Carol Lakomiak, veteran observer, BBC Sky at Night magazine's astrosketching columnist, and astrophotographer, shares her advice on how to draw what you observe through easy to follow tutorials of proven effectiveness! Our Observer's Handbook editor has used Carol's tutorials, and he won a lunar imaging contest after doing so. Carol's tutorials on lunar sketching and solar and DSO sketching now have a new home at rasc.ca.

Over the holiday weekend a problem was encountered with one of the Society's Domain Name Service (DNS) providers which meant that the Society's member and eStore portal at https://secure.rasc.ca was temporarily inaccessible.

This problem has now been resolved and Society services, including the Member's Area on the national website should be back to normal. If you encounter any issues, please contact the RASC webteam by using the Contact Form.

First Durham Insurance is pleased to present The RASC Group Property and Auto insurance program, exclusively for members of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. As a RASC member you will have exclusive access to a wide range of home and auto insurance products, while saving up to 60%.

Celebrate Astronomy Day!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Toronto, Canada (April 26, 2012) – Members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and its 29 local RASC Centres will celebrate Astronomy Day this Saturday, April 28, 2012. Be on the lookout for telescopes and astronomers to pop up unexpectedly on street corners, in shopping malls and other public places, ready and eager to bring the universe down to Earth for everyone!

Don't Miss Space Weekend at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto

• Saturday, May 5, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm
• Sunday, May 6, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm  

Prepare to be star struck as you discover the fascinating phenomena from the sky above. Get your hands on a space rock, take a giant leap to the moon, and learn the latest in space exploration. Hear how the stars and planets have played a part in the history of cultures around the world, and navigate the night sky in our mini-planetarium, as you join us for a weekend that’s out of this world!

Light Pollution and Earth Hour 2012
 

Toronto, Canada (March 30, 2012) – The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada promotes Earth Hour as it fits naturally with the Society’s message of preserving the nocturnal environment. Light pollution permeates the nocturnal environment and has a direct effect on the night sky - reducing the visibility of stars for young and old.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Inaugural RASC Astrosketchers' Contest:

Alexander Massey (Sydney, Au.), for his drawing of Aristarchus, Herodotus et Vallis Schroteri,

and

Gordon Webster (Ottawa), for his drawing of Jupiter Europa Shadow Transit.

Congratulations to both Alex and Gordon!

The quality of all the entries was very high.

Space Weekend at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto

• Saturday, May 5, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm
• Sunday, May 6, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm  

Nova Scotia Wilderness Resort seeks staff astronomer for Night Outings and Sky Safaris May – November, 2012 (min. 3 month commitment) Trout Point Lodge (https://www.troutpoint.com) has a position for someone with enthusiasm and knowledge about the night sky.

Members on dial-up Internet will be pleased to know that a new version of Adobe software allows us to substantially reduce the file size of this and subsequent Journals. All back issues in the 2007 and 2008 archives have already been reduced, and others will receive the same size reduction soon.

See below for highlights of the current issue.