Astronomy Cafe – Jan 23, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Cowichan Valley Starfinders (CVSF) – Brian Robilliard  and Ed Nicolas
    • 30 members at the peak, but now very few members
    • 5 members left to run the star party, which is not enough coverage for ISP
    • CVSF meetings held at Brian’s place until pandemic
  • Island Star Party (ISP) – Brian Robilliard and Ed Nicholas
    • ISP History
      • 27 years ago, the ISP was held at a member’s farm
      • Moved ISP to the Duncan Airport
      • Moved to the Victoria Fish and Game on the Malahat, including a joint star party with RASC Victoria in 2009
    • Observing field is reserved for this year’s event at Bright Angel Park – Aug 11-13, 2023
    • Perseids under a New Moon should be a good show on the morning of the 13th
    • Accommodation and Transportation
      • Tenting and RVs welcome on the observing field
      • Driving from Victoria to Bright Angel Park is less than an hour
      • Guest houses and hotels are available in the Cowichan Valley for those who do not want to camp
    • Discussion of field setup
    • Volunteers needed
      • Promotion – Joe Carr
      • Door Prizes – Bruce Lane?
      • Speakers – 
      • Nature Walk – Cowichan Valley Natural History Society
      • Food vendors would require an additional permit
      • Volunteer-run BBQ can work – pay by donation
      • Dave Payne is coordinating with CVSF
      • Setup, teardown –
    • Finances and Equipment
      • Tents, tables and other ISP gear – new storage site needed
      • Overnight campers – charge a fee
      • Drop-ins – no charge
      • CVSF can contribute some funds
      • To-do List – Brian
      • Dave Payne will ensure our national event insurance will cover the ISP event
      • Tent rental will be needed
  • Venus-Saturn Conjunction – Randy Enkin
    • Weather in Victoria was frustrating
    • iPhone photo through a 400mm telescope – Chris Purse
    • Better conditions elsewhere in the world
  • Comet ZTF C/2022 E3 – Randy Enkin
    • Star chart – passing between the Big Dipper and Little Dipper
    • Observing hints –
      • easy observing with binoculars or telescopes
      • higher altitude in the early morning hours
    • Getting brighter as the comet is nearer to Earth – maybe Magnitude 5 by mid-February
    • Review of comet photos found online
    • Members who have observed the comet – Reg Dunkley, Mike Webb, Bill Weir
    • How to observe this comet – space.com
    • Comet disconnection event photo by Adam Block from Arizona
  • FDAO Star Party – Lauri Roche

Astronomy Cafe – Jan 16, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

Dr. Laurie Rousseau-Nepton is an astronomer in residence at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). She received her PhD from Université Laval and is the principal investigator for the SIGNALS project. This is a large survey program aiming at observing over 50,000 resolved star-forming regions in nearby galaxies.

  • Resident astronomer at CFHT for the last 6 years
    • Started at Mont Megantic with SpIOMM instrument – spectral imager
  • SITELLE – Spectral imager
    • Started building the instrument in 2010
    • Acquires both spectra and an image of each object
    • 2017 – Instrument shipped to Hawai’i
  • Canada-France-Hawaii telescope
    • Some issues with weather (snow, clouds), earthquakes (volcanoes), but lots of clear and stable nights
    • Timelapse of telescope operation
  • Science
    • Big Bang
    • First stars formed
    • New elements
    • First galaxies formed
    • Stellar clusters form into stars
    • Stellar Initial Mass Function – stable through the whole Universe?
    • OB massive stars in H2 regions – Laurie’s study area
  • SITELLE – how it works
    • Michelson Interferometer – emission lines
    • Data cube has both imagery and spectra
  • SIGNALS – Star formation, Ionized Gas, and Nebular Abundances Legacy Survey
    • Large, multinational group of researchers
    • Star Formation Rate & Efficiency
    • Stellar Initial Mass Function
    • 9 fields to cover M33
    • More than 30,000 HII regions currently in the survey
    • Supernova remnants as well
  • U of T – new job at a development lab
    • Building a new generation of SITELLE
    • Imaging spectrograph at much higher resolution
    • The resulting instrument needs a large aperture telescope
  • Q&A
    • A dynamical Model – stellar winds affect dense molecular clouds – clumping and finger structures
    • Each pixel of data has their own interferogram
    • Initial Mass Function – huge amount of data
    • Changing instruments and telescope time at CFHT – ranking of proposals – technical and science
    • Mauna Kea Spectra Explorer – an upgrade to CFHT
      • Bigger aperture instrument
      • Using 20,000 optical fibres are part of the plan
    • Culture of astronomy – accommodating diversity and promote inclusivity
      • Mauna Kea is a sacred site
      • Include local aboriginal teachings in presentations at local astronomy groups
      • Learn some of the language used by first nations when they talk about the night sky
    • Is SITELLE technology used elsewhere?
      • Straight IR is being used in other instruments
      • The “perfect” beam splitter used by SITELLE is unique
      • Software to analyze the SITELLE data is unique
      • Size of the SITELLE detector and data throughput is also unique
    • DAO work being used by CFHT?
      • Spectroscopy innovations and staff
      • Adaptive optics systems
    • How did you get involved in astronomical research?
      • Asked a lot of questions about astronomy as a child
      • Enjoyed physics at the university

Silent Sky  at Langham Court Theatre – performances Jan 25 to Feb 11

  • Story of Henrietta Leavitt and her astronomical research done a century ago
  • Jim Hesser is the scientific advisor
  • Members of RASC urged to enjoy this performance
  • Special presentation by Sara Ellison at the Feb 5th afternoon performance

Observing Notes – Randy Enkin

  • Observers Handbook – Conjunction of Venus & Jupiter – Jan 21/22 – half a degree from Saturn just after sunset. In fact, the conjunction should be visible before sunset.
  • Sat 28th at 8PM – Uranus being occulted by the Moon
  • Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF – observable in the early morning hours – Sky At Night

Makers SIG – meeting online this Thursday – David Lee

RASC Publications for sale – contact Lauri Roche by email

  • 2023 Night Sky Almanac – good for planning your observing
  • Explore the Moon $10
  • Explore the Universe $10
  • 2023 RASC Observers Calendar – 2 left at $15 each

Observatory Hill road update – Lauri Roche

  • Probably another couple of months before the road is open to the public

Astronomy Cafe – Jan 9, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Meeting transcript video

  • Intro – Randy Enkin
    • We still don’t have approval to hold monthly meetings at UVic, so speakers will continue to present at Astronomy Cafe
  • Learning Astrophotography – Reg Dunkley
    • Dec 6th Astro Cafe presentation by Ron Fisher on his adventures learning astrophotography – thanks Ron!
    • Victoria Centre Observatory can help members to start taking astrophotos using our centre’s gear once the VCO reopens – soon now. Bring your own dSLR to use on our Takahashi refractor, or use our 61 mpix mono astro camera on our OGS Ritchey–Chrétien telescope.
  • Far Side Amateur Astronomers Observing a Supernova – Reg Dunkley
  • Laurie Rousseau-Nepton from CFHT is the speaker for next week’s Astro Cafe – Dave Payne
    • Hydrogen star-forming regions
    • Observing with the SITELLE sensor on CFHT
  • RASC Edmonton Astrophotos – Dave Robinson
    • WR134 Wolf-Rayette star and region – Abdur Anwar
  • Sunrise, Sunset and the Path of the Sun – Randy Enkin
    • Why does the shortest day not happen at Winter Solstice? – question posed by Marjie Welchframe
    • Obliquity – plus or minus 8 mins variability for a “day” – tilt of the ecliptic to the equator
    • Eccentricity – Kepler’s Second Law – causes variation between civil time and solar time
    • Sun compass – uses local solar tip and longitude, corrected for DST
  • SIGs – David Lee
    • Beginners Group – back to basics
    • Electronically-assisted Astronomy – winding down
    • Citizen Science – starting up
    • Astrophotography – had a meeting in Dec, and will report to Astro Cafe in a couple of weeks
    • Makers – David building an “environment box”
  • President’s Announcements – Randy Enkin
    • Soliciting feedback from members on the new proposed bylaws by Jan 15th – send to Secretary and President.
    • Special meeting to adopt the new bylaws
    • Hold AGM under (hopefully) new bylaws
    • Members should consider standing for election to an officer’s position – contact Reg Dunkley, Nominations – email
  • Handbooks for Explore the Universe and Explore the Moon are available at $10 each. Also some 2023 RASC Observers calendars are still available at $15 each. Contact Lauri Roche by email
  • Observing Opportunities

Astronomy Cafe – Dec 19, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Artemis, the film – Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
  • RASC Robotic Telescope – David Lee
    • Science Team will be observing variable stars
    • Education – classroom outreach
    • Buying time on the scope or the datasets is available for members
  • Mars – Brock Johnston, Bill Weir & David Lee
    • Dec 15th – Brock’s photo and Bill’s sketch
    • Occultation of Mars by the Moon
    • Bill is observing Mars monthly
  • Rimouski observing conditions – Michel Michaud
    • Observatory equipment is working well
    • Waiting for better conditions when colder weather arrives
  • Buy & Sell review – items for sale on Victoria Centre’s website – Joe Carr
  • Astrophotography SIG – Dec 28th – Dave Payne
  • Discussion
    • A deep field taken by James Webb Space Telescope – 9 days, 100,000 galaxies
    • GAIA dataset
    • Speakers for next year?
  • The Human Cosmos, Civilization and the Stars by Jo Marchant – at Munro’s Books for $10 – Mary Anne Gervais loves this book – Author’s website
  • Apodizing Mask – used to observe the bright planets – Bill Weir
    • Boosting Performance by Apodization by Ernest Pfannenschmidt (April 2003 JRASC)
    • Old Dec 2003 issue of our SkyNews has Ernie’s obit in it with an image of the refractor. Also there’s an image of a Mars map that he did. It inspired me to do the same in 2005 because in my arrogance I thought, Pfffftt, how difficult could that be? Turned out it was. Takes a lot of luck too to get all of the phases.
  • Next meeting – Jan 9, 2022 starting at 7:00PM

Astronomy Cafe – Dec 12, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Astronomical Society of the Pacific – David Lee’s report from a virtual conference
    • Diversity and citizen science
    • Upcoming solar eclipses
    • OpenStax Astronomy – topics for beginners
    • Mentorship of students, STEM
    • Active Learning
    • NASA Citizen Science
    • Vera Rubin Observatory – public portals to data
    • World Asterisms – RASC Charles Ennis
    • Accessible astronomy for blind people and others
  • Citizen Science SIG/group – contact David Lee
  • “Silent Sky” – a play about Henrietta Leavitt- Langham Court Theatre – Jeff Pivnick
    • Playing Jan 25-Feb 11th, 2023
    • RASC should have telescopes outside – Marjie & Reg
  • Astronomical Images – Real or fiction? – Joe Carr
    • Faked ring detail on Saturn image posted by Jason Guenzel and critical reaction from many on social media
    • Io in True Color from Galileo mission, and a monochrome LORRI image from the New Horizons mission
    • Joe’s 2016 Total Solar Eclipse false colour image processed using HDR, split toning and tone curves
    • Joe’s Prominences on the Sun in Ha using Sobel edge detection filter
    • Dave Payne’s Tadpoles Nebula images in RGB versus a Hubble-like palette using narrowband hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur
    • Ken McGill’s Eastern Veil Nebula images with and without stars
    • John McDonald’s various processing techniques of the Cave Nebula using Dave Payne’s RGBL & Ha, OIII & SI narrowband source image data
    • Lava Flows North on Mauna Loa – Landsat infrared data overlaid on natural colour
    • Landsat NIR, IR and green wavelengths used to depict fine detail in the Columbia Glacier – Prince William Sound, Alaska
    • High Dynamic Range source data and resultant image illustration of process
    • Question to the group: Which astrophotos do you consider fake?
      • Dennis Crabtree’s posts of AI-generated images on Facebook
    • Extra: APOD: An Artful Sky over Lofoten Islands (2022 Dec 13) – Giulio Cobianchi
  • Tributes to Dave Bennett – Randy Enkin
    • Guy Nason was his observing partner
    • Randy visited with Sue and took away Dave’s astronomy gear. Bruce Lane will appraise it.
    • Varsavia occultation – David Lee
    • Dave Bennett Memorial
  • Constitution and Bylaws – Randy Enkin
    • Please read the bylaws as sent out to all members
    • Send any comments to the President and Secretary
    • We will adopt the new bylaws at the Special General Meeting by 2/3 majority
    • Then we will hold our AGM based on the new bylaws (hopefully)
  • Makers’ SIG – happening this week on Thursday – contact David Lee
  • Lunar Occultation of Mars – Brian Barber & David Lee
    • Very tough to photograph from Victoria, and the visual views were spotty
    • Enkin’s Daily Moon is profiling photos of the occultation from around the world on Facebook
  • Artemis I Return – Chris Gainor
    • Splashed down after 26 days in space
    • Entry used a different approach path over the South Pole, landing just offshore from San Diego
    • Announcement of the crew for the next mission is next, including a Canadian astronaut
    • Shorty crater and orange soil in 1972 broadcast from the Moon on Apollo Realtime Playback
    • Bob McDonald’s Frankenstein Rocket presentation

Astronomy Cafe – Dec 5, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Beginning in Astrophotography – Ron Fisher
    • 2018 Dobsonian telescope for Christmas
    • Joined the Astrophotography SIG when it started up during the pandemic
    • Climbed the “learning curve”
    • Acquired an EQ6 mount, mounted 300mm telephoto lens and a dSLR
    • Learned PixInsight
    • Andromeda (1st photo), Orion Nebula (2nd photo)
    • New gear acquired in April 2022
      • Askar 500mm 90mm apo refractor
      • 50mm Guidemaster scope & guide camer
      • ASI Air Pro powers and controls all the gear
    • M81, M82
    • Pelican Nebula
    • PixInsight used for processing
    • With a focal reducer
      • North American Nebula
      • Elephant Trunk Nebula
      • Soul Nebula
    • Heart and Soul Nebula
    • Ron’s astrophoto gallery
  • Astronomical Holiday Gifts – Randy Enkin
    • Starting in astronomy – David Lee
      • Stars and Planets – Smithsonian handbook
      • RASC Almanac
      • Deep Sky Wonders – Sue French – good for beginners with small scopes or binoculars
      • Binocular Highlights – Garry Seronik
    • History of Hubble – Chris Gainor has a few copies at his house ($25)
    • For sale – used from Randy Enkin’s bookshelf
      • Apollo Murders – Chris Hadfield
      • Silent Spring – Rachael Carson
      • Planets – Dava Sobel
      • The Day the World Discovered the Sun – transects of Venus in the 18th century
  • Edmonton Centre– Alistair Ling
    • Finally staging hybrid meetings – Planetarium at Telus World
    • What’s up in the sky – based on Edmonton’s sky
    • The hybrid meetings have only attracted limited members to attend in-person
    • Observatory at Black Nugget Lake – installing a 32″ telescope – unofficial first light by this summer
      • Visual telescope – looking forward to observing the celestial splendors
      • Designed to be an imaging scope, if needed in future
      • Public access is planned
    • Weekly public outreach at The Science Centre
    • Helping people use their telescopes – by Alistair
    • Have a full slate of officers
  • Occultation of Mars – Randy Enkin
  • Mars photo from yesterday evening – Brock Johnston
  • Observing techniques – discussion
  • SIGs – David Lee email
    • Beginners tomorrow night – magnitude basics
    • Electronically-assisted Astronomy on Thursday, then on request only
    • Citizen Science SIG – coming up in January
    • Aaron Bannister request: astrophotography for school kids
      • Capture brighter objects when weather permits
      • Processing data sets
      • Astrophotographers?
  • Last Astro Cafes for 2022 – Dec 12th, 19th
  • First Astro Cafe of the New Year – Jan 9, 2023 starting at 7:00PM instead of 7:30PM
  • Sunshine Coast Centre – Peter Broughton presentation on J.S. Plaskett – Dec 9 Friday 7PM – Victoria Centre members welcome
  • Winter Solstice Star Party – Dec 17th – Nathan is presenting
  • Status of national Observers Calendars – haven’t arrived yet
  • Artemis I update – Chris Gainor
    • Close pass to the Moon this morning
    • On its way home – Dec 11th arrival
    • Crescent Earthrise photo
  • Watching the final Apollo launch to the Moon – flashback tomorrow night – Chris Gainor
  • David Bennett memories from members – next week

Astronomy Cafe – Nov 28, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of the meeting

  • Astronomy Day – Jeff Pivnick
    • Giveaways needed – contact Jeff
      • Old Observers’ Handbook
      • Past issues of magazines like Skynews
      • Astronomy books no longer needed
  • Victoria Centre AGM 2023 – Randy Enkin
    • Decouple the social event and the business meeting
  • How do members use the Observers Handbook? – Randy Enkin
    • Read articles, but don’t use as a guide book
    • Definitions are useful
    • Source of authoritative information about astronomy
    • Lists of eclipses, celestial objects
    • Sky phenomena
    • Tides
    • Professional astronomers use it as reference
    • Chris Purse and James Edgar have given tours of the Observers Handbook. James’ 6 presentations are available on RASC National’s Youtube.
  • 2023 RASC Observers calendars – should arrive within a week for those who ordered – Lauri Roche
  • SIGs – David Lee
    • Members have shown interest in the new Citizen Science SIG – announcement pending
    • Electronically-Assisted Astronomy SIG this Thursday
    • Beginners SIG next week
  • Astronomy Cafe venue – Randy Enkin
    • Custodians want to clean our meeting room and leave by 9:00PM
    • Proposing to start Astro Cafe at 7:00PM
    • Possibly give up on in-person Astro Cafe?
    • What about monthly meetings at UVic resuming? Parking is now $4 for the evening, and no word from UVic about restarting room rentals.
  • Artemis Mission – Chris Gainor
    • Photo of Artemis’ Orion, the Moon, Earth – Flickr
    • Dec 1 – next burn
    • James Webb mission blogs
    • L2 outside the Moon gives Orion a low-energy position – Distant Retrograde Orbit
    • Mass concentrations on the Moon affect the orbit of the rockets
    • Nov 23 – Orion lost contact with Earth for 47 minutes – unexplained, to be investigated
    • Discussion about launching processes
  • Using Stellarium – Dennis F
    • Impressed with the tutorials produced by National
  • NRC Open House for RASC members?
    • Would be great to have a tour of the new optical building
    • Lauri to coordinate when the road reopens
  • FDAO Star Parties – Lauri Roche
    • Dec 26 – online only for last Saturday’s Star Party
      • Presentation: CASTOR new space telescope (ultraviolet, wide-field) – Dr. Tyrone Woods, project lead
      • Would make a good presentation for RASC Victoria members
    • Dec 17 – virtual Star Party celebrating the solstice – Nathan is the speaker

Astronomy Cafe – Nov 21, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Lunar background information – Jeff Pivnick
    • NASA Science web – source of presentation
    • Lunar origin – giant impact is most-favoured hypothesis
    • Lunar orbit is locked to the Earth
    • Composition of the surface & core
      • 2 kinds of rock – black magma, white Vesicular basalt
      • Regolith makes up the surface dust
    • Exploration
      • Apollo 11 through 17
      • Artemis
  • Artemis I Lunar Mission – Chris Gainor
    • Artemis I is an un-crewed mission to test the Orion spacecraft and launch vehicle rocket systems
    • Dec 11th – scheduled splashdown
    • 10 tiny satellites part of the mission
    • In-flight photos
    • Cabin takes 4 people on future missions
    • Photos of the Moon and setting Earth (behind the Moon)
    • As close as 81 miles to the Moon’s surface
    • Human Space Programs
      • Apollo (1968-1972), space shuttle (1981-2011, ISS (1998-present)
      • Human missions are very expensive
      • Constellation Program – 2004-2010 – parts of this program are in Artemis
      • Exploration test flights in 2009, 2014
      • Space Launch System – SLS variants of launch rockets
      • Orion Exploration Vehicle
        • Crew of 4
        • Crew Module (NASA contractors)
        • Service Module (ESA)
    • Cost of Artemis I mission is $4 billion
    • Phase 1 – get back to the Moon
    • Phase 2 – go on to Mars ~20 years
    • Artemis II
      • 4 astronauts on board
      • Loop around the Moon and return
      • No lunar orbit or landing
      • 1 of 4 Canadian astronauts will go on the mission
      • May 2024 probable launch
    • Artemis III
      • Landing on the Moon
      • As early as 2025
      • SpaceX Starship will be used as a lunar lander
      • SpaceX Starship may fly to the Moon earlier and independent from Artemis!
    • Lunar Gateway – Canadarm in lunar orbit
    • Space Shuttle engines are being reused for the Artemis missions
  • Minor details about Artemis I – Randy Enkin
    • Photo of the mission launch showing  Moon, rocket, meteorite for Enkin’s Daily Moon on Facebook
    • Trajectories
      • Distant Retrograde Orbit through La Grange points
      • Slingshot around the Moon to return to Earth
    • Cubesats
      • Space on Artemis for 16 cubesats
      • 10 cubesats on this Artemis I mission
      • The Cubesats all have different purposes and missions
    • Passengers – all mannequins
    • Photo of mission launch for Enkin’s Daily Moon on Facebook
  • Lunar Sketches – Randy Enkin
    • Waning phase – favourable libration – on two days
    • Photos of same area sketched – by Mike Nash (Victoria) and Steven Arthur Sweet (Toronto)
  • Apollo, Artemis and Orion – a backgrounder on the Greek gods by Jeff Pivnick
  • Concert at UVic on Dec 3rd – Dave  Robinson
  • Astrophotography SIG – this Wednesday – Dave Payne
  • Road construction has closed Observatory Hill to the public until Dec 22nd
    • Victoria Centre Observatory closed – Reg Dunkley
    • Centre of the Universe – virtual events only – Lauri Roche
    • Serious access problems for everyone
  • SIGs – David Lee
    • Makers SIG this Thursday
    • Citizen Science SIG – interested? contact David
  • Bollide Meteor over Southern Ontario – Peter Jedicke
    • 3:26AM EST on Saturday morning
    • Asteroid orbital predictions are now a reality
    • Predicted hit between London to Brantford, Ontario
    • Dave Clark, RASC member observed it
    • Photo taken by Rob Weryk from London, based on a tip from Hawai’i astronomy staff
    • Earlier photo from Lowell Observatory used to refine calculation of orbit
    • Peter didn’t spot the meteorite
    • Western News

Astronomy Cafe – Nov 14, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of the meeting

  • Island Star Party – Dave Payne
    • RASC Victoria will be hosting ISP in 2023, not Cowichan Valley Starfinders
    • Debriefing from CVSF will happen soon
    • Bright Angel Park will need to be reserved soon with CVRD
    • Volunteers from Victoria Centre will be needed – contact Dave Payne dapayne@shaw.ca
      • Insurance
      • Speakers
      • Advertising
      • Setup on Friday – tents, parking, observing field
      • Cleanup and teardown on Sunday
    • Council approved our participation a year ago
    • Date for 2023 star party needs to be decided upon
      • Nearest New Moon in August is the 16th
      • Good dates for star party is probably Aug 11-13
      • Mt. Kobau Star Party – Aug 12-20
      • Perseid meteor shower peaks on Aug 13
    • Previous star parties attracted a wide selection of amateur astronomers
    • At least 50 attended each night at this year’s star party
    • Discussion
    • Photos from 2016
  • Space Mission Reports – Chris Gainor
  • Observing Mars near Opposition – Bill Weir
    • Weather is clear and stable this week
  • Ken McGill’s observing van conversion
  • RASC National website – problems for members – Bill Weir
    • When renewing membership, subscribing to the email lists can happen involuntarily – Dave Payne
    • Centre affiliation choices are not working properly – Chris Purse
    • Large order for calendars from Victoria Centre placed 3 weeks ago has not arrived – Lauri Roche
    • Brendon Roy from National gave an update on shipping publication orders
  • RASC Victoria Centre Council Meeting tomorrow night – Jill Sinkwich
  • Malcolm from Toronto introduced himself as a new Victoria Centre member
  • Website tour – Special Interest Groups & email lists – Joe Carr
    • SIGs – click on the name beside the one that interests you to sign up
    • Email lists – descriptions on the Members Only area of the website
      • Members Only area is behind a shared password – contact Joe Carr, Webmaster
      • HillObs – special requirements for signup for members who are Active Observers to observe and acquire astrophotos from the Victoria Centre Observatory
  • Public Observing at Observatory Hill – Lauri Roche
    • Public restricted to 150 on Saturday nights – sign ups go quickly when the event is posted
    • Currently scheduled monthly
      • Nov 26 – next star party
      • Dec 17 – Nathan will be presenting
    • Friends of the DAO membership is $25
    • Hosting groups of students and teachers at the Centre of the Universe during the day
    • How school programs work – new team needed from RASC – contact Lauri for info
    • Road construction on Observatory Hill is still underway – be cautious, especially at night
  • UVic Astronomy Open House – Bob Wright Building observatory every Wednesday evening
  • Astrophotography – Dave Payne
  • Gonzales Observatory – query from Larry Manuel
    • Originally a solar transit observatory for time keeping and the historic Noon Gun – Joe Carr
    • Environment Canada weather station
    • Gonzales Hill Regional Park

Astronomy Cafe – Nov 7, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Astrophoto SIG members’ photos – Brock Johnston
    • Stephan’s Quintet – Plaskett telescope – Dan Posey
    • Ring Nebula M57 and faint galaxy nearby – Plaskett telescope – Dan Posey
    • Iris Nebula and dust in Cepheus region – Dan Posey
    • Heart & Soul Nebula – Ron Fisher
    • Veil Nebula, Cygnus Loop – Ron Fisher
      • Shock wave from a supernova is faint part of the image
    • Triangulum Galaxy – Ken McGill
    • Indicating cardinal directions or orientation on photos would be helpful for visual observers – Dorothy Paul
    • Discussion about what happens at the Astrophoto SIG
    • GHS routine – Davey Payne
    • Elephant Trunk Nebula – Ken McGill
    • Ring Nebula M57 – VCO early image – John McDonald & David Lee
    • Discussion about the astronomical imaging process rendering what we see in a photo
    • Cygnus area of the Milky Way – wide-angle & Canon Ra camera –  John McDonald
    • Fox Fur, Cone, Christmas Tree, Cone nebulae – Dave Payne
      • Radiation from star clusters power these nebulae
      • Sulphur, oxygen and hydrogen elements – false colours
      • NGC2264 (star cluster)
    • Pleiades star cluster M45 – Dave Payne
      • Star energy is being reflected off the adjacent gas clouds
    • Mars – Brock Johnston
      • Opposition – Dec 8th
      • Combining and stacking video frames
    • Bubble, Lobster Claw, Lagoon nebulae – refractor – Brock Johnston
      • Lots of dust areas in this wide field
      • M52 star cluster
    • Centre of the Heart Nebula – Brock Johnston
      • Good framing
    • Astrophoto SIG will give a monthly update to Astronomy Cafe – Dave Payne
  • Victoria Centre Websites – Joe Carr
  • Stellarium app for desktop and smart devices – David Lee
    • RASC National Youtube site has a webinar on how to use Stellarium
  • Total Lunar Eclipse – Randy Enkin
    • Time and Date – eclipse info for this eclipse and future eclipses
    • Unfortunately our weather won’t be clear enough to observe the lunar eclipse later tonight
    • Next good total lunar eclipse isn’t until March 2025
    • Partial Solar Eclipse photos from a couple of weeks ago – Enkin’s Daily Moon on Facebook
    • Great Moon Hoax
  • Centre of the Universe – Lauri Roche
    • Road construction is now underway on Observatory Hill – be careful when driving
    • Star Parties to be held on Nov 26th, Dec 17th
  • Victoria Centre Council meeting to be held on Tue, Nov 15th – Randy Enkin