About Us
The Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society is part of a national society dedicated to bringing information about astronomy to the general public.
Membership
Open to everyone with an interest in astronomy. Membership in the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada does not require any knowledge of astronomy. We enjoy helping beginners!
Joining the Victoria Centre of the Canada-wide RASC is easy – Join Now
Contact Us
President
Randy Enkin Email
Membership
Chris Purse Email
Mailing Address
EMAIL US FOR OUR MAILING ADDRESS
Victoria Centre Council
President
Overall responsibility for Victoria Centre, its members and Council & public relations
Randy Enkin Email
First Vice President
Monthly meeting & speakers, major events
David Payne Email
Second Vice President
Special projects, observing events, volunteers
Garry Sedun Email
Treasurer
Financial, retail sales, AGM, taxes
Deb Crawford Email
Secretary
Minutes, official records, correspondence
Jill Sinkwich Email
Librarian
Lending library – periodicals, books, CDs, DVDs & other media in our library
Alex Schmid Email
Progressive Lighting Policies
Dave Robinson Email
School Program & Telescope Loans
School telescope program & lending telescopes to members
Sid Sidhu Email 250-391-0540
Past President
Business continuity, special projects, nominating committee
Reg Dunkley Email
National Representatives
National RASC representation and liaison
Nathan Hellner-Mestelman Email
Bill Weir Email
Skynews Editor
Skynews, our monthly publication
Bruce Lane Email
Membership Coordinator
Enquiries from the public & new members, membership roster, email lists
Chris Purse Email
Observing Chair
Vested with authority by the National Observing Chair to review and approve observing certificate applications
Jim Stilburn Email 250-479-4662
Computer Applications
Server, Email, Online Services Coordination
Matt Watson Email
Victoria Centre Observatory
Victoria Centre Observatory operation
Dan Posey Email
Webmaster
Website content
Joe Carr Email 250-744-9981
Members at Large
James Di Francesco (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Liaison)
Chris Gainor
Jim Hesser
David Lee
John McDonald
Jim Nemec (Camosun College Liaison)
Jeff Pivnick
Lauri Roche (Friends of the DAO Liaison)
Alex Schmid (University of Victoria Liaison)
Bill Weir (Pearson College Liaison)
Marjie Welchframe
RASC Roots
In 1868 a small group of amateur astronomers formed the Toronto Astronomy Club. In 1903, King Edward VII gave his permission for “Royal” to be included in the title and the Society became the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. There are now around 5,000 members in 30 Centres, found in most major Canadian cities.
The Victoria Centre was formed in 1914 and quickly developed into one of the largest centres in the country. There are currently over 250 members. Most are amateurs with some being professionals from the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, the University of Victoria, and Camosun College. Professional astronomers frequently appear as guest speakers at RASC monthly meetings.
Victoria Centre members have a long history of offering public observing sessions to residents of Victoria.