Astronomy Cafe – Monday January 18th 2021

Posted by as Astro Cafe, Meetings

Transcript video of this meeting

FDAO Virtual Star Party – 7 PM Saturday January 23rd

The Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory are inviting you to their virtual star party which begins at 7PM on Saturday, January 23rd.

Pan-STARRS Observer, Thomas Lowe will deliver an interesting presentation entitled:

PAN-STARRS – A MAUI MARVEL

The PANoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System is a world class facility on the summit of Haleakala that has made significant contributions to the field of astronomy. The Pan-STARRS project consists of two 2m-class wide field telescopes each equipped with giga-pixel CCD cameras. The observing strategy is optimized to search the sky for transient objects. PS1 has been collecting science data since 2010 and PS2 was commissioned in the spring of 2018. This talk will highlight some of its scientific achievements.

Click this Zoom Link to join the party. If you get prompted for a password, it’s May061918

Victoria Centre is forming Special Interest Groups

THIS JUST IN! Due, in large part to the initiative of Victoria Centre RASCal David Lee, the Victoria Centre is planning to establish a number of Special Interest Groups. Click this link to learn more.

New Refractor Arrives at Victoria Centre Observatory

The Victoria Centre acquired a beautiful Takahashi TAO 130 S refractor on Monday. This 130 mm F7.7 refractor has a focal length of 1000 mm. The apochromatic triplet objective is made of extra low dispersion FPL52 and FPL53 O’Hara glass which minimizes chromatic aberration. This scope will be attached to the tube of the 12.5 Inch F8.6 OGS Richey Chretien reflector that is installed on the robust Paramount ME mount.

Victoria Centre RASCal and Port Alberni resident Mike Krempotic is the previous owner of this refractor. It is in mint condition and Mike kindly drove down from Port Alberni on Monday morning and delivered it to the VCO. Due to COVID restrictions it may take a while for this scope to be fully commissioned but it will be an exciting addition to the VCO.

While on site, Mike, an enthusiastic owner of Obsession Dobsonian reflectors, inspected our 20 Inch Obsession, made some adjustments and provided a number of valuable suggestions to improve the performance of this scope. We will be installing Argo Navis setting circles to this reflector soon which promises to allow celestial objects to be located quickly and accurately.

Victoria RASCal Mike Krempotic Delivers Takahashi Refractor to VCO
The New Takahashi TOA 130S swaddled in foam
Mike Krempotic checks out our 20 Inch Obsession Dobsonian

BC Yukon Science Virtual Science Fair Looking for Judges

Every year, science fairs offer thousands of students in BC and Yukon the opportunity to develop original scientific research, innovative projects and 21st century learning skills. Students who develop science fair projects enjoy project-based learning that extends science beyond the classroom and encourages curiosity about topics of personal interest. The finalists of our provincial/territorial science fairs receive awards, scholarships and recognition for their achievements. Finalist status is also a prerequisite for competition at the Canada-Wide Science Fair.
Judging is the highlight of the science fair experience for many students. Students love the opportunity to exchange ideas with specialists in their field. In return, most judges find talking with science fair participants to be a very positive experience. The energy, enthusiasm and inspiration students bring to their projects is contagious.
In the midst of COVID-19, the Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair is joining other science fairs across BC and Yukon in a fully virtual science fair. This is to ensure that every student across our province and territory has an opportunity to compete safely in a science fair this year.

As a judge of the 2021 BC/Yukon Virtual Science Fair, we ask that you:

· Register for judging by the deadline of Monday, February 15

Registration information includes contact details and questions about experience, qualifications, preferences (age categories, topics of interest), and availability, and should take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Register here.

· Join us for judge training during the period of February 15-28

Judge training will occur virtually at your convenience and will take no more than 30 minutes.

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