Astronomy Cafe – May 29, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Beginner Observers – report by Brenda
    • Observing and sketching targets from Cattle Point
    • Trying to find another observing spot to get away from the car lights
    • Summer targets are next
    • Four observers at Pearson College two weeks ago – liked it!
    • Island View Beach may be a good observing location
    • Most of the group are working on Explore the Universe observing certificate
  • Special Interest Groups – David Lee
  • Beaveree and Seniors event at the Centre of the Universe – solar observing – Lauri Roche
  • Plaskett Observing Session – video report by Randy Enkin
    • First in-person observing session on May 19-20, 2023 since 2019
    • Supernova 2023ixf photographed in M101 as our last target, unknown to us at the time
    • Dan Posey notified Dave Bohlender at NRC, so the SN photometry was reported online quickly
    • Subsequent processing revealed the SN is a blue star
    • Koichi Itagaki, amateur Japanese discoverer of SN
    • The progenitor star of the SN now has a paper published about it
  • Thanks to Astro Cafe volunteers – Randy Enkin
  • Photos of Supernova 2023ixf (Type II)
    • Dave Payne
      • May 13-16 images of M101 without SN
      • May 20th image of M101 with the SN
    • Brock Johnston
      • GIF flashing old versus new image of M101
      • Light curve of SN from AAVSO
      • Also imaged M51 and M13
    • Sketch of SN using 6″ Dob – Bill Weir
    • Photos of SN on May 20th & 24th showing the SN enlarging – Ron Fisher
  • Plaskett Observing Session on May 19-20 – Dan Posey
    • Objects imaged before M101 are being processed
      • NGC 4565 Needle Galaxy
      • NGC 4605 Faberge Egg Galaxy
      • NGC 6914 reflection and emission nebula
  • National AGM – June 25th online – Chris Gainor
    • Restricted to RASC members – log in to member area of rasc.ca website
    • Reports, financial statement, bylaw amendments, elections
    • Please attend and vote
    • 2023 AGM Agenda
  • Island Star Party – Dave Payne
    • Aug 11-13
    • Still need some volunteers – sign up for email list dapayne@shaw.ca
  • Discussion of Supernovae (in general)
    • Type I and Type II Supernovae – Dan Posey
    • SN 2016aps – Lauri Roche
  • Star Parties on Observatory Hill – Lauri Roche

This is the last Astronomy Cafe until we restart after the Summer break.. Astro Café will resume on Monday. September 11, 2023.

Image of Supernova 2023ixf acquired through the Plaskett 72" telescope by RASC Victoria Centre members.
Image of Supernova 2023ixf acquired through the Plaskett 72″ telescope by RASC Victoria Centre members. This preliminary image processed by Dan Posey.

Astronomy Cafe – May 15, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Intro – Jeff Pivnick
  • To the Moon, with Robots and Humans – Dr. Gordon “Oz” Osinski, Dept. Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario
    • Sailing ships to space missions – history of human exploration
    • The Moon has thousands of meteorite impacts
    • 2019 announcement by Canadian government
      • Canadarm 3 on Lunar Gateway outpost
      • Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP) – Canadian lunar rover
    • Artemis I – launched last year
      • Lots of images from this mission
    • Artemis II – orbit Moon
      • Canadian astronaut – Jeremy Hansen
      • Crewed test flight to the Moon and Earth high orbit
      • Engineering mission, not a science mission
      • Launch – late 2024 or early 2025
    • Artemis III – land on the Moon
      • Geology training for astronauts
      • 18 astronaut candidates
      • 13 candidate landing sites – all near Lunar South Pole
      • Geological samples will return to Earth with the astronauts
      • Canada has 30 out of 200 impact craters found on Earth
      • Mistastin Lake impact structure – best analog to lunar craters since anorthosite ejecta is found here, same as on the Moon (light material)
    • Canadian Lunar Rover Mission
      • Canadensys – contractor for 30kg prototype
      • Science instruments will take about 5-6kg
      • South Pole – geology and mineral resources
      • Volatiles – water
      • Permanently Shadowed Regions – no sunlight
      • Radiation monitoring to ensure astronauts’ health, both on the Moon and future Mars missions
      • Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – images showing deep lunar shadows
    • Q & A
  • Island Star Party 2023 – Dave Payne
    • August 11-13, 2023
    • In-reach – socializing with fellow members
    • Location: Bright Angel Park – south Cowichan
    • Activities
      • Solar observing
      • Nature walks
      • Kinsol Trestle
      • Lots of activities in Cowichan Valley
      • Telescope walk, how to use a telescope, observing skills
      • Speakers – one each night
    • Perseid Meteor shower
    • T-shirts – contact Joe Carr to preorder
    • Volunteers needed – contact Dave Payne
    • ISP Volunteer Email List
  • Victoria Centre Observatory – Reg Dunkley
    • Last night – 10 Active Observers
    • Both visual and photography
    • Become an Active Observer – contact Chris Purse
  • Occultation of Jupiter by the Moon – David Lee
    • Wednesday, May 17th 4:52am – 5:33am
    • Moon 3º above the eastern horizon during the occultation
  • Astrophotography by local members
    • Astronomy Day slideshow – Ken McGill
    • Brock Johnston
      • Orion & Flame Nebula widefield
      • M94 – halo
      • Cat’s Eye Nebula & NGC 6552 barred spiral galaxy
  • Randy Enkin
    • Deep Sky Filter – a Lumicon “UHC” legacy visual filter
    • Orrery – kit build
  • Observations – Marjie Welchframe
    • Kemble’s Cascade
    • Spring double stars

No Astro Cafe next week due to the Victoria Day statutory holiday. The last Astro Cafe before the summer break will be held on May 29th.

Astronomy Cafe – May 8, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Intro – Marjie Welchframe
  • Centre of the Universe Volunteer Coordinator – Aimee Rossen (info@centreoftheuniverse.org)
    • Volunteer waivers – need to have everyone sign the form after viewing the safety video
    • Volunteer list – access to Observatory Hill
    • Volunteers should arrive before 7pm on Saturday night to avoid congestion at the access gate
  • ORCASat – Prof. Justin Albert
    • This microsat was built at UVic and launched six months ago to the ISS, where it was deployed – ORCASat — Launch
    • ORCASat should burn up next month after six months of operation in low Earth orbit
    • Background
      • Modern cosmology started in 1929 Edwin Hubble’s assertion that the Universe is expanding
      • Cepheid variable stars tell us the absolute magnitude, hence the distance away from Earth. Henrietta Swan-Leavitt’s research enabled this process.
      • Observing past 10*7 Parsecs means using Type 1A SuperNova (White Dwarf), since Cepheids are no longer bright enough to use as a standard candle.
      • Limitations of our Knowledge of Dark Energy 73% of Universe’s mass
      • Calibration of brightness measurements are needed – flux as a function of colour
      • Dark Matter 23% of Universe’s mass
      • Atoms 3% of Universe’s mass
      • The Dark Side of the Universe
      • Supernovae are one of the powerful probes for understanding the eventual fate of the Universe
    • ORCASat is in an ISS-like orbit
      • Needs good coverage above ground observatories, so they can observe Orcasat
      • Photometric calibration – Orcasat’s absolute brightness is compared with standard stars
    • ALTAIR – Airborne Laser for Telescopes Atmospheric Interference Reduction
      • Photometric Calibration using a high altitude balloon
    • A laser photometric ratio star (LPRS) – exciting the Sodium layer
  • I Need More Space-Time – review of a science fair project by Nathan Hellner-Mestleman
    • Predict when our Universe will end
    • Used Wiseman Observatory data for Type 1 SN
      • Spectral lines: Hydrogen epsilon, Hydrogen delta
      • Examined Supernovae 30 million LY to 40 billion LY
      • Found the Hubble Constant to vary from 20 km/sec/Parsec to much bigger
    • Using Slooh data didn’t work out, since Supernovae data levels are too low
    • Project tried to infer how long the Universe will last from changes in brightness of Supernovae
    • Consensus from WMAPS
  • Q&A for both Justin and Nathan
    • Is the Universe finite or infinite? We don’t know, and possibly will never know.
    • Hot, dense start to the Universe – ratio of Hydrogen and Helium verifies this process, as does Nucleosynthesis with Quarks and Gluons (DOE Explains…Quarks and Gluons | Department of Energy).
    • LIGO and other Gravitational Wave observatories should verify how the Universe started (inflation).
  • Events
    • RASC General Assembly – Lauri Roche
    • Beaveree at Camp Barnard – May 27th (9am-2pm) – Bill Weir
    • Island Star Party – Aug 11-13 – Dave Payne
      • Permit for park use is in place
      • More details at next week’s Astro Cafe

Astronomy Cafe – May 1, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Meeting transcript video

  • The Dual Dipole Radio Telescope – Evan Warburton, Oak Bay High School, Grade 12
    • Io generates a band of electrons around Jupiter
    • Setup dipole antenna on the Lansdowne Middle School field
    • 20MHz ionized radiation – copper wire cut to half the wavelength
    • “Floating” coaxial shield, not grounded
    • SDR Console software – gain, bandwidth, Io A, B and C phase predictions – Software Defined Radio
    • Spectrograph software
    • Detected a radio storm – short, random bursts
    • 10-40 MHz is the observable bandwidth range
    • Observing time: about 1 hour per week
    • NASA’s Radio JOVE Project: Home Page– helpful forum
    • Project planning and execution – discussion
    • Q & A
    • Evan is travelling to the Canada-wide Science Fair in Edmonton May 13, and is attending UVic Physics this Fall with a prestigious Schulich scholarship to his credit.
  • International Astronomy Day – April 29 & 30, 2023 – report by Lauri Roche and David Lee
  • RASC Victoria Centre Council meeting on May 9th – Randy Enkin
    • Members are welcome to attend online
  • Beaveree at Camp Barnard – May 27th (9am-2pm) – Bill Weir
    • Need volunteers for outreach – email Bill
    • Solar and possibly daytime planets
    • Telescopes – both Ha and white light
  • RASC GA 2023 – CONNECT with the cosmos & community – May 5-7 – Lauri Roche
    • Gather Town – social interaction
    • Friday – Dr. Shandin Pete, Salish Sky Lore, 1 hour live from Victoria’s DAO (7-8pm) – contact Lauri to volunteer
    • Saturday – combatting science misinformation, CSA Astronaut Jeremy Hansen
    • Sunday – Dr. Linda Shore, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
    • Members: $35 admission
    • Zoom call is used for all sessions
  • Astronomy by Night – A new Canadian website for amateur astronomers. – Michael Webb
  • Explore the Universe – Marjie Welchframe
    • Lunar crater sketches
  • Astronomy Cafe – next week’s speaker is Justin Albert – cube-sat ORCASat
  • Beginner’s SIG – tomorrow night – Jill & David