News | RASC Victoria

President’s Message – October 2023

Posted October 3, 2023 by Randy Enkin as President's Message

It’s October! The nights are longer. The moon is higher. And lots of events are happening for our amateur astronomy community.

The big one is the Annular Solar Eclipse which will happen on the morning of Saturday October 14. The moon will nibble away at the sun starting at 8:07AM, half an hour after sunrise in the east. The maximum here will be at 9:19AM with a whopping 85% of the sun in eclipse. And the show is over at 10:38AM.

Ring of Fire - Cedar City, Utah on May 20, 2012

The Victoria Centre is not running any official viewings. Members are invited to help the Friends of the DAO with their Eclipse Breakfast at the Centre of the Universe. Note, we have 1,000 solar-viewing glasses to hand out, so we encourage members to go to good east-viewing sites (e.g., Clover Point, Cattle Point, Mount Tolmie) with a handful of these glasses. Contact me (email) or Lauri Roche (email) to get your glasses. Lauri will also be handing them out at the University on October 11.

What a great segué! Finally, after a 3½ year hiatus, we are back to holding monthly Wednesday evening talks at the University of Victoria. The first will be on Wednesday October 11, at 19:30, in the Bob Wright Centre, Lecture Theatre A104. We have a very exciting speaker, Christian Marois, who led the international team of astronomers that first imaged extrasolar planets. His topic is “The NRC NEW EARTH Laboratory, and the Quest to Develop the Tools to Find Life on Exoplanets”. Let’s have a big crowd join in this talk. And afterwards, everybody is welcome to chat in the Astronomy lounge in the Elliott building, and have access to our library for the first time since the lockdown. Many thanks to Alex Shmid and Reg Dunkley for organizing the event.

After a 2-week break, the weekly Monday evening Astro Café continues on October 16 with Jeff Pivnick as our host. Join online with Zoom, or better still join in person at the Fairfield Community Centre and enjoy the cookies!

The last point I am pleased to make is that the Victoria Centre Observatory is up and running better than ever. Use the wonderful telescopes up there or bring your own, and join the community looking at the sky together. Note that you must be on the “Active Observers List” to be allowed up to the VCO (Members Only). Contact our Membership Chair, Chris Purse (membership@victoria.rasc.ca) to get on the list. Members on the Active Observers List get emailed when the sky is predicted to be clear and one of the Members in Charge opens it up.

We are so fortunate to have such a vital community in the Victoria Centre. Do seize the opportunities.

And as always,
Look Up!
Randy Enkin (email)

President’s Message – March 2023

Posted March 12, 2023 by Randy Enkin as President's Message

I’ve been something of an amateur astronomer since I was little. I like to say it was the Apollo missions that sparked my interest – all my friends wanted to be astronauts – but I thought the astronomers on the ground had the really interesting jobs. My observations of lunar phases started back in 1990 and I have dabbled in other astronomical projects since. After the 2017 Solar Eclipse, I decided to buy a better telescope, and then another, and now we’re at a dozen!

But the biggest thing that happened after the eclipse, was getting invited to give at talk at the Victoria Centre Astro Cafe. And I got to meet this wonderful community – this set of interesting and entertaining people. And then, two years ago, you elected me President of the Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. There’s nothing like being president to get to know people and learn what’s going on in a group! Fortunately, our community is strong with enthusiasm and volunteerism. We get stuff done!

We successfully made the transformation to online events and then to hybrid events. We have continued outreach events, such as the International Astronomy Day, the Saanich Fair, and the Fall Fairfield. We have started new programs like our Special Interest Groups and the Sky Darkness Survey. We have combined our star party with the Cowichan Valley Starfinders’ star party to develop a unified Island Star Party, which we hope can thrive for decades.

We have successfully developed and ushered in a new set of bylaws, to bring our community into the electronic age and provide for a smaller, more supple board of directors. And we have a promising set of executives and directors nominated to lead us into the future.

Thank-you for two excellent years. I often feel more like a cheerleader than a leader. But mostly, I feel I have found my people. I look forward to seeing photos and sketches of the sky: in emails, social media, and in SkyNews. I love learning about the sky at Astro Cafe. I love having people with whom I can share my learning about astronomy.

As we look forward to the new year of the Victoria Centre, we also remember to Look Up!

Look Up,
Randy Enkin, President@Victoria.RASC.ca

Big changes at RASC National

Posted February 27, 2023 by Webmaster as News

Charles Ennis, President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has posted this message to the national RASC email list. The complete message is reposted here in the interest of communicating with those Victoria Centre members who may not subscribe to that email list.

February 26, 2023

Good day to everyone. The Board of Directors of the Society is providing this update to the membership concerning decisions that have been made after consultation with the National Council and with the Centres through a poll that was conducted in the last two weeks, as well as changes to head office staff.

First, SkyNews: As the membership knows, for many years SkyNews magazine has published by SkyNews Inc., which is an Ontario business corporation. Nine years ago the RASC acquired SkyNews Inc. from its previous owners, and SkyNews Inc. thereupon became a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation of the RASC. SkyNews Inc. has its own board of directors, who are appointed by the RASC through the Society’s Board of Directors. The SkyNews board makes all decisions concerning the business and affairs of SkyNews Inc.

SkyNews has lost money in four of the nine years of the Society’s ownership. Disregarding the one-time $60,000 COVID relief grant that SkyNews received in the 202-21 financial year (two-thirds of which has to be repaid this year), on average SkyNews has lost more than $10,000 per year during this nine-year period. The losses are increasing. The average loss in the last five years has been more than $25,000, and the loss for the current financial year, which ends on March 31, will be on the order of $50,000. These losses have to be financed by the shareholder, the RASC, which therefore effectively costs each member more than $10, and also endangers the RASC’s charitable status. As is the case with so many periodicals in North America, the SkyNews subscriber base has diminished sharply, from about 20,000 nine years ago, to 6-7,000 today. Advertising revenue has also declined dramatically, to less than one-third of the level when the Society acquired SkyNews.

As a result, SkyNews is no longer sustainable. After numerous meetings and discussions over the last few weeks, and consideration whether SkyNews could be saved in any form (including digital only), the Society’s Finance Committee and Board of Directors therefore concluded that SkyNews Inc. should cease all operations, including publication of the magazine. A majority of the Centres who responded to the poll agreed. Last week, therefore, the board of directors of SkyNews Inc. passed a resolution implementing the RASC Board’s recommendation, with the result that SkyNews will be shutting down. The SkyNews Inc. board will be meeting this coming week with legal counsel to start the shutdown process. The Editorial Board of the Society will be considering whether in future some of the content that has previously appeared in the SkyNews magazine can be incorporated into the RASC’s other publications, such as the Journal.

Second, the robotic telescope: The RASC board has also decided, again after consultation with the National Council and the Centres, to divest the Society of the robotic telescope, which is also a money-losing operations.

Third, head office: One of the important areas in which the Society can reduce expenses is with the number of head office staff. Some staff have been let go, and two others have resigned. This included Executive Director Phil Groff, who has been with the RASC since the fall of 2019 and has now found a position that is more in line with his previous training and experience. We wish Phil all the best with his future endeavours. While the Board conducts a search for a new Executive directors in the coming period, we are fortunate that former Executive Director Randy Atwood has agreed to step in as acting E.D. for the next few months. Randy has been a member of the Society since the 1970s, is a former President of the Society and an RASC Fellow, and has detailed knowledge of the operations of both head office and the Society as a whole.

The Board intends to communicate regularly with the membership about additional decisions that will be taken to place the Society on a more stable financial and operational footing.

Clear Skies, Charles Ennis, President

Skynews is closing

Posted February 15, 2023 by Webmaster as News

After nearly three decades, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has announced that SkyNews will be shutting down at the end of February 2023. While it is sad to say goodbye, we are proud of the work that has been published and of the community that supported the magazine for so many years.
Skynews magazine

Update: The article I quoted above no longer appears on the national Skynews website. It appears the national RASC Board is still considering options about Skynews magazine.

As a life member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), I’m sad to see Skynews end. That said, I can reassure my fellow RASC Victoria Centre members that our local Skynews newsletter will continue to be published. It is the RASC National Skynews magazine (using the same name) which will no longer be published due to what appears to be a continuing poor market for speciality glossy publications. RASC tried to keep Skynews afloat and relevant after it was purchased from the previous publisher Terry Dickinson, but in recent years the magazine proved to be too much of a drain on the finances at the national level. The RASC National Board consulted with RASC Centre executive over the last few weeks, but in the end, this difficult decision had to be made.

Skynews provided a good balance of interesting articles, observing hints and tips, some cosmology, astronomy and space news, and a forum for night sky photography and gear reviews. Skynews was a less-intimidating entry point to astronomical subjects for beginning enthusiasts, and being focused on Canadian astronomy, it highlighted how to pursue our hobby from northern latitudes.

Skynews also provided an opportunity for RASC to reach out to people interested in astronomy who were not members. RASC Victoria Centre used the magazine at public events such as Astronomy Day to promote interest in astronomy to the wider community.

I hope some of the contributors to Skynews will find opportunities to continue to write about Canadian amateur astronomy, observing the night sky, and issues that affect us as astronomers. It would be great to see the skynews.ca Domain name be retained by RASC for the promotion of amateur astronomy in Canada. Perhaps the website could be used to encourage up-and-coming Canadian journalists who have an interest in astronomy and space. The Skynews Youtube channel is also a valuable asset worth nurturing and keeping up-to-date, but some resources from RASC will obviously be needed.

Joe Carr, Webmaster

SkyNews - March/April 2023 — SkyNews – March/April 2023

March 2, 2023 – I received my last issue of SkyNews magazine today, a week after posting my thoughts (above) about the loss and the possibilities going forward. It’s sad to read about Carina’s new column planned for astrophotographers, Phil Groff’s wish to finally be free of the pandemic restrictions to fulfill his plan to visit RASC members across the country, Nathan’s 2023 Galactic Travel Guide, and other articles giving observing hints and targets for the coming months under Spring skies. So much optimism that now goes up in smoke since SkyNews will no longer be there to help those of us who are amateur astronomers in Canada to pursue our passion.

Thanks go to all the current and past contributors to SkyNews, who made this publication come alive, and also thanks to the advertisers who supported the magazine. Finally, thanks to RASC National for owning and operating the magazine over the last few years.

President’s Message – December 2022

Posted January 1, 2023 by Webmaster as President's Message

We are members of this venerable institution because we share a bond of fascination with the wonders of the sky. I don’t think any of us joined the Centre to worry about the details of how it runs.

These are the opening lines of an email I sent on December 10 to all the Members of the Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. We are proposing a new Constitution and Bylaws to run the Victoria Centre. Did you receive it? Please read it! I hope we explain well enough why the amendments are necessary and how they will make our centre operate better.

The Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada was founded in 1914. We’ve been through a lot! But all organizations need to ride with the times. The fact that we now communicate electronically has to be acknowledged and embraced by our bylaws. But once we opened the doors to an amendment, then it became clear that there are many other issues to modernize or fix.

Fortunately we have some remarkable members in the Victoria Centre, who understand how constitutions and bylaws are supposed to be worded. The committee which produced the amendments was chaired by our vice president, Dave Payne, who has experience running non-profit organizations. The other members of the committee are our secretary, Jill Sinkwich, who had previously worked for the Ministry of Finance on the BC Societies Act; our Membership Chair, Chris Purse, who participated in writing the previous version of the bylaws and is a font of institutional memory; Dan Posey, who has experience writing provincial legislation; and me, president and cheerleader for this group of awesome hardworking members.

We request that you read and provide comments on the draft Constitution and Bylaws by January 15, 2023 to Secretary@Victoria.RASC.ca. We particularly need to know if there are issues that would prompt you to vote against adoption of the bylaws at the upcoming Special General Meeting, which will be scheduled in February. The Bylaws must be passed with a special resolution of the centre by a 2/3 vote.

We know they are not perfect, but we feel that they are a significant improvement over what we are currently working under.

Look Up,
Randy Enkin, President@Victoria.RASC.ca

Dave Bennett – In Memorium

Posted November 30, 2022 by Webmaster as In Memoriam

David G. Bennett 1949 – 2022

Dave Bennett ready for the public at the Centre of the Universe - 2013 — Dave Bennett ready for the public at the Centre of the Universe – 2013

Dave Bennett was diagnosed with leukemia about a year ago. On Monday afternoon this week, he passed away peacefully at home.

Dave was a member of the Victoria Centre where he was active in education and public outreach for many years.

His family, extended family and his many friends will miss his humour, his kindness and his enthusiasm for whatever activity he undertook.

Following his wishes, his body will be given a green burial in the Royal Oak Burial Grounds. No flowers, please (allergies). In lieu of flowers please donate to the BC Cancer Foundation or the Saanich Peninsula Hospital & Healthcare Foundation.

Dave’s obituary on Care Funeral Services.

There will not be a Service, but please raise a glass of your favourite tipple and drink a toast to his memory.

A collection of photos showing Dave’s and Susan’s time with us at RASC Victoria Centre

Memories of Dave from members

This is so sad to hear. Dave was such an advocate for public outreach. I have missed him at outreach events such as the Saanich Fair and as a prominent Astronomer in the parking lot for Saturday nights at the DAO. What a loss for our community. I will be certainly thinking of Susan and his family at this time.
Lauri Roche

I’m very sad to hear this news. Dave was one of many RASC members who encouraged me to be active in public outreach activities at the DAO and to pursue my interests. He was a kind, generous man.
Matt Watson

I’m so sad to hear this. I still remember our little adventure of recording the asteroid occultation of 1263 Varsavia on July 18th 2003. I still remember being so pleased that we actually picked the right star and that it blinked out at approximately the predicted time. I have to admit it was David’s excellent starhopping skills as neither of us had goto systems. He will be missed.
David Lee

It is really sad to hear the news. Dave and I [spent] many happy times doing the public outreach. When needed he was always there.
Sid Sidhu

I remember Dave’s dry sense of humour the most, but also his willingness to evangelize astronomy at any and all public events. Despite professing to be a “grouch”, he was great with the younger generations interested in astronomy, challenging them to dive in. Dave was also a dedicated observer and one of the first Victoria Centre members who welcomed me to the group – thanks Dave. I certainly will raise a glass to Dave’s memory, and celebrate his contributions to amateur astronomy through RASC.
Joe Carr

Wow this sucks. He’s been one of the members who I’ve wondered where they’ve gone. Sadly now it’s permanent. He thought he presented as a grump but always had a kind manner. Will remember him with that big blue refractor. Needs to be said, F… Cancer.
Bill Weir

This is very sad. Dave was a member when I joined. He me feel good to be part of the group.
John McDonald

Very sad news, indeed. Dave was an immediately likeable fellow, whose immense astronomical knowledge and infectious enthusiasm was appreciated equally by his RASC colleagues, and the public. Dave will be deeply missed, and fondly remembered.
Sherry Buttnor

I remember some great conversations with Dave at outreach events and particularly at the Halifax GA (2015). Dave was a proud member of RASD and was Dave XXII. He will be missed.
Chris Purse

Dave was an active, very friendly, welcoming member of our Centre. Betty and I enjoyed interacting with him at meetings and outreach events. We often saw Dave and Susan at Victoria Symphony concerts, too. We are very saddened at his passing.
Jim & Betty Hesser

Sorry for your loss Victoria Centre. Condolences to the family.
Kim Hay

I’ve known Dave Bennett for most of my time in the Victoria Centre, and more recently when we lived near each other on the north end of the Saanich Peninsula. I greatly regret the press of time conflicts, work obligations and finally the pandemic that limited the time I had with Dave and Sue in recent years. Like other members of the Victoria Centre, I have many memories of Dave’s participation in our outreach activities, especially a trip that we took with Sid to a school on Saltspring Island several years ago. His love for astronomy, sense of humour and friendly manner were always front and centre at these events and at other Victoria Centre activities. I’m glad I knew him and I will miss him.
Chris Gainor

I had the pleasure and privilege of experiencing total solar eclipses with Dave. He was a great travelling companion. I send my sincere condolences to Sue and the family on your loss.
Ralph Chou

President’s Message – October 2022

Posted October 26, 2022 by Randy Enkin as President's Message

It has been five years since the astronomy bug caught me big. After the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse, I started looking for a telescope to replace my old Tasco refractor. I was close to buying a used C8 Schmidt Cassegrain, but couldn’t figure out how I could fit it in my house (or life). My first “new” telescope was an adequate little Newtonian, and since then I have acquired many telescopes, mounts, and accessories; never spending more than $150 at a time, to make a Frankenscope that works for me.

During that exciting autumn of 2017, I met Lauri Roche at a science outreach event and she invited me to give a talk at the RASC Victoria Centre Astro Cafe about a “gizmo” I developed for my telescope. Soon after, I joined the Society and made friends with many of you at Astro Cafe. With the Pandemic, our online events became important social activities for me. We’ve been doing outreach and in-reach events together. We have been a wonderful supportive community, which I now treasure.

In the autumn of 2020, our then president, Reg Dunkley, sent out a desperate plea for new council members, and in particular somebody who would step up to be our next president. I felt I was still a newbie, but the community was important to me and I did step up. I’ve been having a wonderful time working with this group, and I’m looking forward to many more roles I can take to keep our programs going and growing. But I am approaching the end of my second year as president and according to our bylaws, we need a new person to put their name forward as president. We have several other Council positions to fill as well.

So here is my plea – my desperate plea: please volunteer for our council! The roles are not onerous and we have a strong volunteer base to get things done. The past executives are all very helpful and supportive, so no one needs to feel they are all alone. But our society cannot function without people in the key positions and I know there are several of you reading this not thinking that you could be one of them. You can.

You should directly contact Reg, who as Past-President (pastpres@victoria.rasc.ca) is in charge of council nominations. But we know that few people ever volunteer on their own initiative. Please don’t be surprised or unhappy if you get a call from one of us. We need you. We appreciate you. We’ll have fun with you!

Look Up,
Randy Enkin, President@Victoria.RASC.ca

Bill Almond – 1933-2022 – in memorium

Posted September 13, 2022 by Webmaster as In Memoriam, Memories & history

With great sadness the family of Bill Almond announce his passing.
Lovingly remembered by his wife Janet; children Carol (Dave) John (Barb) Dawn (Mike), Alison (Colin); 11 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren and many friends.
He was loved by all and remains forever in our hearts.
Frederick W. Almond – June 12, 1933 – July 03, 2022 – obituary (Legacy/Times Colonist)

Bill became a member of RASC in 1989, and soon became involved in Victoria Centre, sharing his passion for astronomy with both his fellow members and the public. He lead Victoria Centre as President from 1997 to 1998. Bill was awarded the Newton-Ball Award in 2003 for his exemplary service to Victoria Centre. He enthusiastically helped build Victoria Centre Observatory (VCO) atop Observatory Hill, and provided valuable advice about what gear would reliably serve our members’ needs. Bill was thrilled when the VCO officially opened in 2008.

Bill worked with CCD imaging since the early 1990’s and was published in CCD Magazine with his images of M27 The Dumbell Nebula and M8 The Lagoon Nebula. He was an early leader in digital imaging at a time when the technology had very limited capability, and the gear was often beyond the means of amateur astronomers. Bill encouraged members to tackle the learning curve called astrophotography, often hosting members and groups at his home and observatory. Bill’s astrophotography

Bill Almond presents a copy of his Victoria Centre history to RASC Archivist Randall Rosenfeld

In order to commemorate Victoria Centre’s centennial, Bill applied his writing skills acquired during his career with our local newspaper The Times-Colonist, to compile historic records and media, and write and publish the history of RASC Victoria Centre. This was a daunting task, considering our Centre’s long history!

In 2021, Bill decided it was time to wind up his personal observatory, which was built beside the family home in Colwood in 1992 as a “watch tower”, and featured a Meade 10″ SCT, and later a 12″ LX200. Cameron Burton and Lisa Miester took on the considerable task of moving the observatory to their home on Elk Lake, and have rebuilt the observatory in the process. Moving and installing Bill Almond’s observatory – May 31, 2021 AstroCafe – a 1 hour video presentation by Cameron and Lisa.

What a wonderful video of Cameron and Lisa realizing the significance of my fathers hard work and combining that dome with the passion that Lisa’s father passed on to her. Thank you to the RASC Victoria members in this video who spoke fondly of my father.
John Almond (Bill’s son) – May 31, 2021

Bill Almond – in memorium – a collection of photos from Bill’s involvement in RASC Victoria Centre

Victoria Centre members remember Bill

Remembering Bill’s skill and generosity. So sad to hear that Bill is gone. I knew him from his Times Colonist days, from his diaper service, and from the RASC Victoria. Take care. – Sandy Barta

I’m very sad to hear that Bill has left us. He was president of the Centre when I came to Victoria, and of course he wrote the history of our Centre more recently. – Chris Gainor

I too am sad to hear the news about Bill. He did a fine job on the Centre History that Chris mentioned and he was helpful with advice and tips for those of us starting out. He also gave us some excellent advice when we were considering what telescope to get for the VCO. It was that we should pay the most attention to getting a quality mount. He pointed out that telescopes can be replaced but without a good mount no telescope would do a great job. – John McDonald

Bill was a leader for those of us who were exploring taking photographs of the celestial objects in the night sky. He was a great mentor, a good friend, and a generous man. – Joe Carr

I am so sorry to hear about Bill. He was knowledgable and always helpful to RASC members who were new to astronomy. I was privileged to see Bill´s Observatory Dome just last weekend at it´s new home overlooking Prospect Lake. His legacy will continue. – Lauri Roche

When I joined RASC Victoria in the early `90s I remember Bill would often host evenings at his home in Colwood which of course included a visit to his dome. He will be missed. – David Lee

President’s Message – August 2022

Posted August 25, 2022 by Randy Enkin as President's Message

Summer Outreach

I had the pleasure of spending a Saturday evening with Sherry Buttnor, demonstrating the 16 inch reflector up at the Centre of the Universe. It is humbling being in the dome with her, as Sherry has been operating and demonstrating the 16 inch since 1987! For most of the time, we had the telescope trained on the moon. Once the moon got too low, we moved to M13 – the Hercules cluster. Everybody who looked in the eyepiece exclaimed some version of “Wow!” Sherry often told the people, “You’ll never look at the moon the same way from now on.”

Brock Johnston that night had one of the 8″ Dobsonians set up behind the Plaskett Telescope, with a steady stream of people coming for a glimpse of Saturn. A woman who had never before seen Saturn through a telescope said she was in tears afterwards, she was so awestruck.

Astronomy outreach is fun! The people who come to star parties and other
outreach events are keen to learn, and they appreciate our efforts to help them see the sky. Sometimes it feels like a lot of work, but once you are at it, it is a real high.

So make the decision to help out at our outreach events!

We need people for Saturday nights at the Centre of the Universe (contact Garry Sedun, vp2@victoria.rasc.ca); especially if you are willing to set up your telescope.
We need volunteers for the Vancouver Island Star Party, an hour north of Victoria at Bright Angel Park, August 26-27 (contact Dave Payne, vp@victoria.rasc.ca). Also, plan to go to the star party – Dave has been working with the Cowichan Valley Starfinders Astronomy Club to create an excellent program of speakers and events.
We need volunteers for the Saanich Fair at the Saanich Fairgrounds, September 3-5 (contact Lauri Roche, roche.lauri@gmail.com).
We need volunteers for the Fall Fairfield, Sept. 25, right outside our Astro Cafe venue at the Sir James Douglas School yard (contact Reg Dunkley, pastpres@victoria.rasc.ca).

At these events, you can typically take a shift of a couple of hours and answer questions from the eager public. I have seen members with the whole range of background and experience taking on these roles, and everybody has done well. Just show a bit of the enthusiasm that I know all RASC Victoria Centre members have.

Look Up,
Randy Enkin, President@Victoria.RASC.ca

President’s Message – July 2022

Posted July 31, 2022 by Webmaster as President's Message

Randy Enkin - Luna Cognita — Randy Enkin – Luna Cognita

The first science images from the James Webb Space Telescope were released to huge fanfare last week. I’m not surprised that my social media was filled with the news, commentary, analysis, and silly memes. My favourite is the melding of Van Gogh’s Starry Night into the SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster. What surprised me was how much the images caught on with the general public. The images are indeed beautiful, and the public relations teams know how to get the message right. But there is a clearly a desire, a fascination to follow the story of this telescope and its potential.

I used to be “the general public”. When they went to the moon during the Apollo missions, I realized I had to learn all I could about astronomy. Most importantly, I decided to become a scientist. And through good fortune and a fair amount of work, I got to make a career as a research scientist – in geology rather than in astronomy, but my fascination with astronomy never left.

Is astronomy important? I really don’t know. But science and science literacy certainly is, and quite possibly the James Webb Space Telescope will attract the general public to find out more. People will look at the beautiful images and ask what is going on. They will learn about how 30 years of science and engineering went into producing the images. They will find out about the scientific edifice which has built up over millennia to place the new research in context.

The first batch of images masterfully span the range of subjects that the space telescope will research: the birth of stars, the death of stars, the structure of galaxies, and the early universe. The fifth image, or actually spectrum, reveals an application that could only have been dreamed of when the
instrument was designed – composition of an exoplanet spectrum.

They weren’t even sure that exoplanets could be located when the space telescope was first designed.
We amateur astronomers get to play an important role as more space telescope data get released. Let’s keep up with the research and help our wider community understand what it means. Let’s help with outreach events whenever possible. Let’s do astronomy.

On that note, the Victoria Centre Astro Café went virtual for two years. It was a tonic to our isolated lives during the worst of the covid-19 pandemic. Many thanks to Chris Purse and Joe Carr for their devoted work to keep Astro Café up and running so well! In May, we ran our first attempts at hybrid meetings, in person at the Fairfield Community Centre and online over Zoom. The response has been very positive, and we will continue the hybrid Astro Café format every Monday evening (except statutory holidays) at 19:30 starting September 12. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS. The roles are not onerous, but they are essential. Each evening we will need a host and a tech. Please be brave. Please be generous.

Look Up,
Randy Enkin, President@Victoria.RASC.ca