Lessons From Beyond - Part 2

Insider's Guide to the Galaxy

Host Chris Vaughan and Samantha Jewett

with Guests Jodie Williams and Isaac Murdoch (Ojibway name Manzinapkinegego’anaabe / Bombgiizhik)

Come and join us as we continue to explore the night sky through Indigenous perspectives.  Together Isaac and Jodie will showcase how Indigenous knowledge systems can enhance current understandings of cosmology and astronomy.  Through our new digital resource Lessons From Beyond, we weave together multiple understandings of the universe and show how both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems can reflect, resonate with, and reinforce one another, affirming each other as valid, valuable, and vital.  

Including Messier Minutes!

We will be reviewing the Messier objects visible in the sky in the next two weeks, including tips and tricks on how to find them. Follow us along in observing the 110 targets from one of the most famous lists of Deep Sky Objects and work towards your RASC Messier Observing Certificate!

Register for all Insider Guide to the Galaxy webinars HERE or view on our YouTube Channel

Check out future episodes on our webpage HERE!

How to Get the Most from RASC's Listservs/Forums

RASC National Office

RASC’s new listserv / forum system is a hybrid system that allows a lot of flexibility for users.  However, due to that flexibility it can be somewhat intimidating for new users, and somewhat frustrating for users with a lot of experience in our old listserv system.  In order to help members get the most out of this new system, we are offering new online training sessions.

Join Outreach Coordinator, Samantha Jewett, and Executive Director, Phil Groff, as they take you through this tour of the discussion forum / listserv system, providing tips and tricks to allow you to customize your experience and master these powerful communications tools.

We will be offering this Webinar live, on three different occasions. The sessions will also be recorded and available on demand, afterwards.  Note that this is the same session offered three times, not a three session course.

Please register in advance for this Zoom webinar:

Session 1: March 2, 2022 3:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_leOZL0DTTm2ds_FoAKH1GA

Session 2: Mar 17, 2022 03:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0XV9AVbbSaKV0I5rPRCEZA

Session 3: Apr 1, 2022 12:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j5erwKXOSbSV35Zjce9qLg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Monthly Meeting with Guest Speaker Marcus Leech

Topic: "Hunting FRBs on a budget: The SIFT telescope"

RASC Kingston

Agenda

Kim Hay — Introductions & Notes
Guest Speaker: Marcus Leech (RASC Ottawa) "Hunting FRBs on a budget: The SIFT telescope"
John Hurley — National Council Representative Update
Hank Bartlett — Hank’s Sun Spot
Rick Wagner — What’s up in the Sky for 2022 March
General Q&A
Adjourn

This meeting is on Wednesday, March 9th, 2021 @ 7:00 pm EST.

Due to the COVID19 pandemic, in-person meetings of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Kingston Centre have been cancelled until further notice (since March 2020). In lieu of in-person meetings, we are holding virtual meetings with the aid of the Zoom videoconferencing system.

RASC-KC members will receive a preregistration email from the President a few days before the meeting.  This will also be sent to other RASC centres across Canada, for the use of RASC members.

Non-members who are interested should view the meeting on our Youtube Channel:

For some people, the bandwidth requirements may be much less than a live zoom call, but you will not be able to interact with the meeting as you would in zoom.

Astronomy Speakers Night

RASC Toronto Centre - David Dunlap Observatory 

Friday, March 11, 2022 | 8:00-9:30 PM EST | Online
Register Here! 
Join us, from the comfort of your home! This program will feature live-stream views from the DDO's 74-Inch telescope (Weather permitting). Explore breaking news from space and current research into what lies beyond our home planet! Each night, we’ll take a virtual tour of the DDO, hear from our speakers about their own amazing space research, and ask them all our questions about what they know and what they’re discovering. Only one registration per household is required. Deadline to register for this program is Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 3pm
 

Ask an Astronomer

RASC Toronto Centre - David Dunlap Observatory 

Sunday, March 13, 2022 | 1:00-2:00 PM EDT | Online
Register here! 
Explore the Universe - from the comfort of your home! During these family-friendly sessions, a DDO Astronomer will answer your questions about the observatory, astronomy and space, telescopes, and the motions of the sky using powerful astronomy software and eye-catching visuals! Only one registration per household is required. Deadline to register for this program is Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 3pm.
 

Out of this World: The Solar System

March Break Activities!

RASC Toronto & DDO

Monday, March 14, 2:00 - 4:00 PM EDT, online

Join the David Dunlap Observatory from the comfort of your home with our family-friendly Spring Break virtual programming! The Solar System with all its planets, moons, and asteroids are all around us! We will provide a tour of our Solar System and share fun stories about each planetary body in our cosmic neighbourhood. Participants will get the chance to paint and design their own planets with materials they have available to them at home: 8-10 Styrofoam balls or round objects, colouring materials (acrylic paint, markers, crayons, etc.), glue, and bristol board. Only one registration per household is required. Prior to the start of the program, you will be emailed information on the virtual program links and any other information relating to your program.

Register HERE (Note: This is paid programming)

Stellarium advanced course (ONLINE)

Monday 14 March 2022

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern time

Stellarium is a powerful planetarium application available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. 

Participants will learn how to adjust sidereal time, view star alignments (Arc to Arcturus), filter for deep sky objects from additional catalogues, use custom landscapes create by others, and make a custom landscape using photos of ones environment. We will also explore the powerful planning features in Stellarium using the Astronomical Calculations window. This will provide an amateur astronomer a deep understanding of the Stellarium program and allow for customisation of the application.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY.

Class sizes are limited. A waiting list is maintained for when courses are full.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-level-3

Part of the Stellarium Training Series.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-training

Who can attend: active RASC members
Fee: Free
Registration: Required
Organized by: RASC national office

Sun Fun

March Break Activities!

RASC Toronto & DDO

Tuesday, March 15, 12:00 - 1:30 PM EDT, online

Join the David Dunlap Observatory from the comfort of your home with our family-friendly March Break virtual programming! Learn about the sun and practice safe solar observing! In this interactive virtual session, participants will see live and pre-recorded telescope views of the solar surface, learn about our nearest star, and practice safe solar observing by making their own pinhole projector. Supplies needed (per participant): One large cereal box (or similar), Aluminum foil, One thumbtack or pin, tape, and scissors. Adults are required to help and supervise children too young to use sharp tools (scissors, tacks) alone. Only one registration per household is required. Prior to the start of the program, you will be emailed information on the virtual program links and any other information relating to your program.

Register HERE! (Note: This is paid programming)

Live from the David Dunlap Observatory

Hosts Chris Vaughan and Samantha Jewett

with Guests from RASC Toronto Centre

In this special edition of Insider's Guide, we’ll team up with members of the RASC Toronto Centre to stream live from the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) in Richmond Hill, the home of Canada’s largest optical telescope. We will tour the observatory, talk about the site's history and discoveries, and demonstrate the 74” telescope in action – including some pre-recorded views through it. And we’ll tell you how you can visit DDO yourself and view through its massive telescope!

Including Messier Minutes!

We will be reviewing the Messier objects visible in the sky in the next two weeks, including tips and tricks on how to find them. Follow us along in observing the 110 targets from one of the most famous lists of Deep Sky Objects and work towards your RASC Messier Observing Certificate!

Register for all Insider Guide to the Galaxy webinars HERE or view on our YouTube Channel

Check out future episodes on our webpage HERE!

Sun Fun

March Break Activities!

RASC Toronto & DDO

Tuesday, March 17, 12:00 - 1:30 PM EDT, online

Join the David Dunlap Observatory from the comfort of your home with our family-friendly March Break virtual programming! Learn about the sun and practice safe solar observing! In this interactive virtual session, participants will see live and pre-recorded telescope views of the solar surface, learn about our nearest star, and practice safe solar observing by making their own pinhole projector. Supplies needed (per participant): One large cereal box (or similar), Aluminum foil, One thumbtack or pin, tape, and scissors. Adults are required to help and supervise children too young to use sharp tools (scissors, tacks) alone. Only one registration per household is required. Prior to the start of the program, you will be emailed information on the virtual program links and any other information relating to your program.

Register HERE! (Note: This is paid programming)

How to Get the Most from RASC's Listservs/Forums

RASC National Office

RASC’s new listserv / forum system is a hybrid system that allows a lot of flexibility for users.  However, due to that flexibility it can be somewhat intimidating for new users, and somewhat frustrating for users with a lot of experience in our old listserv system.  In order to help members get the most out of this new system, we are offering new online training sessions.

Join Outreach Coordinator, Samantha Jewett, and Executive Director, Phil Groff, as they take you through this tour of the discussion forum / listserv system, providing tips and tricks to allow you to customize your experience and master these powerful communications tools.

We will be offering this Webinar live, on three different occasions. The sessions will also be recorded and available on demand, afterwards.  Note that this is the same session offered three times, not a three session course.

Please register in advance for this Zoom webinar:

Session 1: March 2, 2022 3:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_leOZL0DTTm2ds_FoAKH1GA

Session 2: Mar 17, 2022 03:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0XV9AVbbSaKV0I5rPRCEZA

Session 3: Apr 1, 2022 12:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j5erwKXOSbSV35Zjce9qLg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

10 years of ALMA: transforming our understanding of planet formation in circumstellar disks

Presented by:  Dr. Brenda Matthews

RASC Calgary

Thursday March 17, 2022 @ 7:30 pm MDT ( 9:30 pm EDT)

As ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array) reaches 10 years of operations, it has clearly delivered on its key science goal to image planet-forming disks in nearby star-forming regions. High resolution imaging of entire disk populations have now been made, and these striking images have revealed a diversity in disk structures. These diversities have led to a picture linking these young disks and their more evolved counterparts, called debris disks, to the exoplanet population.  I will share many of these breathtaking ALMA images and describe the hypothesis of a recent paper regarding how the most structured disks drive massive planet populations and significant belts of comets and asteroids around stars.

Bio: 

Dr. Brenda Matthews has been with the NRC since 2004, when she joined the organization as a Plaskett Fellow. She completed her PhD in 2001 at McMaster University and was a BIMA Fellow in the Radio Astronomy Lab at UC Berkeley until moving to Victoria. Since 2019, she has been the Millimetre Astronomy Group Lead and, as such coordinates the MAG support for the ALMA telescope as part of the North American ALMA Science Center. She is an expert in mm and submm astronomy, polarization of star-forming regions and interferometry. Since 2002, much of her research has focussed on debris disks, circumstellar disks around main sequence stars, produced via collisions of comets and asteroids, and has authored two reviews on debris disks. She was the PI of a key program on the Herschel Space Observatory, is a member of the disks team of the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey and is a member of an Early Release Science team targeting exoplanets and disks with JWST. Dr. Matthews was also a member of the Canadian Astronomical Society’s  2020 Long Range Plan panel and is a long-standing member of the Science Advisory Committee for the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA)

Join via Zoom Here!

Stellarium intermediate course (ONLINE)

Monday 21 March 2022

7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Mountain time

Stellarium is a powerful planetarium application available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. 

Participants will learn how to load additional catalogues, customise the application including setting up specific locations, check Jupiter's Great Red Spot position, load new comets, modify the toolbar, choose landscape textures, use stepping zooming, copy object information, configure eyepiece and camera views, and slew a telescope mount to a target. This will provide an amateur astronomer a deeper understanding of the Stellarium program.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY.

Class sizes are limited. A waiting list is maintained for when courses are full.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-level-2

Part of the Stellarium Training Series.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-training

Who can attend: active RASC members
Fee: Free
Registration: Required
Organized by: RASC national office

Stellarium introductory course (ONLINE)

Wednesday 23 March 2022, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Eastern Time. 

Stellarium is a powerful planetarium application available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. 

Class participants will learn how to setup the software for a specific location, date, and time. They will learn how to view the simulated sky, zoom and pan, and search for and select celestial objects. Features such as gridlines, the meridian, sky settings, and red light mode will be explored. This will provide an amateur astronomer a basic overview of the Stellarium program.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY.

Class sizes are limited. A waiting list is maintained for when courses are full.

This training is not for the paid Stellarium app on smartphones or the Stellarium web app.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-level-1

Part of the Stellarium Training Series.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-training

Who can attend: active RASC members
Fee: Free
Registration: Required
Organized by: RASC national office

Stellarium intermediate course (ONLINE)

Thursday 24 March 2022

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern time

Stellarium is a powerful planetarium application available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. 

Participants will learn how to load additional catalogues, customise the application including setting up specific locations, check Jupiter's Great Red Spot position, load new comets, modify the toolbar, choose landscape textures, use stepping zooming, copy object information, configure eyepiece and camera views, and slew a telescope mount to a target. This will provide an amateur astronomer a deeper understanding of the Stellarium program.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY.

Class sizes are limited. A waiting list is maintained for when courses are full.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-level-2

Part of the Stellarium Training Series.

https://rasc.ca/stellarium-training

Who can attend: active RASC members
Fee: Free
Registration: Required
Organized by: RASC national office

Exploring a new world on the Edge of the Solar System: New Horizons and Arrokoth.

Speaker: Dr JJ Kavelaars, University of Victoria 

RASC Mississauga

On January 1st, 2019 NASA's New Horizons spacecraft executed a flawless encounter of the small world now known as Arrokoth.  Our understanding of the nature of the outer solar system and processes of planet formation have been transformed by the very first resolved images of this building block of planets.  The imaging and spectroscopy from Arrokoth have enabled a new understanding of planetesimals and their formation.  I will describe the processes that enable this historic encounter to occur and the science results from the spacecraft imaging. 

BIOGRAPHY: Born in London Ontario Canada, Dr JJ Kavelaars is a Principle Research Officer at the National Research Council of Canada’s Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre where he has worked since 2002 and has been the Head of the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre since 2019.  Dr. Kavelaars searches the sky for outer solar system objects and has discovered dozens of satellites of the giant planets and over 1000 minor planets in the distant solar system.  He is a co-lead of the Canada-France Ecliptic Plan Survey and the Outer Solar System Origin Survey and co-Investigate on NASA New Horizons Kuiper Extended Mission.  Dr. Kavelaars has served on numerous national and international science committees, organized science conferences and contributed chapters to review books.  He has co-authored over 100 peer reviewed science articles and his research has been cited by his peers over 4000 times. 

This talk will take place Friday, March 25th 2022 @ 7:30 pm EST. 

Join via Zoom Here! 

Sunday Sungazing

RASC Toronto Centre - David Dunlap Observatory 

Sunday, March 27, 2022 | 12:30-1:00 PM EDT | Online
Register Here! 
Safely observe the sun with us, from the comfort of your home! During these family-friendly sessions, a DDO Astronomer will answer your questions about our closest star: the sun! Learn how the sun works and how it affects our home planet. Live-streamed views of the sun through small telescopes will be included, weather permitting. Only one registration per household is required. Deadline to register for this program is Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 3p.m.
 

Messier Marathon Season 2022

Insider's Guide to the Galaxy

Hosts Chris Vaughan and Samantha Jewett

We have talked about the Messier List before on Insider's Guide - but did you know that you can observe all 110 of those deep sky objects during a single night at a particular time of the year? Late March kicks off the Messier Marathon season. In this episode, we will highlight the spring Messier objects and describe some tips and tricks on how to view them yourself. We will also share how you can participate in a Messier Marathon from the comfort of your own home!

Including Messier Minutes!

We will be reviewing the Messier objects visible in the sky in the next two weeks, including tips and tricks on how to find them. Follow us along in observing the 110 targets from one of the most famous lists of Deep Sky Objects and work towards your RASC Messier Observing Certificate!

Register for all Insider Guide to the Galaxy webinars HERE or view on our YouTube Channel

Check out future episodes on our webpage HERE!