Dave Bennett – In Memorium

Posted by 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
Dave XI Turner, Dave VIII Lane (deceased), Dave V McCarter, Dave XXII Bennett (deceased), Dave II Clark, and Dave XVII Chapman—RASC General Assembly (of Daves), Halifax, 2015
Dave XI Turner, Dave VIII Lane (deceased), Dave V McCarter, Dave XXII Bennett (deceased), Dave II Clark, and Dave XVII Chapman—RASC General Assembly (of Daves), Halifax, 2015

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

Bill Almond – 1933-2022 – in memorium

Posted by 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.

Bill at the eyepiece
Bill’s observatory
Bill sharing his passion

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

Astronomy Cafe – Sep 20, 2021

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Remembering Ed Maxfield – David Lee
  • Earth – Potentially Habitable Planet – Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
    • Earth is pretty small…some comparisons with larger celestial objects
    • Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Alpha Centauri, the Sun, Sirius, Vega, Bellatrix, Pollux, Sagittarius A, Beta Centauri,  Arcturus, Aldebaran, Rigel, Deneb, Rho Cassiopeia, Betelgeuse.
    • Red Hyper-giants:  Uy Scuti, Stephenson 2-18
    • Supermassive Black Holes: Cygnus A, Messier 84, Hercules A
    • Primary ultra-massive Black Holes: Messier 87, OJ 287
    • Ton 618 – Hyper-luminous Quasar (13.1 billion Light Years away)
  • M33 – The Triangulum Galaxy – Reg Dunkley
    • Unusual rotation indicated Dark Matter (first proposed by Vera Rubin)
    • Part of the Local Group of galaxies
    • Since it’s so faint visually, Reg uses photos to observe this galaxy – a stack of over 6 hours of subframes
    • M33 in Hydrogen Alpha photo by Dan Meek, Calgary Centre
      • NGC 604 and 595 – knots of stellar activity – nebulae and star clusters
    • Dave Payne’s photos showing NGC 604 and 595
    • Dorothy has sketched M33 from a dark observing site
  • Photos by John McDonald
    • Deer Lick Group and Stefan’s Quintet – test photo from the two telescopes at the VCO
    • Comparing the distances of the objects – millions of Light Years away
    • Eta Carina nebula photo – newly processed using PixInsight – with and without stars, and original
    • UGC12127 – nearby cluster of galaxies suggested by Dorothy & Miles Paul
    • Starnet++ – a standalone app to remove stars suggested by Dave Payne
  • Edmonton Centre photos – Dave Robinson
    • NGC 1499 – California Nebula (2 orientations) by Tom Owen 
    • Jupiter sequence of photos – Abdur Anwar and Arnold Rivera
    • Saturn – Abdur Anwar and Arnold Rivera
    • Andromeda Galaxy taken with a simple, non-tracking setup using camera and lens – Alister Ling
  • Hubble deep field photo – Brock Johnston
  • SIGs – meeting online
    • Astrophotography – Wednesday
    • Makers – Thursday
  • Fall Fairfield – RASC Victoria will be at this FGCA public event in the field – Sunday at Noon – Randy Enkin to email a notice to members