Astronomy Day 2024 in Victoria

Posted by as Special Events

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the Royal BC Museum present

International Astronomy Day

at the Royal BC Museum and Observatory Hill, Victoria, BC, Canada

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Amazing Astronomical Activities for all Ages!

Press Release – contact Randy Enkin (email)

Royal BC Museum – 10AM to 3PM – event

675 Belleville Street, Victoria

  • Interactive activities outside on the plaza
    • View the Sun safely through solar telescopes (weather permitting)
    • Ask an Astronomer – find answers to those questions about astronomy and space you always wanted to ask
  • Interactive activities inside in Clifford Carl Hall (Museum main level)
    • Telescope show-and-tell – try out telescopes and ask questionsAstrophotography – take photos of the night sky with your own camera and see our members’ workChildren and families astro crafts – kids make their own astronomy and space souvenirsAsk an Astronomer – find answers to those questions about astronomy and space you always wanted to askResponsible Lighting – get pointers on how to reduce your own light pollution, and feel better for it
    • UVic Astronomy & Physics – interactive astronomy for students
    • Science Venture – hands-on, minds-on science, engineering and technology learning opportunities for youth entering grades 1 through 12 (STEM). Experience the Spiro Mars Rovers (robots)!
    • Camosun College Astronomy – astronomy courses, university transfer
    • Oak Bay High & Monterey Middle schools

Public Lectures in Newcombe Auditorium

  • You Versus the Universe – Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
  • The Stars – John McDonald
  • North Star to Freedom – Amy Archer
  • Making the Most of Spilled Milk:  The Story of the Milky Way, Our Home Galaxy – Simon Smith
  • elemental gas as ejected by supermovae – Dr. Trystyn Berg

IMAX Cosmic Series – May 17-19, 2024

Centre of the Universe and the Observatory – 7:30PM to 11PM – event

The Hon. Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor looking through Chuck Filnesss' telescope

Observatory Hill, 5071 West Saanich Road, Saanich

Reserve Your Tickets (free) – only ticket holders will be admitted to this evening event. (Daytime events at the Museum do not require tickets!)

  • Plaskett telescope tours
  • Planetarium shows
  • Observing through telescopes
  • Virtual reality with the Rift
  • Centre of the Universe gallery
  • Children’s Activities
  • Gift shop
  • Presentation

Please Note:

  • All Astronomy Day activities are FREE and available to the general public.
  • Membership in RASC is not required.
  • Regular admission applies to the Royal BC Museum exhibits and IMAX Theatre.

Astronomy Cafe – Apr 15, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Meeting transcript video

  • Oak Bay Lighting in Uplands – Dave Robinson
    • Resident pressure stopped replacement of existing historic lighting
    • Proposed lighting upgrade is a poor idea
    • There are good options available for “historic” light fixtures
    • RASC Victoria should approach the mayor
    • Email to obcouncil@oakbay.ca
  • Solar Eclipse Reports
    • Aboard the Discovery Princess – 125nmi SW from Mazatlan, Mexico
      • Joe Carr
        • John McDonald and Bill Weir and his wife from Victoria were also onboard the ship
        • Pastry chefs served eclipse cookies
        • Princess Cruises and the ship’s officers were very well prepared for this special cruise, giving out eclipse glasses to both passengers and crew, communicating the ship’s position and heading would be, and having two experts aboard to give presentations on the subject and answer questions.
        • Observed a beautiful Green Flash at sunset the night before the eclipse
        • Ships within a few miles: Zaandam, Koningsdam, Sh Diana, and Ruby Princess
        • John and Joe observed from Joe’s balcony, since it was on the side of the ship facing the Sun
        • Eclipse photos and videos
          • Partial phase
          • Projected images of the eclipsed Sun through deck chair webbing
          • Totality, including prominences, plasma streamers, Diamond Ring at C3 and the planets Jupiter and Venus near the Sun
          • Wide field time lapse video of the eclipse
        • A 10ºC temperature drop was measured with a portable weather station during the eclipse
      • John McDonald
        • Eclipse shadows spelling words
        • Lots of great food onboard the ship
        • Observed and photographed partial phases and Totality
        • It was very dark overhead but quite light around us
        • Lots of excitement onboard among the passengers after the eclipse
      • Bill Weir
        • Observed from the top deck with a Coronado PST for Ha and a small Apo refractor with white light filter
        • Night sky viewing with Dr. Matt or Prof. Shelly on the top deck
        • Showed lots of passengers solar images
        • Saw Jupiter, Venus and a glimpse of 12P/Pons-Brooks comet
        • Corona was a spectacular flower-like apparition
        • Enrichment Speakers
          • Dr. Matt – dinosaurs, meteorites and astronomy
          • Prof. Shelly Bonus, UCLA, Mt. Wilson – friend of John Dobson
        • The ship was remarkably stable
    • Sherbrooke, Quebec – Alex Schmid
      • Drove to Quebec and back from BC!
      • Problems with telescope tracking and camera
      • Perfectly clear on eclipse day
      • Observed prominences, Venus and Jupiter
      • Lots of traffic on the roads after eclipse
    • Miramachi, New Brunswick – Clayton Uyeda
      • Had concerns about all the clouds, but it cleared
      • Observed from a remote site with his wife
      • Twilight but not dark
      • Indigenous smudging, drumming nearby
      • Students are back in Victoria High School. John Geehan trying to start up the trans-Neptunian Objects initiative with the high school’s new observing deck.
    • Central Texas – Peter Jedicke
      • Drove from Ontario
      • Weather was iffy, but it cleared for lots of glimpses of the eclipse
      • Enjoyed reports from dozens of people spread out all along the path of totality
    • Kingston, Ontario – Marjie Welchframe
      • Cloudy during the eclipse, but usable observing
    • Photos of the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse – by RASC Victoria Centre members
  • Activities along eclipse path – Randy Enkin
    • AirB&B occupancy map
    • Traffic maps and delays
    • Air traffic
    • inaturalist.org observations
    • Eye pain queries
  • Victoria Centre Observatory – David Lee, Randy Enkin and Reg Dunkley
    • 7 observers at recent observing session on April 13th
    • A glimpse of 12P/Pons-Brooks comet just after sunset
    • Mike Nash and Randy Enkin observed and photographed the Moon
    • Used a half hour on the Takahashi telescope to sketch Theophilius crater
    • Some first-time VCO observers had an interesting time
  • Chris Gainor
    • Met with Jenna Hinds at RASC National
      • Insurance coverage for VCO will be put in place
      • GA planned for May 4-5
      • Shot a video during the eclipse from Colchester Harbour, Ontario
  • Upcoming Activities
    • Council meeting on April 23, 2024
    • Astronomy Day planning meeting on April 25, 2024

Marjie Welchframe will host next week’s Astro Cafe on April 22, 2024.

Astronomy Cafe – Apr 8, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Meeting video transcript

Total Solar Eclipse 2024 reports

  • Montreal, Quebec – Brian & Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
    • Ice crystal 15º ring
    • Travelled from southern Ontario
  • Montreal, Quebec – Randy Enkin
    • Family eclipse experience covered by a CBC journalist
    • Ice crystal 15º ring
    • Expo 67 island had 150,000 observers
    • Interviews: CFAX, Times-Colonist, CBC
    • Observed: “pink” fingers coming inward to the Moon
    • Temperature drop
    • Eclipse cookies
  • Windsor, Ontario – Chris Gainor
    • Drove south to get into the path of totality in Colchester Harbour to observe over Lake Erie
    • High cloud didn’t diminish the view
    • 1979 eclipse was in bitter cold, 2017 in Oregon
    • 1.5 minutes of Totality
    • First eclipse for family – they were impressed
    • Video of the eclipse experience
  • St. Catherines, Ontario – Lauri Roche
    • Heavy cloud, but saw some glimpses of partial eclipses, but no totality
    • Lots of observers at Brock University didn’t see much
    • Temperature drop
    • Sudden darkening during totality, despite not being able to observe it
  • 30km west of Montreal, Quebec – Chris Purse
    • Drove from Kingston, Ontario to western Quebec on 401
    • Hazy conditions before totality
    • Diamond Ring was spectacular
    • Lots of detail visible during totality
    • Temperature drop
    • Lots of traffic on the roads as they drove back to Ottawa
  • Ron Fisher
    • Daughter in Hamilton reported the sky cleared enough to experience totality through the clouds
  • Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – Jill Sinkwich
    • Unfortunately thick clouds obscured the whole eclipse
    • Temperature drop, sounds, darkness
  • Mazatlan, Mexico – reported by Dave Payne on behalf of Joe Carr
    • Photos by Joe aboard the Discovery Princess cruise ship offshore from Mazatlan
    • Bill Weir and his wife and John McDonald were also aboard
    • Miles Waite was nearby on the sister ship Ruby Princess
    • Some thin high cloud, but beautiful conditions
    • Eclipse cookies
    • Diamond Ring
    • Several prominences
    • More complete report from Joe and John next week
  • 2024 Eclipse Weather – Reg Dunkley
    • Forecast models
    • Review of weather conditions and forecasts along the path of totality
    • Animation showing the Moon’s shadow travelling across North America
    • Review of weather conditions over Victoria
  • Partial Eclipse from Victoria – David Lee & Kirsten Pedersen
    • Despite the weather and 17% eclipse, attendance at the Centre of the Universe event was very good
    • Nothing much to see through heavy cloud
    • CHEK and CTV interviews by David Lee and Dennis Crabtree
  • Next Total Solar Eclipses
    • 2026 over Iceland and Spain
    • 2044 over North America

Astronomy Cafe – March 25, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • MMT Observatory – Kali Salmas, Queue Observer
    • Mount Hopkins, 55km south of Tucson, Arizona
    • Originally had six 1.8m mirrors, 4.5m collecting area
    • Now a single 6.5m mirror with 3 secondaries: f/5, f/9, f/15 (adaptive)
    • Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory facility on the mountain
    • Instrumentation
      • Binospec – wide-field opitcal spectrograph
      • Hectochelle/Hectospec – 300 fibre optic spectroscope, robotically reconfigured
      • MMIRS – Infrared spectroscopy, nitrogen cooled
    • Magellan and MMT share instrument designs
    • Operating Staff
      • Telescope Operator – 3
      • Queue Observer – 3
    • Data acquisition
      • Weather, tracking, seeing, turbulence, lenticular cloud formation
      • 7.5-12 hours observing time
      • Moon phase
    • Target Considerations
      • Both manual and automated queue scheduler
      • Sensor being used
      • Magnitude range: 11-26
      • Moon phase
    • Setup on Target – telescope operator and queue observer work together
    • Taking Data – calibration frames, guide stars, check data, add notes, move to next target
    • Q&A
  • Astro-tourism in Northern Arizona – Dave Payne
    • Flagstaff area
    • Barringer Crater – Largest meteorite at 150′ across
    • Lowell Observatory
      • Many domes
      • Original observatory built in 1894
      • Historic 24″ Refractor
      • Privately financed by Percival Lowell to map Mars
      • History of discoveries and innovations by other astronomers at the site
      • Clyde Tombaugh – discovered Pluto with a 12″ telescope
      • 5m Discovery telescope – currently being used, has 5 instruments
  • Recurrent T Coronae Borealis – David Lee david@victoria.rasc.ca
  • Chris Gainor
    • Chandra X-ray space telescope may go dark due to impending budget cuts – 25 years of work done. Save Chandra
    • David Lane, past president of RASC has died. He was the author of Earth Centred Universe planetarium software, operated a popular robotic telescope from his home in Nova Scotia, and was on staff at St. Mary’s University until his retirement.

There is no Astronomy Cafe on April 1 due to Easter holiday. The April 8 meeting will be online only, since many members will be away to observe the Total Solar Eclipse from the path of Totality.

President’s Message – March 2024

Posted by as Memories & history, President's Message

Usually Victoria Centre Presidents serve two years and then move on to something else. Right now, things are a little different. Randy Enkin has just wrapped up three years as President and shifted to other jobs in the centre, including editing SkyNews.

Chris Gainor on Observatory Hill
Chris Gainor on Observatory Hill

When I agreed to return to the Centre President’s job after having served in that position from 2002 to 2004, I reflected on what has changed and not changed since those days when we managed to get by without smartphones and social media. Many members from that time are still active, some have left us, and at least one prominent member of today wasn’t even born yet.

In 2002 I succeeded David Lee as President and two years later handed off to Scott Mair. Scott had come to Victoria in 2001 to open up the Centre of the Universe at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, which during those years operated under the wing of the National Research Council.

Two decades ago, we had our monthly meetings in the basement of the Elliott Building at UVic, but we adjourned to the lounge on the fourth floor for our library, and coffee and cookies, as we still do. Astro Cafes took place at Sandy Barta’s place on Fridays and later in Bruno Quenneville’s basement. Sid Sidhu hosted beginning observers at his home in Highlands, and Bill Almond led astro imaging meetings at his observatory in Colwood.

Our Star Parties took place at the Victoria Fish and Game Association just off the Malahat. Our annual banquets happened in November at the Gorge Vale Golf Club. Astronomy Days took place at the Royal BC Museum. Many Victoria Centre members attended the 2003 RASC General Assembly in Vancouver.

Mars made its closest passage to Earth in our lifetimes in August 2003. We drew big crowds to Cattle Point for viewing the Red Planet that week. Blaire Pellatt brought sidewalk astronomy to the streets of Victoria. We lost Ernie Pffanenschmidt and John Howell in 2003.  

Celebrating RASC Victoria Centre's 90th anniversary in 2004 - George Ball, John Climenhaga and Chris Gainor cut the cake.
Celebrating RASC Victoria Centre’s 90th anniversary in 2004 – George Ball, John Climenhaga and Chris Gainor cut the cake.

Our Centre celebrated its 90th birthday in 2004 with a cake that was cut by myself and two Honorary Presidents who have since left us, George Ball and Prof. John Climenhaga. A big centre project that year was relocating George’s telescope dome and his equipment. Our Centre website had migrated the year before to a private ISP after having been hosted on the Victoria Freenet. Joe Carr succeeded David Lee as Webmaster.

In those years, the most popular discussion topic in the Victoria Centre was our desire to build a centre observatory in a time when real estate was already pricey. Early in 2004, talk turned to action when our centre formed an Observing Site Committee chaired by Dave Bennett, along with Bruno Quenneville, David Lee, Sandy Barta, and myself as members.

Four years later, the efforts of our members, including many not on the original committee, bore fruit when the Victoria Centre Observatory opened — with a big assist from the NRC — on Little Saanich Mountain near the DAO and the Centre of the Universe.

In a future message, I will discuss my involvement in the RASC in the two decades between 2004 and this spring, our Centre’s 110th anniversary. But in the meantime, my attention is shifting to a major celestial event that will take place on April 8.

Chris Gainor, President@Victoria.RASC.ca

Astronomy Cafe – Mar 18, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Edmonton RASC’s BNLO Black Nugget Lake Observatory Unyk-Drew 32″ Telescope – Alister Ling
    • 32″ 0.8m folded f/4 128″ focal length Newtonian Alt/Az
    • Donation from Bob Drew, built by Roman Unyk, and funds from Alberta gamblers
    • East of Edmonton, fairly dark site, about 1-hour drive from the city
    • County land and camping, surrounded by farm land
    • Visual use only for public and member events
    • 3 observers at a time inside the dome
    • Observations
      • Crescent Nebula NGC 6888 – sketch by Berta Beltran
      • Einstein’s Cross – 17th Magnitude, gravitationally lensed quasar
      • Veil Nebula – amazing detail
      • M36 Pleiades cluster – FOV is too narrow to appreciate star clusters
      • Pease 1 planetary nebula in M15 globular cluster – star hopping required
      • NGC 40 – planetary nebulae are ideal for this telescope – colour apparent
      • M76 Little Dumbbell – lots of detail
      • M1 Crab Nebula – OIII filter reveals detail
      • Planets – not great targets for this telescope, but moons of Uranus: Umbriel, Titania & Ariel can be detected
      • NGC 891 – edge-on galaxy – irregular dark lane is obvious
      • Stephan’s Quintet – not an exciting object, so perhaps airglow and/or aurora degradation
      • M33 – good detail
      • NGC 206 Andromeda starcloud
      • M31 Andromeda Galaxy – core – scotopic & photopic vision – green colour visible
      • Colour of the core of the Orion Nebula – Hydrogen a, b, g, d – green colour visible
    • Comments from Bob Drew
  • Astrophotographs and Sketches
    • Observing from Victoria Centre Observatory – Randy Enkin
      • Photos of Comet 12/P Pons-Brooks using 12″ Dob and 20″ Obsession with new tracker
      • Moon sketch using 20″ Obsession
    • Mike Nash’s lunar photo compared with Randy Enkin’s sketch – both from their homes
    • Comet 12/P Pons-Brooks
      • Mar 18, 2024 APOD – red spiral core of the comet featured
      • Dan Posey’s photo of the comet and beautiful tail
  • Leap Year 2024 – Jeff Pivnick
    • Common Year, Solar Year and Sidereal Year
    • Leap Years started with Julian calendar
    • Gregorian calendar – more accurate compensation to define leap years
    • Accuracy of calendars adjusting for leap years
  • Events – David Lee, Randy Enkin, Lauri Roche
    • Makers SIG cancelled for this month
    • Next week’s Astro Cafe – presenter Kali Salmas, Operating the MMT Telescope in Arizona
    • FDAO Star Party – March 23 starting at 6:30PM

Astronomy Cafe – Mar 11, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Astrophotography – Dave Payne
    • Orion Nebula, M78 – reflection, emission and dark nebulae
    • Triangulum Galaxy M33
    • Monoceros (next to Orion) – Fox Fur Nebula
  • Barbara Lane 1955-2024
    • Memories of Barbara shared by Randy Enkin and other members
    • Hosted Astronomy Cafe along with her husband Kurt
    • Awarded a Certificate of Appreciation in 2022 for her contributions to Victoria Centre
    • Past Secretary of Victoria Centre, creating wonderful annual reports
    • Kurt and Barbara were a team, volunteering at public outreach events
  • New Crescent Moon of Ramadan 1445 – Randy Enkin
    • Muslim months start at the first glimpse of the New Crescent Moon – beginning of Ramadan
    • Observing a very new Crescent Moon is tricky!
  • They Promised Her the Moon – Dennis F
    • A local play by St. Luke’s Players
    • Originally, women were being tested for the Mercury Program
    • Chris Gainor added to the history of women in space
  • Chris Gainor
    • Canada Post 2024 Eclipse stamp – available this Thursday from your local post office
    • Comet 12/P Pons-Brooks – brightening as it falls apart. It might be visible during Totality on Total Solar Eclipse day.
  • Discord for RASC Victoria – Darren Delorme
    • Private chat room with channels and discussion threads for specific topics
    • Useful as an alternative to email
    • Post information of interest to everyone
    • Join the RASC-Victoria Discord Server!
  • UVic presentation this Wednesday at 7:30PM – Reg Dunkley
  • Volunteers needed
    • Astronomy Cafe – Randy Enkin email
    • Astronomy Day – Lauri Roche email
    • Victoria Centre’s Volunteers List – Marjie Welchframe email

Astronomy Cafe – Mar 5, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Transcript video of the meeting

  • 2024 Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) Information and Discussion
    • Randy Enkin
      • Observing the 2024 TSE from Montreal, Quebec
      • Review of the cosmic geometry for a solar eclipse
      • Track of Totality
      • Totality versus partial eclipse
      • How long have you been in the shadow?– list of top eclipse chasers
    • Joe Carr – 4 TSEs
    • Mike Webb – 8 TSEs
      • Totality flies by quickly, so relax and experience it
    • David Lee – 2107 in Oregon
      • Be sure to practice with your observing and photography gear ahead of time
    • Leslie Welch – 9 TSEs
      • Be sure to visually observe and experience the whole eclipse
    • Neil Banera – 2 TSEs
      • Luckily the cloud parted during Totality when observing from Austria
    • Lauri Roche – 2 TSEs
      • Observing the 2024 TSE from St. Catherines, Ontario
      • Solar Eclipse glasses available from the Centre of the Universe – about 100 left – email
      • DiscoverTheUniverse.ca – best Eclipse 2024 resource for teachers and students
      • Eclipse 2024 – RASC National listing of TSE events (scroll down)
      • 2024 Eclipse Ontario Education Bundle – comprehensive eclipse information for teachers and students
    • Reg Dunkley
      • Look at this forecast site starting two days before eclipse day – Astronomical Cloud Cover – refer to Eastern United States – 12 UTC
      • Video of 2017 TSE from Western Oregon University’s observing field
    • Leah & Cathy – observing 2024 TSE from Niagara-On-The-Lake
  • SIGs – David Lee
  • Chris Gainor
    • 2017 TSE from Madras Oregon
    • Observing the 2024 TSE from Ontario, near the USA border
    • Lauri Roche – CHEK News profile – Inspiring Island Women
    • RASC Victoria Centre Council Meeting on Thursday evening
  • Astrophotography – Matt Neild – Bubble Nebula
  • UVic Monthly meeting – Reg Dunkley
  • RASC Victoria Social Dinner – Lauri Roche
    • Over 60 attended last Monday, Feb 26th
    • Many new people
    • Thanks to all the organizers – a fun evening!

2024 AGM – Awards

Posted by as Meetings

Certificates of Recognition and Excellence for 2023

Congratulations to all the award winners who were announced at the RASC Victoria Centre Annual General Meeting held Feb 12, 2025!

Chris Purse – Certificate of Appreciation – Since the outbreak of the Covid Pandemic in 2020, Chris helped implement Astro Cafe Zoom sessions and has scheduled, hosted and coordinated these meetings. This contribution ensured that the Victoria Centre remained active and connected during a challenging interlude and has emerged as a preferred way for many to attend sessions.

David Payne  – Certificate of Appreciation – FOR organizing, coordinating, and executing a very successful 2023 Island Star Party at Bright Angel Park. Dave navigated bureaucratic hurdles and logistical challenges along the way. As a result, the many who attended will fondly remember this special event.

David Lee – Token of Appreciation – the Victoria Centre “renaissance Man” – in recognition of his many and wonderful contributions.

Lauri Roche – Token of Appreciation – the Victoria Centre “Energizer Bunny” – in recognition of her many and wonderful contributions.

Award of Excellence in Astro-Imaging – TO Ken McGill FOR his black and white image of the Horsehead Nebula and Neighbourhood.

Award of Excellence in Astro-Sketching – TO Bill Weir FOR his Comet C/2022 E3(ZTG) sketched on Feb 15, 2023 Using a Televue NP101 Refractor at 90x.

Installing gear on the 16″ Obsession – Miles analyzing the next step

RASC National Ken Chilton Prize in recognition of a significant piece of astronomical work carried out or published recently – TO Chris Gainor. His book Not Yet Imagined, documents the history of the Hubble Space Telescope. Citation

Ernie Pfannenschmidt Award for Telescope Making – TO Miles Waite FOR many improvements to the VCO 20 Inch Obsession Telescope including attaching digital setting circles and designing bumpers to safeguard these delicate sensors, as well as devising a customized system to stabilize the platform.

Newton-Ball For Distinguished Service to the Victoria Centre RASC – TO Alex Schmid – Alex has been an active member of the Victoria Centre for over 30 years. Accompanied by his iconic handmade Newtonian telescope, Alex has been introducing treasures of the night sky to the Public at DAO Star Parties for decades. His custom crafted tray at the VCO allows eyepieces (to be) safely stowed and readily available. As the Victoria Centre librarian he also prepares coffee, cookies, and wonderful cakes for monthly meetings at UVic. Alex also provides technical support at the Astro Cafe and serves as a Director at Large on Council. The Victoria Centre is very appreciative for the many contributions Alex has made over the years.

2023 AGM Slide Deck – RASC Victoria Centre

VictoriaCentre-AGM-2024-02-12.pptxDownload

Astronomy Cafe – Feb 5, 2024

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Intro – Jeff Pivnick
  • Enceladus – APOD Feb 5, 2023 – Jeff Pivnick
    • Smaller moon of Saturn discovered by William Herschel
    • The Great Forty 48″ reflector in Slough near Windsor – Herschel’s telescope
    • Cassini Mission
      • Discoveries: magnetic field disruptions, jets of water from “tiger stripe” fissures, wobbly orbital period caused by loose crust
      • 2:1 resonance with Dione results in elliptical orbit and interior heating of the ocean below the crust
      • Cassini division in Saturn’s rings – named for Gian Domenico Cassini, discoverer
      • Mimas 1:2 resonance with Cassini division
    • Diameter 504 kms, 14% liquid water
    • Discussion
  • Randy Enkin
  • Annual General Meeting – RASC Victoria Centre – Randy Enkin
    • Feb 12 7:00PM – Zoom meeting – info and special link to be sent to members
    • Victoria Centre’s Annual Report – contact Randy Enkin with your report president@victoria.rasc.ca
    • Financial Report
    • Election – Reg Dunkley
      • Chris Gainor has agreed to stand for President
      • We now have a full slate, but further nominations will be sought at the AGM
      • New Council will be seeking involvement from members for volunteering
      • We need a quorum of 25 members. If you cannot attend, contact Randy president@victoria.rasc.ca (or another member attending) to be your proxy for voting purposes.
  • Social Dinner – RASC Victoria Centre – Four Mile Pub – Feb 26th
    • Large parking lot, but please carpool if possible
    • Sound system with microphone and speaker will be used for speakers
    • Attendees please contact Marjie to RSVP by Feb 21st
  • SIGs – David Lee david@victoria.rasc.ca
    • Beginners SIG – tomorrow night’s presentation by Randy Enkin on observing the Moon
    • Citizen Science SIG cancelled
    • Astrophotography SIG – 4th Wednesday – hosted by Brock
  • Astronomy Books – David Lee
    • Observer’s Sky Atlas – Erich Karkoschka
    • 21st Century Atlas of the Moon – Charles Wood, Maurice Collins
  • Astronomy Cafe – March 4th
  • Scitech Daily
    • Perseverance Mars Lander – sedimentary layers discovered by ground penetrating radar and samples taken
    • Ingenuity helicopter has crashed

Next Astro Cafe – March 4th – none for the rest of February