Astronomy Cafe – Apr 25, 2022

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Video transcript of meeting

  • Discussion about Astro Cafe’s new hybrid online and in-person meeting, room characteristics
  • Astronomy Day – May 7 – Lauri Roche
    • Museum 10AM-3PM
    • Online Lunar cross-Canada event – 5:00-6:30PM – RASC National, David St. Jacques (Canadian astronomer)
      • David needs some video clips from members observing the Moon, so he can assemble a short video feed if the weather is bad.
    • Observatory Hill – 7:30-11:00PM
      • Star party with observing
      • Hubble & JWST by Chris Gainor
      • Masks recommended
    • Please volunteer – contact Lauri Roche (email) or David Lee (email)
  • Astrophotos – Brock Johnston
    • Supernova in galaxy NGC 4647, near M60 in Virgo
    • M82 galaxy showing Ha emissions thanks to narrowband filters
  • Astrophotos – Dave Payne
    • M81 Bode’s galaxy
    • Needle galaxy NGC 4565
    • Asteroid 5116 Korsor passes in front of NGC 3384 galaxy
    • M65 & M66 odd couple of galaxies
    • Rejection frame analysis
  • Astrophotos – Martin Gisborne
  • Discussion about Astro Cafe’s new hybrid online and in-person meeting
  • James Webb Space Telescope – Chris Gainor
    • Still about a month away from scientific images and data
  • “The Great Debate” – Lauri Roche & Chris Gainor
  • Ballooning satellite populations in low Earth orbit portend changes for science and society – April 22, 2022 Physics Today article – John McDonald
  • Debate on contentious issues surrounding space tourism and other space exploration – Lauri Roche, Chris Gainor, Martin Gisborne

Astronomy Cafe – March 29, 2021

Posted by as Astro Cafe

Meeting transcript video

  • Announcements – Chris Purse
    • No Astro Cafe next week – Easter weekend
    • The Moon At Noon observing program – hosted by RASC National
  • Nathan
    • Combined 6 photos taken at each phase of the Moon
    • “Lines connecting the stars” – really dark skies of the ancients!
    • Water rockets – project for science fair
      • 100 metres maximum height reached
      • project involves balancing the amount of water and air for maximum height
        • 500ml was optimal for his configuration – 1:14 ratio
        • leaking bottles, lost red fins, air pump broke, lost the altimeter
        • Used a launcher with a remote switch and an air pump
  • The dates of Passover and Easter – Randy Enkin
    • Jewish calendar is lunar
    • Passover – 15th day of Nissan, starting on the first new moon of spring
    • Easter – 1st Sunday after Full Moon on or after March 21st (vernal equinox)
    • Saanich First Nation’s calendar
  • Amateur Astronomy Courses – Marjie Welchframe
    • Marjie completed all five courses – now available on youtube (see linked article)
    • My Introduction to Astronomy – paid course starting on April 6th by Richard Bell
    • Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
  • Edmonton astrophotos – Dave Robinson
    • Propellor Nebula – Arnold Rivera
    • Leo Trio – Abdur Anwar
    • Coronal Aurora – Lucas and Abdur
    • Solar Halo – Alister Ling
  • International Astronomy Day  – Lauri Roche
    • Sat, May 15th – webinar from Victoria being planned, featuring:
      • Live solar viewing
      • Astrophotos
      • Planetarium show
      • Live from CU deck
  • Finding Novas – Brock Johnston
    • Captured the current supernova in Cassiopeia
    • Used ASIair Pro to find
    • Used Deep Sky Stacker & Gimp for processing
    • Sky & Telescope article
  • Lunar Occultation – David Lee
  • Black Holes get more interesting – John McDonald
    • Scientific American special publication: Black Holes – the extreme science of the universe’s most mysterious phenomena – available at Bolen Books or online
    • Gravity waves from collisions
    • Black holes may be primordial, so not all black holes may be caused by supernova
  • Moon phase photo series – John McDonald
    • Sketch of Bailly crater on the 26th – Randy
    • Lunar video sequence from last August – Brock