Session Recordings

A 32-Year Time Series of Naked-Eye Lunar Phase Observations, Randy Enkin

“For the past 32 years, Randy Enkin has been noting the percent phase of the moon. He has determined the average duration of the lunation (lunar month) to an accuracy of three minutes of the well-established value. Deeper analysis reveals the cycle of supermoons and micromoons. These observations help reveal how the ancients were able to make accurate astronomical predictions.” 

Exoplanet Transit Measurements with Home Astro-Imaging Equipment, Laurie Sibbald

Many more people have recently taken up imaging planets and deep space objects. It is a challenging yet fulfilling activity that allows us to see celestial wonders more clearly. Equipment to do this has been improving to the point that incredible technology is in the hands of citizen astronomers. In this presentation, Laurie will outline how they are now using quality but accessible astroimaging technology to measure exoplanet transits, including some of the new candidates from TESS. 

Combining a Messier Marathon with a Running Marathon, Warren Finlay

The Messier marathon involves observing 110 deep-sky objects in one night. A running marathon involves running a distance of 42.2 kilometres. Doing both in one night? A “bimarathon.” Many months of planning and conditioning of both astronomical and running skills are required to attempt this extreme event. Join Warren Finlay — PhD, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, avid deep-sky observer and author — as he gives an overview of the only two successful bimarathon attempts to date, along with a synopsis of the difficulties and tips to increase your chances of completing this difficult challenge. 

Shooting for the Moon with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), Don Hladiuk

NASA and its contractors have been preparing to send astronauts back to the Moon since the space shuttle was retired back in 2011. A new heavy lift launch vehicle is required to achieve this goal. It is called SLS (Space Launch System) and if all goes as planned, the maiden flight will occur later in 2022. Over the last 10 years, Don Hladiuk has been following the development of this new crew-rated exploration class rocket. This presentation will discuss the development of SLS and Orion and preview what the future possibly holds for lunar exploration and Canada’s role in this new venture.

First Glimpses: Quick Fire Poster Presentations from Members 

• Rouzbeh Bidshahri – “High Resolution Planetary Imaging from your Backyard”
• Roland Dechesne – “RASC Dark Sky Preserves and Species at Risk”
• Timothy Quinn – “Technosignature Research Portal (indifferentET.com), research on the search for “serendipitous” technosignatures”
• Don Hladiuk “Citizen Science Global Meteor Network”

How to Shoot and Process Milky Way Nightscapes, Alan Dyer 

Join us for this detailed tutorial with Alan Dyer — one of Canada’s best known astronomy authors and astrophotographers. Alan will walk us through the steps for planning, shooting and processing beautiful images of the Milky Way over scenic landscapes, one of the most popular forms of “nightscape” imaging.

Inclusivity and Diversity Committee, Judy Sterner and Roland Dechenes

Representatives, Judy and Roland, from the I&D committee will present their current projects. 

Eclipse Task Force, Randy Attwood

How to prepare for the 2023 and 2024 eclipses in your Centre and community. 

Light Pollution Abatement: Rewilding the Night, Victoria Kramkowski

This workshop will present a governmental outreach toolkit developed by the National Light Pollution Abatement Committee to equip RASC Centres and other interested members of the public to advocate for the development of outdoor lighting standards by-laws and Dark-Sky Preserves in their own communities and surrounding areas. The toolkit includes information on how to approach and navigate different levels of government, template letters for reaching out to elected officials and governmental staff, a template model by-law, FAQs that can be provided to elected officials and governmental staff to help them answer inquiries from the public, a template council report/memo to help governmental staff move forward dark sky measures, and a brochure for Dark-Sky Preserve operators. In addition to introducing this toolkit, this workshop will also solicit input from attendees based on their own advocacy experiences in order to improve the final version of these tools.

“Don’t open that cupboard!” – so what is the RASC Archives, and what’s in it?, Randall Rosenfeld (History Committee)

An introduction to the often fascinating remains of astronomy past, broadcast from our Archives. Experience a type of time travel through meeting objects of the RASC’s history, and the stories they have to tell about people like us (and not like us) from our past.

The Ace Amateur Astronomy Program, Tony Schellinck 

Tony will introduce members to this outreach program you can set up at your Centre that only uses Binoculars to collect Night Sky targets. 

World Asterisms Project, Charles Ennis 

Charles Ennis has spent the last two years, with the help of individuals worldwide, compiling a list of all the different perspectives of the sky, what culture they came from (as precisely as we can) and, if possible, who created or created or recorded them. The goal is to eventually give the average member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (and everybody else out there) access to all the world’s sky cultures. This document will be a living document which will be updated frequently as new information becomes available. As of May 24, 2022 the document includes 8 640 asterisms with their name in the original language and a description of their location in the night sky. Join Charles as he discusses this incredible project’s creation, development, and launch. 

3D Printing for Outreach, Colleen O’Hare

Colleen, from the Okanagan region of British Columbia, will discuss how 3D printing can be used for accessible outreach projects for people of all ages. 

Aurora Citizen Science: Aurorasaurus, Aurora Eye and Alberta Aurora Chasers 

Dr. Liz MacDonald is a space physicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She leads a citizen science project called Aurorasaurus, which uses citizen science and social media to map the Northern and Southern Lights. In 2018 MacDonald announced the discovery of a new aurora called STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement). She has been studying the Northern Lights for about 25 years, and it never ceases to amaze her. In addition to doing citizen science and outreach, MacDonald has also led teams that build instruments to measure charged particles in the space environment for NASA and DOE satellite and rocket missions.

Chris Ratzlaff is a citizen scientist and photographer, using science to catch elusive experiences offered by nature and photography to share those experiences with others. Chris is known for his photos of Aurora, storms and frozen bubbles. He named the Auroral phenomena known as STEVE, is a leader and community organizer in the Alberta Aurora Chaser community and is a member of the Prairie Storm Chasers.

Jeremy Kuzub is a member of RASC Ottawa Center. He founded CaptureNorth in 2019 to help bring together the aurora photography and aurora science communities. His background is in computer vision and data visualization with the National Research Council, and has contributed immersive web-based aurora visualization software to the University of Calgary’s Auroral Imaging Group’s “AuroraX” project. He will be talking  about his portable, automated, aurora camera design, “AurorEye”, and how you (yes, you) can be the next contributor to aurora citizen science.

50 years after Apollo, Chris Gainor 

It has been more than five decades since humanity first stepped on the Moon, returned home in a damaged spacecraft, or got a view of an Earthrise over the lunar surface — since the Apollo missions launched and inspired countless people around the world. 

To mark the 50th anniversary of the program, Canadian historian of technology Chris Gainor, who specializes in space exploration and aeronautics, will lead us through a retrospective, looking back at the missions that influenced our entire planet.

NOVA, in a Nutshell, Samantha Jewett

A highlight reel of our New Observers to Visual Astronomy program. Learn the basics of observational astronomy, and a sneak peek into the program for those who might be interested in taking it at their nearest RASC Centre starting Fall 2022. 

Science Fiction in the Stars: Doing Out-of-This-World Outreach, Chris Vaughan

Held jointly with the REACH UP Stream

Space and astronomy have long inspired tales of adventure and exploration among the stars, filling literature, movies, tv, and pop culture with references to stars and constellations. Pointing out those connections to the objects that RASCals share through their telescopes and cameras can add a sense of fun and leave lasting impressions with the public at outreach events. Join Chris Vaughan as he highlights astronomy connections to Star Trek, Harry Potter, classic literature and more. 

DO OCTOPUSES HAVE AN ALIEN INTELLIGENCE?, Dr. Jennifer Mather

Held jointly with the REACH UP Stream

Over the last few decades, we scientists have been gathering information that suggests that octopuses and their relatives are actually quite smart. This seems to bother some people—a ‘dumb invertebrate’ is really intelligent?   Besides, the current theory has been that intelligence evolved to solve social and not ecological problems, and octopuses are normally solitary.  So…..maybe they are aliens. Oh, come on. The evidence for that is pretty weak.  But why would we believe a theory like that anyway?  The answer is in us, we’re really very anthropocentric.   The social intelligence theory fits the way we feel about the ‘natural order of things’, evolution finding us to be the smartest and best. But hey! There’s another model of intelligence out there.  Octopuses are not social, have a short lifespan, live in a complex and variable environment.   They have similar eyes though no color vision, also excellent sensing of chemicals. Behavioural control is not as centralized as for us, 3/5 of neurons and much lower level processing is in those eight arms, although they still have a big brain.  But they are different, not alien, and looking at them helps us to figure out what might be necessary for intelligence to evolve, on earth or anywhere else.  

Citizen Scientists Measuring Double Stars, Blake Nancarrow

Blake will present on how amateur astronomers and school students with simple equipment can easily measure double stars for their separation and position angle. Accurate and repeatable results can be submitted for review to ultimately be stored in the Washington Double Stars database. Quality data is badly needed. The ongoing study of binary star systems can improve stellar distance calculations and inform us of stellar and open cluster formation.

Planetary Defense by Young Citizen Scientists, Arushi Nath

Arushi and Artash share their 8 years of learning journey as family members with RASC Toronto on how they became interested in astronomy and embarked on different home-grown space projects merging maths, open data, machine learning, and hackathons, presentations, and outreach. Their space projects from satellite imagery to asteroids and exoplanetary data ended up winning many awards: Canadian SpaceApps National Winners 2018, NASA SpaceApps Global Winners 2020, North America INSPO Science Fair Gold Medal 2020, Canada Wide Science Fair Gold Medal 2021 and Canada Wide Science Fair 2022 Best Project Award (in Innovation).

Searching for Exoplanets from the Perspective of PSII Students, Kira Hawthorn, Matthew Hinton, Benjamin Twyford, Brie Macdonald and Morgan Sargent

Students and teachers from the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) will share their experience, process, and result of collecting, analyzing, and presenting exoplanet transit research through the RASC Robotic Telescope for Classrooms Program. 

The Dark Sky Project at the Dominion Observatory, Sharon Odell

The Dominion Observatory Preservation Committee within the RASC Ottawa Centre has been working with the City of Ottawa to ensure a new hospital, parking garage and condo tower construction, near the Dominion Observatory, has proper planning with “Dark Sky Guidelines” in place. A recently proposed motion at Ottawa city council was approved and has recommended RASC Ottawa Centre spearhead this initiative. Sharon Odell will discuss this initiative and what it means for the city and the future of preserving our urban skies. If this large.

Outreach at School, Ron MacNaughton

Lively high school astronomy clubs can have a powerful effect on the members. Ron will present how to help more clubs form, provide activities resources, and ways for RASC centres to help encourage young people interested in astronomy.

Shaping the Future: Getting involved in astronomical research, Lucas Khun & Emilie Lafleche

Emilie (Past Chair) and Lucas (co-chair) of the NextGen Committee and novice researchers in astronomy, will share their path to changing the future through research and show how you can become an astronomy researcher too, no matter how old or young! They will share their tips and experience and help you decide how you can contribute to astronomy today and in the future! 

Join the Cosmic Generation!, Nathan Hellner-Mestleman, Victoria Centre 

Nathan will talk about the new Global youth group, Cosmic Generation. Nathan will give a presentation on Size and Scale in the Galaxy. Nathan received a Silver Medal at the recent Canada Wide Science Fair and has been instrumental in connecting with youth from around the world, building up programs and resources, for and by youth members. 

Constellations: Workshop on the Night Sky, Lucas Kuhn 

Lucas presents the major constellations, how their stories changed through time and other cool facts about constellations. Also, get the chance to draw and name your very own constellations. We may feature your creations in future social media posts to share with the world! Anything is possible with creativity! 

My Astrophotography Journey, Fiona Morris

Fiona Morris will be talking about her personal experience as an astrophotographer. She will talk about what inspired her to do astrophotography as well as the gear she has been using over the years and why she chose that gear. She will also discuss her photo process, astrophotography involvement, and her struggles as a young astrophotographer. She hopes to inspire people to take pictures of the night sky, regardless of their age.

ExoLife: Alien Drawing Contest, Ivan (NextGen Committee)

NextGen Committee’s big event returns this year with another Alien Drawing Contest. What does science tell us about what life would look like on Titan, if it were to exist there? How about life on Jupiter or on an exoplanet from the Trappist system? Life may not exist in these places right now, but science tells us that in the right conditions, certain types of life can hypothetically exist and would likely look certain ways. Join ExoLife today and you can learn about what life would look like on outer planets and enter the Alien Drawing Contest by submitting your own version of potential life on a real exoplanet! Winners may be featured in RASC publications!

Science Fiction in the Stars: Doing Out-of-This-World Outreach, Chris Vaughan

Held jointly with the REACH OUT Stream

Space and astronomy have long inspired tales of adventure and exploration among the stars, filling literature, movies, tv, and pop culture with references to stars and constellations. Pointing out those connections to the objects that RASCals share through their telescopes and cameras can add a sense of fun and leave lasting impressions with the public at outreach events. Join Chris Vaughan as he highlights astronomy connections to Star Trek, Harry Potter, classic literature and more. 

DO OCTOPUSES HAVE AN ALIEN INTELLIGENCE? Dr. Jennifer Mather

Held jointly with the REACH OUT Stream

Over the last few decades, we scientists have been gathering information that suggests that octopuses and their relatives are actually quite smart.   This seems to bother some people—a ‘dumb invertebrate’ is really intelligent?   Besides, the current theory has been that intelligence evolved to solve social and not ecological problems, and octopuses are normally solitary.  So…..maybe they are aliens.   Oh, come on. The evidence for that is pretty weak.  But why would we believe a theory like that anyway?  The answer is in us, we’re really very anthropocentric.   The social intelligence theory fits the way we feel about the ‘natural order of things’, evolution finding us to be the smartest and best.   But hey! There’s another model of intelligence out there.  Octopuses are not social, have a short lifespan, live in a complex and variable environment.   They have similar eyes though no color vision, also excellent sensing of chemicals. Behavioural control is not as centralized as for us, 3/5 of neurons and much lower level processing is in those eight arms, although they still have a big brain.  But they are different, not alien, and looking at them helps us to figure out what might be necessary for intelligence to evolve, on earth or anywhere else.

Origami: The Future of Telescopes, The NextGen Committee

Keegan and Ivan from the NextGen Youth Committee venture into the realm of science and art to discuss the engineering marvel that was the recently successful launch of the next generation James Webb Space Telescope and how future telescope missions rely on the intricate form of folding art known as Origami. Join us in exploring how the JWST achieved its seemingly impossible mission, how engineers continue to apply origami principles to design future telescopes, and even design your very own telescope in this event! 

Youth Citizen Science Poster Presentations, John Abbot College Students

Biological Experiments on the ISS, Gabrielle Panet-Raymond

Exoplanet Transits with the RASC Robotic Telescope, Willow Taiger and Kristofer Karam