April 13, 2011 - "The New UVic 0.8 Meter Telescope" by Russell Robb, Senior Scientific Assistant, University of Victoria Astronomy Department.

The University of Victoria purchased a new 0.8 meter DFM Cassegrain telescope and we installed it July 2010. I will review the history of the Climenhaga Observatory providing context for the new telescope. The philosophy of the telescope design and construction is to keep it simple. This, hopefully, makes the telescope system robust and worry free. Although there will be many advantages of the new telescope, it will have limitations due to its location and size. There are a multitude of projects that we will be able to do with the new telescope ranging from distant supernovae to absolute calibrations inside the dome.

Bio: Russell Robb grew up marvelling at the dark skies of Southern Alberta. After completing a BSc at University of Calgary he worked at their Observatory for 8 very cold years. He has enjoyed working for the University of Victoria for the last 29 years. He has authored many articles on variable stars and asteroids. A few years ago David D Balam named the asteroid 11955 Russrobb for him. Russell Robb presently spends much of his time teaching the first year Astronomy for Non-science Students course.