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The RASCals Star Party
July 29-31, 2011
Held on beautiful southern Vancouver Island
Metchosin, British Columbia, Canada
2011 RASCals Star Party poster (48k pdf) |
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RASC Victoria Centre
held another successful Star Party on the Metchosin Cricket Field and
municipal grounds. This location offered us one of the darker urban areas in the western communities near
Victoria. We very much appreciate
the support from the local community! Thanks to all our volunteers who
make this fun event happen each year. Thanks go to
Island Telescope
and our own members for generously donating door prizes.
Star Party Event Photos
Astronomy Photographs taken at the Star Party
Friday 29th
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12:00pm noon til dark - gates open, arrivals |
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5:00pm-6:30pm - dinner time |
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8:00pm - Door prize draws |
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8:30pm - The potential for planet formation in the Orion
Nebula - Dr. Rita K. Mann, Plaskett Fellow / Research Associate, NRC
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics |
Circumstellar
disks surrounding young stars represent the birth sites of
planets. Their fundamental properties, such as mass and size,
critically influence whether planets can form in them. Most disk
studies to date have focused on nearby star forming regions like
Taurus and rho Ophiuchus, however, stars rarely form in such
isolated regions. Most stars, including our own Sun, form in
massive star forming regions like the Orion Nebula, and
therefore it is important to understand disk properties and
evolution in such environments. In this talk, I will review our
current understanding of how planets form and what recent
observations of disks are revealing about the planet formation
potential in the Orion Nebula.
Download the
Presentation (13Mb pdf) - HINT: Right click
and "Save target as" in Windows; <Ctrl> click and "Save link as"
on a Mac.
Bio: Rita Mann received her
Honours BSc in physics and astronomy from the University of
Victoria in 2004. She then moved to Honolulu where she completed
her MSc and PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Hawaii. In
September 2010, she began her first postdoctoral position, as a
Plaskett Fellow at the NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in
Victoria. Rita�s main research interests lie in planet
formation; in particular, she uses high-resolution,
submillimeter wavelength observations of protoplanetary disks to
understand their fundamental properties and evolution, and their
potential to form planets.
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9:30pm
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Guided Telescope Walk - a walking tour of the
observing field with a guide to explain about all the gear |
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Astronomy 101 - an observing workshop followed by a laser tour
of the night sky |
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Viewing the night sky till dawn - what we all came
here for! |
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Saturday 30th
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8-10am - breakfast time |
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Noon - lunch |
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Solar viewing - all day |
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1:00 pm - Astronomy Swap Meet |
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2:00 pm - Workshops
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Travel Astrophotography - John McDonald (Metchosin
House) |
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Advanced Observing/The Herschels - Bill Weir
(outside by the stage) |
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Spectroscopy - David Lee (Metchosin
House) |
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5:00pm-7:00pm - dinner time |
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8:00pm - Door prize draws |
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8:30 pm - "An Epistemology of Planets, and Diverse Other
Cosmic Verses" - Dr. John Blakeslee, NRC, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics |
The
grandeur of the night sky has inspired both astronomers and
poets since time immemorial. (Lovers, too, as Shakespeare notes,
but that type of inspiration won't be covered here.) Today, the
two occupations are usually categorized within very different
spheres of human activity, but astronomy references abound
throughout poetry. Further, recent dramatic advances in
astronomical imaging capability, thanks especially to the Hubble
Space Telescope, have inspired attempts by many to capture their
visual impressions in poems.
While most "astropoems" are nothing to write
home about, a few succeed in evoking the same spontaneous
response as the sudden silent streaking of a Perseid's trail on
a late summer evening. In honour of this Year of the Solar
System, we take a light-hearted look at the subject, replete
with illustrations. We'll examine how several well-known poets
have employed astronomical themes in their works, discuss which
celestial objects are celebrated most often in verse, and
highlight some notable past and present examples of the genre.
Bio: John Blakeslee studies
galaxies and the large-scale structure of the universe using
data from the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based
observatories. He is the author of over 140 papers in the
professional literature. Dr. Blakeslee received his PhD degree
in 1997 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Following postdoctoral research
appointments at the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena and Durham University in the UK, he joined Hubble's
Advanced Camera for Surveys project at the Space Telescope
Institute on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, where he worked for five years. He was a professor in
the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Washington State
University from 2005 through 2007, before joining Victoria's
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics.
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9:30pm - Guided Telescope Walk and Binocular Tour of the
sky |
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Viewing the night sky till dawn - what we all came
here for! |
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Sunday 31th
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8:00 am Breakfast |
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9:30 am Site Cleanup |
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12 noon - early departures |
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Location - The star party is held on the cricket field
& municipal grounds, located behind the Metchosin Fire Hall
in this small rural community.
Street address
4450 Happy Valley Road
Victoria, BC Canada V9C 3Z3
Geographic
position
Latitude: 48� 23' N
Longitude: 123� 32' W
Elevation: 50m
Newton-Godin Observatory Clear Sky Chart - observing
conditions report from the closest reporting station
Things to do in
Metchosin
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Directions using Google
Directions using Bing |
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Camping - a good sized camping area is available on the
Cricket Field - camp on the field with your telescope alongside your
tent, motor home or camper. |
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Parking - lots of space available on the
main observing field and in adjacent parking lots. Please do not park in the
nearby retail parking areas! There will be a special parking area for
those of you who plan to leave after dark - our keen observers
will thank you for preserving their night vision and not ruining their
photographs with your headlights. |
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Power - available on the field for telescope-related equipment only.
Sorry, no RV plug-ins or full service hook-ups are available. |
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Water - potable water available on-site from a tap |
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Washrooms - both flush toilets and portable
washrooms will be available (at least one will offer disabled access) |
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Food - there is a coffee shop and restaurant
within a five minute walk of the field. We encourage you to support our
local businesses. |
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Fast food - Order in or pick up
pizza, Chinese, sushi, Tim Horton's or what you wish - we are only 15 minutes`
drive away from major
shopping & restaurants! |
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Elevation - the site is approximately 50 metres (165') elevation
and is approximately 1 km from the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. Some coastal marine air
may be a factor depending on weather conditions. |
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Horizon - a good 360 degree view of the dark sky. |
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Shopping -
Island Telescope will have an on-site sales
counter, should you need a new eyepiece or other accessory. Food, drinks
and sundries are available from small retail
stores within an easy 5 minute walk. Major big box stores, shopping centres and
food markets are located in Langford - a 15 minute drive. |
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Workshops - we offer useful and topical workshops
on Saturday during the day. |
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Kids activities - videos will be shown on the big
screen after dark for kids & teens to stave off any boredom. Don't
forget to take your kids swimming, hiking and biking at nearby regional parks
and the Galloping Goose Trail. |
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Regional Parks & Recreation - no fees, gates
generally locked at sunset
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Witty's Lagoon Regional Park - 2 entrances offering gravel & sand beach
access and/or lagoon access (hiking, wildlife, swimming) -- 5 minute drive, 15
minute walk |
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Devonian Regional Park - hiking, small pond, gravel beach at end of
the trail - 10 minute drive |
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Matheson Lake Regional Park - hiking, swimming, kayaking, canoes
(bring your own equipment) - 10 minute drive |
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Galloping Goose Regional Trail - access near Matheson Lake Park -
walking, running, cycling - 10 minute drive to trail head |
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Astronomy lectures - we always offer interesting
lectures featuring professional and amateur astronomers |
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Door prize raffles - held each night - for the
kids and for the adults - thanks go to
Island Telescope
and our own members for their generous support. |
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