Intro & New Members – Reg Dunkley; Memories of Sid Sidhu – Reg Dunkley, Marji Welchframe, David Lee, Garry Sedun, Chris Gainor, Susan Grady, Lauri Roche, Dave Robinson; 3I/ATLAS Interstellar Comet from Mars – Phil Stooke; Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon – Reg Dunkley, Randy Enkin, Bill Weir ; WR134 Astrophotograph – Dave Payne; Astrophotos from Vince Geisler; Aldebaran – Randy Enkin
Presentation at University of Victoria on November 12, 2025 starting at 7:30PM. “Maximizing image resolution for ground-based telescopes using Adaptive Optics: it is all in the details” – Dr. Maaike van Kooten, AO developer, Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics, National Research Council Canada.
In this talk, I will focus on the latest AO R&D happening in Victoria on our local telescopes and put it into context of the wider global AO community. I will also highlight the work being done at large facilities in Hawaii to further push the limits of our AO systems.
Meade 127ED 5” f/9 ED Apochromatic Refractor Telescope c/w Also included are the following genuine Meade accessories All equipment in excellent condition. Hardly ever used. Asking price for all the above $1,400.00 CAD Contact – Trevor Brown (250) 896-7708 (email)
Intro – Chris Purse; New maps of the Apollo 17 LRV traverses (of the Moon) – Phil Stooke; M42 Orion Nebula – Dave Payne; The friendly skies – Saskatchewan Star Party ; Comet I3/Atlas – Randy Enkin; Dark Sky Reserve – Hanle, Ldakh, India – Natasha van Bentum; Space Mission News – Chris Gainor; Events – Lauri Roche, Dave Payne; Comets: C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and C/2025 F2 SWAN – Randy Enkin & David Lee
As fall settles over Victoria and we are faced with what may be the last stretches of clear evening skies (for a time at least), I hope everyone has a chance to wind up any lingering observing projects.
Looking back at the summer there was so much activity from our society that I failed to share a summer highlight of my own: a visit to the David Dunlap Observatory in July.
For those who haven’t had a chance to work with one of these large telescopes up close, I’m pleased to announce our next Plaskett Night, scheduled for October 25. As always, it’s a special opportunity to use the 1.8m telescope and chase down some faint targets.
Intro & New Members – Jeff Pivnick; New comets this month – Jeff Pivnick; The Sun – Jeff Pivnick; Titan Shadow Transit of Saturn – David Lee & Alex Schmid; The Moon – Randy Enkin; RASC Victoria Memorabilia – Randy Enkin; Events – Lauri Roche, David Lee, Reg Dunkley
Pre-order RASC Publications for 2026 – Lauri Roche; Space Exhibits In Missouri, Ottawa and Sidney – Summer Travels 2025 – Brian Barber; Astrophoto – Dave Payne; Hosting Astronomy Cafe next week – Jeff Pivnick; “20 Feet From Stardom” – Astronomers Forgotten in the Shadows – Reg Dunkley; 61 Cygni – Randy Enkin
Date/Time: Wednesday October 8, 2025 starting at 7:30PM Location: University of Victoria, Bob Wright Centre, Lecture Theatre A104. Park in Lot 1 (pay parking) and cross Ring Road “Northern Star – The life of Canadian astronomer J.S. Plaskett and the Canadian Space engineers
Intro – Lauri Roche;Space News – Chris Gainor; Observing Highlights and astrophotos – David Lee, Brock Johnston; Events – Lauri Roche; Astrophoto – Dave Payne; Human eyes perception of stellar objects – Bill Weir; Problem observing M74 – Brian Barber
Intro – Marjie Welchframe; Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory – Wyman Lee; Announcements – Randy Enkin and David Lee; Polaris- Randy Enkin; Space News – Chris Gainor; Artemis mission and Rainbows – Natasha van Bentum; Spaceweather, CHIME, Island Star Party – Reg Dunkley; NOVA and citizen science – David Lee