Astronomy Cafe – Sep 25, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

Fuelling Galactic Powerhouses – Dr. Mallory Thorp

  • Mallory is a postdoctoral researcher the Argelander-Institut für Astronomie (AIfA) at the University of Bonn; MSc & PhD at UVic
  • Hubble Deep Field – how do all those galaxies interact with each other?
  • Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS)
  • Galaxy Zoo – internals to galaxies
  • Baryon Cycle – gas, dust, stars
    • Inter-stellar Medium – gas and star formation
  • Sloan Digital Sky Survey
    • huge number of galaxies
    • great for big picture studies
  • Phangs – high resolution studies of individual galaxies covering the complete Baryon Cycle
    • Uses multiple telescopes for source data, including both space and ground telescopes – ALMA, JWST, HST, MUSE
    • NGC 628 / M74
      • Voids in the galaxy – biggest is The Phantom Void (1kpc across)
      • Recently formed stars on the edge of voids at these “shock fronts”
      • How stars form has now been observed, thanks to JWST
    • Out of 74 galaxies only a dozen are mergers
    • NGC 3637 – example merger galaxy
  • Catastrophic events impact interstellar medium
    • Strong star formation when the galactic structure is essentially destroyed
    • Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) – eventual result of interaction between galaxies
    • Jets of gas leave the galaxy
    • AGN is likely responsible for star formation
    • Galaxies turn off – why?
    • Try to reconstruct an interaction of galaxies over billions of years
  • ALMaQUEST – ALMA MaNGA Quenching & Star-Formation Survey
    • How mergers power starbursts?
    • Extra stars and extra gas
    • Studying post-merged galaxies
    • How do mergers trigger the birth of new stars?
    • AGN or starbursts when fuel is pulled into the centre of a galaxy
  • Q&A

Resumption of monthly meetings and speakers at UVic – Reg Dunkley

  • NEW EARTH Lab – Find Life on Exoplanets | RASC Victoria – Dr. Christian Marois, NRC, UVic
  • Oct 11th 7:30PM at Bob Wright Centre, Room A104, University of Victoria
  • Meeting will not be streamed, so please attend in-person
  • After the meeting, adjourn to the Elliott Building 4th floor Astronomy lounge for coffee, cookies and discussion
  • Lauri will have solar eclipse glasses to give to members

Annular Solar Eclipse – Oct 14, 2023 – Lauri Roche & David Lee

  • Solar Eclipse 2023 — Annular Eclipse, October 14 – Time & Date info page
    • Start: 8:03AM PDT
    • Maximum: 11:00AM PDT
    • End: 1:56PM PDT
  • Event at the Centre of the Universe
    • Observe the eclipse
    • Breakfast snacks supplied
    • Kids activities
    • Vignette talks
    • Event tickets on sale from FDAO through Eventbrite
    • Solar telescopes – dependant on RASC volunteers
    • Will supply solar eclipse glasses to attendees and other people hosting events can come to pick up the glasses
    • Best observing spot will likely be from the lower parking lot, not the Plaskett or Centre of the Universe parking lot
  • For observing yourself from other locations, seek a site with visibility to the east, low in the sky
  • Use solar eclipse glasses to directly observe the Sun, or use telescopes or binoculars with solar filters
  • Practice ahead of time
  • Discussion about timing and observing
  • Solar Eclipse Eye Safety – American Academy of Ophthalmology
  • RASC National 2023 calendars – Lauri has ordered 35 calendars, so contact her to sign up for a copy – roche.lauri@gmail.com

Victoria Centre Observatory (VCO) report – David Lee

  • 20″ Obsession – guiding working, collimation is near-perfect
  • 12″ Dobsonian also available
  • Takahashi – available to members for photography and visual observing
  • Discussion about parking issue at VCO – Garry Sedun

AstrophotosDave Payne

  • SH2-157 Lobster Claw nebula in narrowband
  • Shrimp nebula
  • Heart Nebula and beyond

Oct 16th is the next time to attend Astronomy Cafe – in two week’s time.

Astronomy Cafe – Sep 11, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Transcript video

  • Saanich Fair – Lauri Roche
    • Sep 2-4, 3 days
    • Thanks to all the volunteers, but we could use more for next year
    • 3,500-4,000 people visited the booth and telescopes
    • Solar telescopes used to show the public the Sun
    • Clear and beautiful weather except for Sunday afternoon rain
    • Telescope raffle
  • Island Star Party – Reg Dunkley
    • Very good attendance 70 + 200
    • Dave Payne project lead
    • Cloudy skies on Friday but some sucker holes
    • Pristine skies on Saturday night
    • Zero gravity chairs were popular with cheers from the crowd when the Perseid meteors streaked across the sky
    • Volunteers from Cowichan Valley Starfinders did a great job
    • Two interesting speakers on Friday and Saturday night
    • Next year: 1st weekend of August
    • Donations more than covered our expenses
    • Grand prize of a telescope and mount
  • CU Star Parties – Lauri Roche
    • Weekly events – mid-May to mid-Sep
    • Good attendance every Saturday event
    • Presentations every week – either in-person or virtual
    • Monthly events during off-season
    • Saturday FDAO Star Party (Sep 16th) – Mary Beth Laychak, CFHT Outreach will be presenting
  • Plaskett Observing – Sep 16th
    • Contact Dan Posey email
    • Starts at 11:30pm
    • Must be a member and registered as an Active Observer to participate
  • Personal Observing Reports
    • Brock Johnston – photos
      • Helix Nebula
      • Solar disk in Ha – discussion
      • Jupiter – good seeing on Saturday
      • Saturn – 3 images showing changing ring tilt
    • Explore the Universe observing group – Marji & Jill
      • 110 celestial objects
      • Observe and/or draw at least 55 objects
      • There is also an Explore the Moon workbook
      • Group of 6 observing from Cattle Point
    • Moon – Randy Enkin
      • Sinus Iridium & Jura Mountains – comparing Mike Nash’s image & Randy’s sketch
    • Island Star Party astronomy images review
  • Announcements
    • Teacher’s Workshop – Lauri Roche
      • Mary Beth Laychak, CFHT Outreach will be leading the workshop
      • Monday – 4:30-7:00pm for teachers
      • Monday after the teachers – present at Astro Cafe
      • 2019 AGM presenter
    • Council meeting – Randy Enkin
      • Tomorrow night – all members welcome
    • UVic Wednesday night monthly meetings restarting – Alex Schmid
  • Minima of Algol – David Lee
    • Eclipsing binary
    • Short cycle of 3 days
    • Magnitude 3.4 to 2.1
    • Dates coming up – ref S&T
  • Partial Solar Eclipse – Oct 14th – David Lee and Lauri Roche
    • Observe from the Centre of the Universe – 8am to 10:30am
    • Solar observing glasses
    • Safety briefing
    • Breakfast beverages and snacks
    • Activities for kids and adults
    • $5/person – registration through Eventbrite
    • Rain or shine event
    • Volunteers needed
  • Blake Nancarrow remembrance – Randy Enkin
    • Memories from Bill Weir
      • Black was Chair of RASC Observing Committee
      • RASC Double Star program – designed for small aperture urban observing
      • David Dunlop observatory champion
    • Memories from Peter Jedicke
    • Memories from David Lee and Jill Sinkwich
      • Stellarium courses
    • Double stars tribute – Randy
      • Different colours of binaries
      • Splitting the doubles, triples and quads – challenging technique
      • A Tribute to Double Star Observer and Our Friend Blake Nancarrow –The Actual Astronomer Podcast – Chris and Shane
      • Lyra – 3 doubles – Marjie Welchframe

Astronomy Cafe – April 24, 2023

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of the meeting

  • Pendulum Experiment To Measure Local Gravity – Kemi Daniel (Grade 5, PCS)
    • Gravity in her house is slightly lower than earth’s gravity
    • Science Fair winner
  • Astronomy by Night – A new Canadian website for amateur astronomers. hosted by Carina Ockedahl (former editor of Skynews)
    • Reached out to contributors – Chris Vaughan, Dan Kusz, Alan Dyer, Charles Ennis, and others
    • AstroPhoto of the Week – not just for Canadians
    • Newsletter
    • Collaboration with SkySafari
    • This Week’s Night Sky
    • Gear Reviews & Tech
    • Columns
      • World’s Asterisms
      • Research
    • Profile
    • Podcast – 2 per week
    • Video – interviews
    • Star chart – from Heavens Above
    • News – both from International and Canadian sources
  • International Astronomy Day/Weekend – David Lee, Lauri Roche
    • Speakers are lined up
    • Local astronomy organizations will be there
    • Observatory Hill on Saturday night – 29th
    • UVic on Sunday daytime – 30th
  • SpaceX Starship Launch on Apr 20, 2023 – Chris Gainor
    • Huge amounts of smoke and debris at launch
    • Disintegrated 4 minutes into the flight
    • Rocket left a huge crater at the launch site
    • Questions and discussion
  • Hybrid Solar Eclipse – April 20th – Randy Enkin
    • 1 minute duration
    • Total & Partial Solar Eclipse
    • Solar maximum corona, so lots of plasma streamers visible
    • Time & Date – particulars of this eclipse
    • Photos & video of eclipse chasers
  • Other events and discussion

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

Astronomy Cafe – Oct 31, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • 2023 RASC Observer’s Calendar – still a few left from Victoria Centre’s bulk order – email Lauri Roche
  • RASC Victoria Centre 2023 calendar – Joe Carr
  • Reports and updates – Chris Gainor
    • Artemis Launch now on Nov 14
    • James Webb Space Telescope
      • Early images
      • Some issues with one mode of the mid-Infrared imager (MIRI)
    • Hubble Space Telescope images
    • Skynews is running late, new editor hired
    • History of the Canadian Astronomical Data Centre – repository for data from many big telescopes – article for Feb 2023 JRASC
    • BBC National site has interactive display for JWST infrared – Michael Webb
  • Lunar Eclipse on Nov 8th – Randy Enkin
    • Umbra Crossings of Craters during the eclipse
    • Refer to Sky & Telescope’s table of crater timings
    • Refer to eclipse crater timing diagram sent out by Randy
    • Randy uses the Ticking Clock app on Android
    • How about using video timing? – David Lee
    • How accurate does the timing need to be? S&T states 6 seconds
    • Forecast for Nov 8th might indicate drier air from BC Interior will move over us – Reg Dunkley
    • Refraction affecting measurements discussed
    • Time and Date – eclipse info
  • SIGs – David Lee
  • Public Outreach discussion
    • David Lee: What is more effective for public outreach – using a screen or eyepiece/visual?
    • Bill Weir: used his 4″ refractor for pubic observing at Jasper, while others showed images on screens
    • John McDonald: sets up his telescope for observing by seniors, reporting an emotional response
    • Dave Payne: setup time for EAA gear is a liability
    • Garry Sedun: his family prefers visual astronomy
    • Dave Robinson: reports an emotional response to observing with eye to eyepiece
    • David Lee: EAA works when observing a dim object that is beyond the visual limit
  • Lauri Roche: Any news about holding RASC meetings at UVic again? Nothing so far (Chris Purse)

Astronomy Cafe – Oct 24, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • The Moon over Paris – Randy Enkin
    • A photo tour of Paris featuring the Moon
  • Sky Brightness Survey 2022 – David Lee
    • Preliminary results
    • Data cleaning using R programming language
    • Next steps
    • Spectral response of LEDs and SQM readings
    • Discussion
  • Seeing Beyond video – Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
    • Manifesto of what will happen once Artemis 1 is launched
    • Colonizing the solar system will change mindsets of the population at large
    • Seeing Beyond – better quality video and audio on Nerd Anomaly channel
    • Seeing Beyond soundtrack
    • Discussion
  • Gamma Ray Burst – Randy Enkin
    • Gamma Ray Burst 221009A – event just happened on Oct 9th
    • Initial detection and follow-up observations continuing
    • Discussion
  • Announcements
    • Astronomy Cafe next week is Halloween, so no in-person event – Zoom virtual meeting will be hosted by 
    • Lunar Eclipse on Nov 7/8
    • 2023 RASC Calendars – email Lauri Roche to reserve a copy. Explore the Universe and Explore the Moon workbooks are also available.
    • Skynews editor has retired and new editor is hired, so combined with printing problems, there will be delayed delivery of the next issue.
    • Various reports from Bill Weir

Astronomy Cafe – May 16, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Special General Meeting for RASC Victoria Centre – Randy Enkin
    • Have a quorum of over 25 Victoria Centre members in attendance
    • Changes to ensure our bylaws are consistent with the national bylaws and BC Society’s Act requirements
    • Call for volunteers to work on more revisions to Victoria Centre bylaws over the next few months
  • Need volunteers for Astronomy Cafe – contact Randy Enkin
    • Zoom host – recording and posting the video transcripts online
    • Meeting host – tracks and runs the meetings
  • Star parties at Observatory Hill – Lauri Roche
    • May 21, Jun 4, 18 – hybrid party in-person and online on Zoom & Youtube
      • May 21 – Early Discoveries made by the Plaskett Telescope – Jim Nemec
    • Every Saturday night after the July 1st break for the summer
    • Volunteers needed: telescopes in the parking lot, RASC welcome table, Plaskett dome tour hosts, 16″ telescope operators, other roles – contact Lauri
    • Electronically-Assisted Astronomy – start planning to use at the Star Parties in future – contact Dave Lee
  • Nanaimo Astronomy – Janeane MacGillivray
    • Astronomy From Kitt Peak – David Lee presenting at upcoming meeting
    • RASC Victoria members are welcome – send an email
  • Total Lunar Eclipse reports from members – May 15/16, 2022
    • Cloudy photos from Saanich after being skunked at Cattle Point – David Lee
    • HDR smartphone photos through eyepiece, join observations from Cosmic Generation group – Nathan Hellmen-Mestleman
    • Lunar Crater transits & mare cookies – Randy Enkin
    • Cloudy photos from Sidney – Chris Gainor
    • Observed from Brentwood Bay while raining – Lauri Roche
    • Just a glimpse from Taylor Beach in Metchosin, but spotted ISS – Bill Weir
  • Plaskett Images – Dan Posey
    • Composite image of the images over last few years 
    • Whirlpool Galaxy, Whale Galaxy, Deer Link Group NGC 7331, Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6946, M100, M63 Blackeye, NGC 3718 Arp galaxy, Hickson 44
    • Plaskett nights are for enjoyment and a reward for RASC Victoria members and volunteers
    • Review of techniques to process Plaskett image data into nice images
  • Skynews magazine – Bruce Lane
    • Review of upcoming articles
    • Please send Total Lunar Eclipse observing reports to Bruce (Editor)
  • Black Holes – Randy Enkin
    • M87 Black Hole – April 22, 2019 – Event Horizon Telescope
    • Sagittarius A* Supermassive Black Hole – May 16, 2022 – BBC Science Focus article
    • Galactic nucleus observed by Karl Jansky in 1931 – published in Nature, 173, 985-987, 1954
    • Angular resolution problem solved by the Event Horizon Telescope
    • Motion analysis of objects and energy near the Event Horizon of a black hole
    • Lauri Roche’s “black hole” birthday gift

Total Lunar Eclipse – May 15/16, 2022

Posted by as Observing Highlights

On Sunday, May 15th, 2022, we will be able to view a total eclipse of the Moon (weather permitting) from Southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The Moon will be in full eclipse after rising from the southeastern horizon, remaining fully eclipsed for about an hour before transitioning into a partial phase as it climbs in altitude and moves to the south. The Lunar Eclipse will end just before midnight.

Enlarge this video to view details for the Lunar Eclipse timing and phases. Depiction of this particular Lunar Eclipse is as viewed from Victoria – generated by Starry Night Pro Plus 8 and captured using Snagit 2022.

This is a perfect opportunity to visually observe this beautiful celestial event, and possibly capture some photographs from a location with an unobstructed view to the east and south.

Total Eclipse Begins8:29PM
Moon Rises8:42PM – probably visible 10-15 mins later
Greatest Eclipse9:12PM
Total Eclipse Ends9:54PM
Partial Eclipse Ends11:51PM
Above Eclipse times are for Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) for the west coast of North America, and are calculated from UT as presented in the Observers Handbook 2022, pages 127-131.
Lunar Eclipse diagram – NASA

What’s Happening

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon. During a lunar eclipse the Moon’s position traverses the Earth’s shadow. The Moon’s first contact with the Earth’s shadow is at the outer band of the shadow called the penumbra. The light falling on the Moon is progressively blocked until at the moment of total eclipse the Moon is completely in the darkest central area of the Earth’s shadow called the umbra. At the point of total eclipse the process starts to reverse itself until the Moon is totally out of the Earth’s shadow.


Glossary

  • limb – the outer edge of the Moon
  • penumbra – the outer band of the Earth’s shadow
  • umbra – the darker central area of the Earth’s shadow
  • partial eclipse – the Moon is positioned within the penumbra
  • total eclipse – the Moon is positioned totally within the umbra

Observing Tips

What do you need?

Everything from your eyes, binoculars and telescope are suitable. Bear in mind this is a long process, so dress warmly and bring a chair if you want to be comfortable.

Find yourself a location that has a clear horizon view to the east and south especially if you wish to view the early fully-eclipsed stage. Observing from a hill will help you spot the rising Moon earlier than if you observe from lower elevations or sea level.

Keep a log of what you see and note the time. Pay attention to how much of the light on the moon is obscured and if there are any colouration changes. During the total eclipse the Moon will take on a deep orange-red colour. The colour of the Moon is a function of contaminants in the atmosphere and varies from year to year.

A good observing project for this long-lasting eclipse will be to observe the craters on the Moon as the eclipse progresses. Craters will be immersed and emerge from the Earth’s shadow on the Moon at times specified in the Observers Handbook 2022, page 131.

2019 Total Lunar Eclipse from Victoria – composite photo by Joe Carr

Photographic Tips

Equipment

Any camera with the capability of setting shutter speeds and aperture settings manually will do fine. The ability to use interchangeable lenses will be an advantage for more detailed images of the Moon. For the darker parts of the eclipse, eg. totality you should use a tripod support for best results. If you have access to a telescope you can try capturing the event using prime focus techniques through the telescope optics.

Settings

Today’s digital cameras are very sensitive to light reflected by the Moon. Use ISO 400 to ISO 800 and a long telephoto lens or zoom setting. Smartphones and point-and-shoot digital cameras will not produce rewarding photos of the eclipsed Moon, but can be useful for taking panoramic shots of your surroundings which include the eclipsed Moon.

Technique for smartphone cameras

Smartphone cameras typically do not support manual settings, so using them to capture a lunar eclipse will be less rewarding than using more capable cameras. That said, smartphone cameras can be held up to a telescope eyepiece to capture an image of the Moon. Aligning the tiny lens to the eyepiece can be tricky, however there are platforms made to clamp onto an eyepiece barrel which will hold smartphones steady enough to take acceptable photos of the Moon, including the eclipsed Moon.

Technique for interchangeable lens cameras

The simplest eclipse pictures can be taken with manual settings on your camera and a normal lens, preferably supported by a tripod. For best results use a cable release to minimize vibration. Images taken in this fashion result in a small lunar image. This is why it is preferable to use a telephoto lens to photograph the Moon.

For a full frame camera try a 200mm lens or even better, a 500mm lens or higher. You may also use teleconverters to increase magnification, these typically come in 1.4x and 2x strengths. Their downside is they reduce the effective aperture of your optical system. A 1.4x teleconverter will decrease your effective exposure by 1 stop, a 2x teleconverter will decrease your effective exposure by 2 stops. Work out your effective aperture of your optical system ahead of time so you don’t have to think about it on the night of the eclipse.

Note for the smaller sub-full frame sensors of some digital cameras you gain an extra advantage as the focal length of the lens is effectively magnified by a factor. For example a Nikon DX body your 200mm lens would be effectively 300mm.

  • APS-C Nikon DX, Pentax : 1.5x
  • APS-C Canon EF-S : 1.6x
  • Four Thirds : 2x

Example:

 Focal Length ApertureEffective Focal Length
with 2x teleconvertor
Effective Aperture
with 2x teleconvertor
 180mm 2.8 360mm 5.6
 480mm 6.8 960mm 13.6

To achieve any higher magnification than what is stated above you will have to use a telescope at prime focus. For this your manual camera does need to have the capability of using interchangeable lenses. For prime focus you will use the telescope optics as your interchangeable lens. To attach your camera to your telescope you will need two things a T-adapter that fits your camera and a telescope camera adapter that fits your telescope.

The telescope camera adapter is designed to fit in the focusing tube of your telescope and is threaded to accept the T-adapter of your camera. With the magnification involved with telescopic optics it is likely that you will need to use a tracking mount. Preferably the mount should be able to track at lunar speed as opposed to sidereal but if the shutter speeds chosen are shorter than 1 or 2 minutes this is not critical.

Exposure times are the next consideration. The following exposure times are based on a medium ISO setting and an effective aperture that would be common with a long telephoto and teleconverter combination. Exposures may vary with your equipment based on ISO speed and effective aperture. The Danjon Lunar Eclipse Luminosity Scale has been included to provide better guesstimates for totality.

Exposure Times: based on ISO 400
Full Moon1/500 second at f/16
1st Contact1/250 second at f/16 see note 1.
2nd Contact1 second at f/16 see note 2.
Totality
*see table below
L = 4 : 4 seconds at f16  L = 3: 15 seconds at f16  L = 2: 1 minute at f16  L = 1: 4 minutes at f16
3rd Contact1 second at f/16 see note 2.
4th Contact1/250 second at f/16 see note 1.
* Danjon Lunar Eclipse Luminosity Scale
 L = 1dark eclipse; lunar surface details distinguishable only with difficultly
 L = 2deep red or rust coloured eclipse; central part of the umbra dark but outer rim relatively bright
 L = 3brick-red eclipse; usually with a brighter (frequently yellow) rim to the umbra
 L = 4very bright copper-red or orange eclipse, with a bluish, very bright umbral rim

Note 1. 1st and 4th contact times given for the partial phases are biased for the light part of the Moon. Remember you are dealing with vastly different exposures between the light and dark parts of the Moon during eclipse. The bias of about 1 stop minus avoids overexposure of the dominant bright area of the Moon.

Note 2. 2nd and 3rd contact times given for the partial phases are biased for the dark part of the Moon. The bias of about 1 stop plus is a good strategy for negative film not quite so good for slides and digital capture given they don’t tolerate overexposure well.

The exposure times are only recommendations. Remember the cardinal rule about photography … bracket. Always try exposures plus and minus your chosen exposure. This gives you a better chance at getting usable results. Let’s all hope for clear weather. If you have any questions please send email to David Lee at davidflee7331@gmail.com.


David Lee – original text
Joe Carr – updated for 2022
Brenda Stuart – illustrations


More information:

Astronomy Cafe – May 2, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Intro – Randy Enkin
  • Astronomy Day – David Lee
    • Final check-in this Wednesday evening for leads before Saturday events
    • International Astronomy Day – May 7, 2022
  • Vancouver Island Science Fair intro to awardees – Randy Enkin
  • VI Science Fair: Light At Night – Beata Ariana-Minniti (Cedar Hill Middle School student)
    • Creating a bus stop light using natural resources
    • Parts: Thermoelectric generator, voltage regulator, LED light
    • Heat storage: sand in an insulated box
  • Canada-wide Science Fair: Lower CubeSat orbit could Protect Space Infrastructure – Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
    • CubeSats collide, creating dangerous space debris that orbits the Earth – Kessler Syndrome
    • Quantifying the collisions
    • Lowering the hazard: choosing best orbits, adding micro-thrusters to CubeSats to change orbit or de-orbit
  • Astrophotos from southern Arizona – John McDonald & Garry Sedun
    • Caldwell 30 galaxy
    • M33 Triangulum Galaxy
    • NGC 2903 barred spiral galaxy
    • IC 433 Jellyfish Nebula
  • Eclipse Crater Timing – Randy Enkin
  • James Webb Space Telescope Update – Chris Gainor
    • All onboard instruments are now in focus
    • Commissioning of instruments next, then science projects begin

Astronomy Cafe – Jan 31, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Delivery of Calendars & Handbooks – Lauri Roche & Chris Gainor
    • Delivery of RASC 2022 Calendars for Victoria Centre should happen tomorrow
    • 4 members present still don’t have their Observers Handbooks – Duane Weaver, Brock Johnston, Bill Weir
    • The last Board meeting was dedicated to getting the delivery issues resolved
  • Pastel Paintings of the planets – Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
    • Jupiter – from Juno mission image
    • Earth and the Moon from space
    • Saturn in monochrome
    • Mars – Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris juxtaposed
    • Discussion about artistic technique
  • Cordillera Mountains & Mare Oriental lunar features – Randy Enkin
  • A Lunar Alpine Quest – Reg Dunkley
    • Original presentation to Victoria Centre on Nov 6, 2017 
    • Dorothy Paul – sketch of lunar mountains from the 2017 Solar Eclipse
    • Reg took a photo of the same area at  the 2017 Solar Eclipse and measured the height of one of the mountains on the Moon and the height of the solar chromosphere
    • Identified the particular mountain using Solar Eclipse Maestro software and some trigonometry from Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO)
    • Schluter Crater is likely the candidate for the gap in the corona imaged by Reg
    • Brock Johnston showed a photo of the partial eclipse featuring similar “bumps” in the partial eclipse line
  • Edmonton astrophotos – Dave Robinson
    • JWST telescope in a star field time lapse imaged by Anwar Abdur
    • Jan 28, 2022 text observing report from Luca Vanzella – Orion & Auriga and NGCs in Cancer, Gemini, Monoceros
  • SIG meetings – David Lee
  • James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) – Chris Gainor
  • Victoria Centre AGM – Randy Enkin
    • Monday, Feb 21st – starting at 7PM online
    • Keynote Speaker: Life and Times of the Sky Quality Meter – Doug Welch