Video recording of meeting
Astronomy Cafe – March 23, 2026
FOR SALE: 15′ dome & 2 telescopes
2014 Technical Innovations Pro Dome 15’ $9,500
Explorer Scientific ED 127 CF telescope
Celestron Edge HD 11″ SCT telescope
Both telescopes $6,500
30 eyepieces $3,500
4 cameras $750
Other misc astro gear
Package price (not including dome) $11,500
Astronomy Cafe – Mar 16, 2026
Manned Space Flight – Rocket Fuel Ignition – Jeff Pivnick
Canadian sovereign Space Launch – Chris Gainor
Compound Eyes Telescopes – David Lee
Greenland Telescope – Natasha van Bentum
Sundials – Randy Enkin
Oak Bay installing non-compliant streetlights in Uplands – Moira Hourigan & Dave Robinson
Events – Lauri Roche
Astronomy Cafe – Feb 2, 2026
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
Astronomy Cafe – Jan 26, 2026
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
Astronomy Cafe – Jan 12, 2026
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
UVic Presentation: The McKellar Telescope: Discovering Worlds Beyond our Sun – Allen Keefe
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.
Astronomy Cafe – Dec 15, 2025
December 22 at 19:00: Informal Astro Café. On-line only! No host, no video recording or notes, but good old conviviality. Same Zoom link as always. NO ASTRO CAFE ON DECEMBER 29. Video recording of meeting
Astronomy Cafe – Dec 8, 2025
Intro & new attendees – Lauri Roche; Upcoming Astronomy Cafes – Randy Enkin; Astrophotography and 16″ CU telescope upgrades – Brock Johnston; Geminid Meteor Shower in 2014 – Reg Dunkley; The Week That Shaped Astronomy in Victoria – Dennis Crabtree; Newcombe Singers Concert – Randy Enkin; Mizar (and friends) – binary stars – Randy Enkin
Astronomy Cafe – Dec 1, 2025
Intro & new attendees – Randy Enkin; Canadian meteorite fall events: Keep looking up – Phil McCausland; Eagle Nebula astrophoto – Dave Payne; “The Fall of Icarus” – Randy Enkin; Announcements – Randy Enkin, David Lee, Lauri Roche; Two Personal Observatories – Garry Sedun