as a tour guide
    • Discussion of next steps, project milestones, first use, terms of use
  • Games night at FDAO Star Party – Jan 27th
  • The Colours of Uranus and Neptune – Randy Enkin
    • Are the two planets the same colour?
    • Uranus discovered by Herschel in 1781
    • Neptune discovered by several people in 1821, 1845 and 1846
    • Voyager 2 space probe has visited both planets in 1986 and 1989
    • Modelling the seasonal cycle of Uranus’s colour and magnitude, and comparison with Neptune – Patrick G. J. Irwin et al
    • Members relate their observations of Neptune and Uranus
    • Chris Gainor reminisced about being at JPL as a press reporter for the planetary encounters by Voyager 2. Both Hubble and JWST now observe the two planets regularly
  • David Lee david@victoria.rasc.ca
    • Occultations – citizen science
      • NEO
      • Int’l Occultation Timing Assoc – occultations.org
      • New DIY kits available
    • Makers SIG – Jan 25th
      • Imaging computing platforms – convergence and DIY solutions
  • FDAO – Lauri Roche roche.lauri@gmail.com
    • Star Party on Jan 27th
    • Strategic Planning for FDAO coming up
    • Send suggestions for new activities for the FDAO
  • RASC Victoria Centre Events – Lauri Roche & Reg Dunkley
  • Herschel Museum  – Reg Dunkley
    • Near Paddington Station, London, UK
    • Treadle lathe, mirror grinding, forge for mirrors
    • Catalog of stars
    • Site of discovery of Uranus in the garden
    • Musical instruments

Astronomy Cafe – Jan 8, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Intro – Jeff Pivnick
  • Galileo – Jeff Pivnic
    • Today is the 382nd anniversary of his death in Florence in 1642
    • Taught at Universities of Pisa and Padua
    • Patron of the Medici family
    • Conducted experiments
    • Developed first telescopes based on Lippershey optics
    • Observed the Moon, Venus, Jupiter & 4 moons, Saturn, stars, Sun
    • Sidereal Messenger (1610) documenting his discoveries
    • Planetary motion theories
      • Ptolomaic model – Aristotle, Ptolemy, Aristarchus, Copernicus, Catholic Church
      • Heliocentric model – Galileo, Kepler and Copernicus
    • In 1630 published “The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems”
    • Inquisition in 1633  found Galileo a heretic – put under house arrest
    • Review of his contributions to science
  • APOD for Dec 26, 2023 – Jellyfish Nebula photo by Dave Payne
    • Explanation of the formation of the nebula and the resulting structure
    • Composition and appearance based on materials
    • Stellar Supernova resulting in a Neutron star
    • Well-deserved recognition!
  • Astrophotos – Dave Payne
  • Ravensberger puzzle of the solar system – Randy Enkin
    • Planets and moons
    • From Lee Valley – now sold out
    • Fun to put together with numbered pieces in separate bags
  • Victoria Centre Awards – Reg Dunkley
  • Revealing the Invisible Universe with Radio Telescopes – Dr. Jennifer West, NRC – presentation at UVic – Wed Jan 10, 2024 at 7:30pm
  • AGM – Feb
  • Lauri Roche
    • Victoria Centre social at Four Mile Pub – Feb 26th
    • Astronomy Day – May 18, 2024 Royal BC Museum
      • Need a team to form soon to take leads in the volunteer tasks
      • ⁃ Contact Lauri for more info roche.lauri@gmail.com
    • Games night at the FDAO Star Party – Jan 27 6:30-10PM

Astronomy Cafe – Dec 18, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Transcript video of meeting

  • New member intro
  • Last Astronomy Cafe for 2023 this evening – thanks to Chris Purse (meeting coordinator), Joe Carr (recordings & notes) and Kathie Koziol (coffee)
  • Leona vs Betelgeuse – Randy Enkin
    • Asteroid 319 Leona occulted Betelgeuse on Dec 12th
    • Betelgeuse’s diameter is 50 milliarcseconds
    • The asteroid’s shape and rotation was worked out from the occultation observations
    • Only clear along the path over Spain
    • IOTA – occultation observations
    • Varsavia occultation observed by David Lee and Dave Bennett on July 17, 2003
  • Events
    • Astronomy Day (May 18, 2024) – Randy Enkin
      • RBCM has invited Victoria Centre to stage the event on their site
      • Discussion about pros and cons for UVic Bob Wright vs Museum sites
      • New location: Langford or Colwood – more young families would likely attend
      • FDAO Star Party in the evening on Observatory Hill
      • Need a new organizing committee with David Lee and Lauri Roche in an advisory – to volunteer contact Randy president@victoria.rasc.ca
      • Consensus is to hold Astronomy Day at RBCM
    • Island Star Party – early August 2024 – to volunteer contact Randy president@victoria.rasc.ca
    • Victoria Centre AGM – Feb 2024
    • Cafe Scientifique – monthly public event staged by UVic Faculty of Science at Hermann’s Jazz Club – Jim Fox
    • Virtual Reality of DAO – Darren
      • Modelling of site, telescope and dome well underway
      • Need more information and feedback from RASC members
      • Darren will present his project to Astronomy Cafe early in 2024
    • Astrophotographs
      • Jellyfish Nebula – narrowband – Dave Payne
      • Horsehead and Flame Nebulae – Ron Fisher
      • Lion Nebula  – Dave’s data, Ron Fisher processed it
    • Lauri Roche
    • Frank Hobbs Elementary Solstice Party this Thursday – contact Randy to volunteer president@victoria.rasc.ca

Next Astronomy Cafe will be held on January 8, 2024

Astronomy Cafe

Posted by as Meetings

Astro Cafe Logo

Astronomy Cafe is an informal gathering of both RASC Victoria Centre members and non-members to socialize, drink coffee, eat cookies, and partake in both informal and formal presentations related to astronomy, space missions, and cosmology.

Astronomy Cafe is normally held every Monday evening in Fairfield, Victoria, BC, Canada except during summer months and when the Monday falls on a statutory holiday. Meetings start at 7:00PM and wind up no later than 9:00PM (usually 8:30PM).

You are invited to share content you would like to present to upcoming online Astro Cafe meetings to our Past President Randy Enkin pastpres@victoria.rasc.ca . We will usually post your submitted content to our website and/or Youtube channel, unless you request otherwise. Zoom links to our online meetings are emailed to RASC Victoria Centre members a day or two ahead of time, so please join us!

Location

  • Parking lot near 1335 Thurlow Road (navigate to here)
  • Street parking is also available on Thurlow if the lot is full
  • FGCA main building address: 1330 Fairfield Road. Limited parking available in front for those who cannot use stairs.
Astronomy Cafe meeting is held in the Lower Lounge, located between the Fairfield Gonzales Community Association main building and the portable building Astro Cafe used to be held in.

Astronomy Cafe Archives

Astronomy Cafe event photos

Astronomy Cafe – Feb 13, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

A Special General Meeting (SGM) was held before Astronomy Cafe commenced. After the SGM concluded, members heard a guest speaker and reports.

A Brief History of Galaxies: from the discovery of island universes to a clash of the Titans – Dr. Sara Ellison, UVic Astronomy professor

  • Our own Milky Way and other galaxies showing light and dust features
  • Deep field taken by JWST
    • FOV: a grain of sand held at arm’s length
    • thousands of galaxies in the image
  • History
    • Charles Messier – a 17th century comet hunter who listed 110 objects that are notcomets
    • Lord Ross used the 1.8m Leviathan telescope to sketch spiral galaxies
    • Shapely-Curtis debate in 1920 about the nature of nebulae
    • The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars: Sobel, Dava: 9780143111344: Books – Amazon.ca
    • Henrietta Leavitt discovered the Type 1 Cepheid Variables, correlation between the brightness and variations in the luminosity
    • Leavitt’s discovery used by Edwin Hubble, who in 1923 settled the Shapely-Curtis debate. The Hubble Law related distance to velocity (red shift), the start of cosmology as we now know it.
    • Hubble Tuning Fork classifications of galaxies
    • Halton Arp studied Peculiar Galaxies – guide: arpgalaxy.com
  • Early modelling of interacting galaxies
  • Video – current modelling of interacting galaxies
  • Toomre Sequence – showing different morphologies
  • Galaxies cluster in groups, which is how they grow mass
  • Stellar streams in the Triangulum Galaxy – research at Herzberg
  • Tidal streams in the Milky Way are remnants of small galaxies that have interacted in the past
  • How a galaxy merger transforms it – simulations predict:
    • Isolated disk
    • Small group
    • Gas funnels to the galaxy centre
    • Black hole accretion
    • Decay
    • Dead Elliptical
  • Sara’s research – Sara Ellison – University of Victoria
  • Q&A

Announcements

  • Council meeting coming up – Tue 28th – AGM planning
  • Awards Nominations and nominees for Council – contact Reg Dunkley pastpres@victoria.rasc.ca
  • AGM will be held online, tentatively on March 13th
  • Social dinner will also be held later – awards
  • SIGs

No Astro Cafe next week. Next Astro Cafe will be held on Feb 27th

Astronomy Cafe – Jan 9, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Meeting transcript video

  • Intro – Randy Enkin
    • We still don’t have approval to hold monthly meetings at UVic, so speakers will continue to present at Astronomy Cafe
  • Learning Astrophotography – Reg Dunkley
    • Dec 6th Astro Cafe presentation by Ron Fisher on his adventures learning astrophotography – thanks Ron!
    • Victoria Centre Observatory can help members to start taking astrophotos using our centre’s gear once the VCO reopens – soon now. Bring your own dSLR to use on our Takahashi refractor, or use our 61 mpix mono astro camera on our OGS Ritchey–Chrétien telescope.
  • Far Side Amateur Astronomers Observing a Supernova – Reg Dunkley
  • Laurie Rousseau-Nepton from CFHT is the speaker for next week’s Astro Cafe – Dave Payne
    • Hydrogen star-forming regions
    • Observing with the SITELLE sensor on CFHT
  • RASC Edmonton Astrophotos – Dave Robinson
    • WR134 Wolf-Rayette star and region – Abdur Anwar
  • Sunrise, Sunset and the Path of the Sun – Randy Enkin
    • Why does the shortest day not happen at Winter Solstice? – question posed by Marjie Welchframe
    • Obliquity – plus or minus 8 mins variability for a “day” – tilt of the ecliptic to the equator
    • Eccentricity – Kepler’s Second Law – causes variation between civil time and solar time
    • Sun compass – uses local solar tip and longitude, corrected for DST
  • SIGs – David Lee
    • Beginners Group – back to basics
    • Electronically-assisted Astronomy – winding down
    • Citizen Science – starting up
    • Astrophotography – had a meeting in Dec, and will report to Astro Cafe in a couple of weeks
    • Makers – David building an “environment box”
  • President’s Announcements – Randy Enkin
    • Soliciting feedback from members on the new proposed bylaws by Jan 15th – send to Secretary and President.
    • Special meeting to adopt the new bylaws
    • Hold AGM under (hopefully) new bylaws
    • Members should consider standing for election to an officer’s position – contact Reg Dunkley, Nominations – email
  • Handbooks for Explore the Universe and Explore the Moon are available at $10 each. Also some 2023 RASC Observers calendars are still available at $15 each. Contact Lauri Roche by email
  • Observing Opportunities