Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC)
Kingston Centre
Page last updated: 2026 March 12
RASC Kingston Centre Speakers
The following is a list of speakers and their topics and special events that we have had over the 30 years or so. More info will be filled in as it becomes available.
Date, Time, meeting type (meeting location), guest, topic
2026 March 11 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis Hall 226) – Laurie Graham (RASC Kingston): Pretty Pictures From the James Webb Space Telescope: The telescope and the science behind the images
2026 February 11 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (online only- due to potential bad weather) – Felix Thiel (Queen’s University) on “Observing Black Holes from the Stratosphere “
2026 January13 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (online only- due to potential bad weather) – Dr. Gerald Schieven
(Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre in Victoria) – “Observing the Cold Universe with ALMA”
2025 December – no meeting, holiday dinner only
2025 November 12 7:00pm AGM and Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis Hall 226) – Steve Mallia (Ontario Telescopes) (inperson) – “New telescope equipment and accessories”
2025 october 08 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis Hall 226) – Stefan Jackson (RASC Kingston) (inperson) – Processing Ha Images of the Sun”
2025 september 10 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis Hall 319) – member reports
2025 June 11 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis Hall 226) Jenna Hines (RASC Executive Director) (inperson) – “The state of the RASC”
2025 May 14 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226) Prof John Moores (York University) (inperson) – “Daydreaming in the Solar System”
2025 April 09 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (Zoom online only) Jeff Booth (RASC Toronto) (remote)- “Aurora”
2025 march 12 7:00pm Monthly Public Meeting (zoom online only) David Chapman (RASC Halifax) (remote)- “Celestrial Birds: Lore and Observing”
2025 February 12 7:00pm Monthly Public meeting (zoom online only) Alan Dyer (remote)- “Cosmic Connections: How the Moon and Stars Made Earth And Life Possible”
2025 January 08, 7:00pm Monthly Public meeting (zoom online only) Mike Karakas (RASC Winnipeg) (remote) – “Traveling for Planetary Imaging”
2024 December – no meeting, holiday dinner only
2024 November 13 AGM and Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226) – Tim Trentadue (L&A Dark Sky Viewing Area) (inperson) – “What’s happening at L&A dark sky viewing area”
2024 October 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226) – Roger Hill (RASC Kingston) (inperson) speaking on: “Optics and Telescopes”
2024 September 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226)
2024 June 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226) – Andreas Gada (North York Astronomical Association) (inperson) – “Remote DSLR Imaging System”
2024 May 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226) – Dr. Sarah Sadavoy (Assistant Professor Queen’s University Dept Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) (inperson) – “The Far-Infrared Sky: A Look Back with the Herschel Space Observatory”
2024 April 17 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226) – member reports on total solar eclipse of April 8th
2024 March 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226) – Shelley Jackson (RASC Kingston) (inperson)- “Astrophotography – My Journey to the Dark Side”
2024 February 14 Monthly Public Meeting (zoom online only) – Mike Hanes (RASC Kingston) (inperson) – “Eclipse adventures”
2024 January 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (zoom online only) – Andrea Girones (RASC Ottawa) (remote)- “Sunspots and the Aurora – how to take a picture of them!”
2023 December – no meeting, holiday dinner only
2023 November 08 – AGM – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226 & zoom)
2023 October 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226 & zoom) – Stefan Jackson (RASC Kingston) (inperson) – Building a Roll off Roof Observatory: for non builders.
2023 September 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226 & zoom) – Members reports
2023 June 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226 & zoom) – Blake Nancarrow (RASC Toronto) (remote)- “Get Certified”
2023 May 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226 & zoom) – Member reports
2023 April 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226 & zoom) – Kristine Larsen (Central Connecticut State University, AAVSO) (remote) – “Women in Astronomy: Past, Present, and Future”.
2023 March 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 226 & zoom) – Laura Fissel (Queen’s University) (inperson) – “Scope on a Rope: Astronomy from the Stratosphere”
2023 February 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis226 & zoom) – Tim Trentadue and Joe Gilker (inperson)- “Lennox Addington Dark Sky site & Astrophotography”
2023 January 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis226 & zoom) – Scott Young (RASC Winnipeg) (remote)- Dome and Home and Local Outreach
2022 December 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Rick Wagner (RASC Kingston) (inperson) – “Science with the RASC Remote Telescope”
2022 November 09 – AGM and Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Dr. Kristine Spekkens (Royal Military College/Queen’s University) (inperson) – “Galaxies, Cosmology and the Biggest Radio Telescopes”
2022 October 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – member reports
2022 September 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Andrew Godefroy (RASC Kingston) (remote)- “Alouette Anniversary”
2022 June 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Rick Wagner (RASC Kingston) (remote)- “Basic Image Reduction”
2022 May 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Richard Schmude (RASC Kingston) (remote) “May 15-16th 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse”
2022 April 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Peter Pekurar (RASC Kitchener -Waterloo) (remote) – “The Fun of Making Large Aperture Ultra-Fast Newtonians”
2022 March 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Marcus Leech (RASC Ottawa) (remote) – “Hunting FRBs on a budget: The SIFT telescope”
2022 February 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Dr. Jennifer West (Dunlap Institute) (remote) – “Inside the Galactic tunnel in the sky”
2022 January 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Andrew Godefroy (RASC-KC) (remote) – “Upper Atmospheric Research and the Origins of Canada’s Space Program”
2021 December 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Alan Ward (RASC Sudbury) (remote) – “Testing of Astronomical Optics in the Computer Age”
2021 November 10 – AGM – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Susan Gagnon (RASC Kingston) (remote)- The Stealth Surprise
2021 October 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – member reports
2021 September 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Murray Paulson (RASC Edmonton) (remote) – “My Prairie Meteorite Searches”
2021 June 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Dr. Doug Johnstone (National Research Council’s Herzberg Centre) (remote) – “Up All Night: Life at the Summit of Maunakea”
2021 May 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Mark Coady (RASC Kingston) (remote) – “Light Pollution Victories in Peterborough”
2021 April 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Laurie Graham (RASC Kingston) (remote) – “A Tale of Two Torqued Terrestrial Bodies”
2021 March 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Dave Lane (RASC Halifax, Observatory Director of St. Mary’s University) (remote) – “Robotic Telescopes, Ralph (Burke-Gaffney Observatory), Little Ralph, and his own ARO (Abbey Ridge Observatory)”
2021 February 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Judy Black (RASC Halifax) (remote)- “How Observant! An Introduction to Observing”
2021 January 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – member reports
2020 December 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Jenna Hinds (RASC) (remote)- “RASC Robotic Telescope”
2020 November 11 – AGM – (COVID – zoom only) –
2020 October 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – member reports
2020 September 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Paul Gray (RASC Halifax) (remote) – “Construction of a backyard observatory! A dream realized”
2020 June 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – member reports
2020 May 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Phil Groff (RASC Executive Director) – (remote)
2020 April 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (COVID – zoom only) – Steve Craig (RASC Kingston) (remote)
2020 March 14 – cancelled (COVID)
2020 February 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D216) – member reports
2020 January 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D216) – Laurie Graham (RASC Kingston) (inperson)
2019 November 14 – AGM & Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D216) –
2019 October 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D216) – Michael Adler (Wyoming) – Jupiter Re-Discovered
2019 September 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D216) – member reports
2019 June 27 – Special Meeting (MacCorry D214) – member reports
2019 May 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – Brian Hunter (RASC Kingston)
2019 April 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – member reports
2019 March 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – Dr Kristine Spekkens (RMC, Queens) – “Galaxies”
2019 February 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – member reports
2019 January 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – member reports
2018 November 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – Joe Gilker (RASC Kingston)- “getting started in wide-field astrophotography and night-time landscape photography”
2018 October 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – member reports
2018 September 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D214) – member reports
2018 June 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (Stirling A) – Nik Arora (Queen’s) – “Colours of the Universe”
2018 May 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (Stirling A) – member reports
2018 April 12 – cancelled
2018 March 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Stirling A) – member reports
2018 February 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Stirling A) – Dr. Nathalie Ouellette (CPARC) – “Solving the Cosmic Puzzle of Astroparticles: A Canadian Effort”
2018 January 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (Stirling A) – Dr. Jennifer West (Dunlap Institute)- “New frontiers in radio astronomy”
2017 November 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2017 October 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Kevin Kell (RASC Kingston) – “From Here to There in 6 years and 6 Terabytes or How I process Planetary Images”
2017 September 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2017 June 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2017 May 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2017 April 13 – cancelled
2017 March 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Rob Dick (RASC Ottawa) – “Light Pollution and Scotobiology”
2017 February 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2017 January 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2016 November 10 – AGM and Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2016 October 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Brian McCullough (RASC Ottawa) “Astronomical Snap Sketches”
2016 September 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2016 June 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2016 May 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Matt Shultz (Queen’s) – “The Secret World of Spectropolarimetry: How We Measure and Map the Magnetic Fields of Stars”
2016 April 14 – cancelled
2016 March 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Kevin Kell (RASC Kingston) – “RASC observing programs and certificates”
2016 February 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Mike Earl (RMC) – “Adventures with the VE3RMC Amateur Satellite Communications Station”
2016 January 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2015 November 12 – AGM and Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2015 October 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member reports
2015 September 10 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Richard Weigand (RASC Kingston)- “Isabel Williamson Lunar Observing Program Update” and Malcolm Park (RASC Kingston)- “Astrophotos from Near and Far”
2015 June 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D122) – member reports
2015 May 14 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacCorry D209) – Malcolm Park (RASC Kingston) – “The Sky Safari app”
2015 April 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (MacLachlan Woodworking Museum)- member reports
2015 March 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Tim Sietz (RASC Kingston) – “Navaho Astronomy”
2015 February 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Rick Wagner (RASC Kingston) – “Star Doctor”
2015 January 08 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Member reports
2014
December 11 Annual Holiday Banquet at Aunt Lucy’s
November 13 – AGM & Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – member presentations
covered, tips on lunar observing, eclipse images from places other than Kingston, Atacama
Desert and L&A Dark Sky Site astrophotos.
2014 October 04 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Randall Rosenfeld (RASC Archivist) – “What’s in the Constellation Crater, How Newton Got 500 Bottles of Champagne, and when Halley Drank Brandy and Swore: The Surprising History of Astronomy and Alcohol.”
2014 September 11 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – members reports
2014 June 12 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – members reports
2014 May 08- Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Video simulation of an occultation and members
presentations.
2014 April 10 – cancelled due to weather – Special Observing Social for members and their
guests at Lake Ontario Park.
2014 March 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Dr. John Percy (U of Toronto) – “Understanding Variable Stars: How the AAVSO — and You — Can Help.”
2014 February 13 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) – Dr Bruce Macintosh – “Pictures of Other Worlds: Directly Imaging Extrasolar Planets.”
2014 January 09 – Monthly Public Meeting (Ellis 324) -Brian Hunter (RASC Kingston) – Brian Hunter gave a presentation on how to observe the March 20th occultation of Regulus as well as suggestions and discussion among membership for equipment and locations for observation.
2013
December Annual Dinner at Aunt Lucy’s
Thursday 2013 November 14 (MacCorry B201) – AGM and Monthly Public Meeting
Thursday 2013 October 10 (MacCorry B201) Member reports on Light Pollution and Responsible
Lighting – City Dark and then had a discussion on the movie and the lighting improvements in Kingston. The city is replacing all lighting with full-cutoff LED lighting.
Thursday 2013 September 12 (MacCorry B201) Member reports summer
observing sessions and astronomy projects.
Monday 2013 June 17 (MacCorry B201) Member reports telescope workshop and the Torus
Project Update.
Monday 2013 June 03 (Ellis Auditorium) David Levy “Visual Comet Searching: A Requiem?”
Tuesday 2013 May 21 (MacCorry B201) – Member reports
April cancelled – viewing session planned at Elbow Lake in place of the meeting due to exam’s at Queen’s University but this was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Monday 2013 March 18 (Ellis 324) Tom Field (Field Tested Systems – Seattle ) – remote videoconference – “You Can Almost Touch the Stars” spectroscopy
Tuesday 2013 February 19 (Ellis 324) – members reports
Monday 2013 January 21 7pm (Ellis 324) – Nathalie Ouellette (Queen’s) “Nature vs Nurture: The Role of the Cluster Environment in Galaxy Evolution.”
2012
December 17 End-of-Year-Holiday-Celebration Dinner at Aunt
Lucy’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.
Monday 2012 November 19 7pm (Ellis 324) AGM and Monthly Public Meeting – Nathalie Ouellette (Queens) “NATURE VS NURTURE: THE ROLE OF THE CLUSTER ENVIRONMENT IN GALAXY EVOLUTION” her research using space-based infrared telescopes to investigate this topic as well as a recent NASA press release including her specific contribution using the Spitzer telescope.
Monday 2012 October 15 7pm (Ellis 324) Dr. Jean-Marc A. Noël (RMC) “Everything you ever wanted to know about aurora.”
September 17 Observing reports including Fall’n’Stars activities, more Transit reports!
Saturday 2012 June 09 (Ellis 324) Transit of Venus Reports from members!
Saturday 2012 May 12 7:30pm (Ellis 324) Member Presentations: Comet Video, deep-sky and
solar photos.
Saturday 2012 April 14 6pm (Ellis 324) Notes from an Executive retreat, Astroday plans,
Sheffield Conservation site visit, prospective sites for the Transit of Venus in June.
Saturday 2012 March 10 6pm (Ellis 324) Miscellaneous observing-related reports and short
slide shows, National Council meeting report from the day’s teleconference, and promotion of
several upcoming events, including the Lennox and Addington County dark-sky destination at the Sheffield Conservation Area and Terry Dickinson’s efforts to assist them in promoting it.
Saturday 2012 February 11 6pm (Ellis 324) Member reports Astrophotography: many members participated and all manner of technique was discussed, from very low-end, point and shoot at the eyepiece, to software issues with CCD cameras.
Saturday 2012 January 14 6pm (Ellis 324) James Silvester (Queen’s) “New analysis of stellar magnetic fields, rotational velocities and the distribution of rare elements”
2011
December 10 Ellis Hall,
Queen’s University Member’s Night with short presentations by Susan
Gagnon, Kim Hay, and Kevin Kell all relating to Variable-Star Observing.
November 12 Ellis Hall,
Queen’s University Annual General Meeting; Doug Angle “New Mexico Skies”
October 22 50th Anniversary Banquet; Patrice Scattolin (RASC Montreal) “Space Exploration From The Ground Up: With Reality And Fiction”
October 22 Kingston Public Library, Central Branch. Brian Hunter (RASC Kingston) “Telescope Seminar”
September 10 Ellis Hall, Queen’s University Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Brian Hunter and Kevin Kell
April 8 Stirling Hall, Queen’s University Larry Hum (RASC Belleville) “Total Solar Eclipse Trip to China in 2008”
March 11 Stirling Hall, Queen’s University “All About Meteorites”
February 11 Stirling Hall, Queen’s University Professor Larry Widrow (Queen’s University) “The Tangled Past of the Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies”
January 14 Stirling Hall, Queen’s University Member’s Night and 50th Anniversary Celebration.
2010
December 10 Dr. Rachel Kuzio de Naray (Georgia State) “Revealing the Dark Side of Spiral Galaxies”
November 12 Annual General Meeting
October 8 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Fred Barrett, Ken Kingdon, and Doug Angle.
September 10 Terence Dickinson “A Personal Quest for the Finest Stargazing Location in the World”
June 11 Randy Attwood “The Apollo 11 Landing – and How It Nearly Failed”
May 14 Fred Barrett “Picture Stacking With Registax”
April 9 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Leslie Roberts, Bob Hilson, and Kevin Kell.
March 12 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Susan Gagnon, Kevin Kell, Leslie Roberts, and Fred Barrett.
February 12 Dr. Daryn Lehoux (Queen’s University) “The Antikythira Mechanism”
January 8 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Susan Gagnon, Doug Angle, and Fred Barrett.
2009
December 11 Raymond Francis “A Perspective of Space Programs Beyond North America”
November 13 Annual General Meeting
October 9 Members’ Night featuring short presentations by Leslie Roberts, Kevin Kell.
September 11 Members’ Night featuring short presentations by Brian Hunter, Walter MacDonald, Kevin Kell, Mark Kaye, and Doug Angle.
June 12 Members’ Night featuring short presentations by Kevin Kell, Leo Enright, Leslie Roberts, Steve Manders, and Doug Angle.
May 8 Marcus Leech “Amateur Radio Astronomy”
April 10 Dr. Wolfgang Rau (Queen’s University) “The Search for Dark Matter: A New Role for SNO”
March 13 Frank Roy “The One Metre Initiative: A New Major Observatory in Canada”
February 13 Dr. Gregg Wade (Royal Military College) “‘Large Programs at the Canada-
France-Hawaii Telescope”
January 9 Kim Hay (RASC Kingston) & Stephan Courteau (Queen’s University) “International Year
of Astronomy”
2008
December 12 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Hank Bartlett, Kevin Kell, Leslie Roberts.
November 14 Dan Falk “In Search of Time”
October 10 Paul Mortfield “California Dreaming—Remote Controlled Astrophotography”
September 12 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Kim Hay, Doug Angle, Leo Enright, Hank Bartlett, Leslie Roberts.
June 13 Leo Enright “Two ‘Topical’ Time Topics; sidereal time in 2008 and the date/time of this month’s solstice”
May 9 Dr. Kristine Spekkens (Royal Military College) “Shedding Light on Dark Matter in Nearby Galaxies”
April 11 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Susan Gagnon, Walter MacDonald.
March 14 Dr. Joseph Buckley (Royal Military College) “RadarSat 2”
February 8 Member’s Night featuring short presentations by Susan Gagnon, Doug Angle, Kevin Kell.
January 11 Doug Angle “Relativity, Black Holes, and the Nature of Dark Matter”
2007
December 14 Members’ Night featuring short presentations by
Kevin Kell, Kevin Fetter, Doug Angle, and Walter MacDonald.
November 16 2007 “Big-Bang-Quet” Annual Awards Banquet;
Dr. Brian Hunter: “Hermonceux Castle and Observatory”
November 9 Annual General Meeting
October 12 Dr. Ross Kilpatrick (Queen’s University) “Klimt’s Kiss and the Corona Borealis”
September 14 Laura Gagne (RASC Kingston) “Sex and Violence in the Night Sky”
August 17 Annual “MarkFest” Barbecue at Mark Kaye’s cottage.
July 13 Walter MacDonald: “Astro Imaging”
June 8 Mark Coady: “Reclaiming Our Night Skies: Fighting Light Pollution”
May 11 Dr. Terry Bridges (Queens University) : “Extrasolar Planets: From Hot Jupiters to Earth-like Systems”
April 13 Dr. Judith Irwin (Queens University) : “Smog and the Galactic Environment:The Discovery of PAHs in Galactic Halos”
March 9 Members’ Night featuring short presentations by Susan Gagnon, Kevin Fetter, Walter MacDonald, and Doug Angle.
February 9 Members’ Night featuring short presentations by Kevin Kell, Kim Hay, Doug Angle, and Walter MacDonald.
January 12 Members’ Night featuring short presentations by Susan Gagnon, Kevin Fetter, Hank Bartlett, Kevin Kell, and Walter MacDonald.
2006
December 8 David Kirsh (Queens University) “Extra-Solar Planets: From Formation to Detection”
November 10 Annual General Meeting
November 4 2006 “Big-Bang-Quet” Annual Awards Banquet: Dr. Ross Kilpatrick (Queens University) “Gustav Klimt and the Stars: A Dionysian Iconography for The Kiss”
October 13 Members’ night featuring short presentations by Brian Hunter, Ken Kingdon, Leo Enright, Kevin Kell, Steve Manders.
September 8 Members’ night featuring short presentations by Hank Bartlett, Kevin Kell, Guy Nason, Doug Angle, Ken Kingdon, Brian Hunter, Leslie Roberts.
August 11 Annual “MarkFest” BBQ at Mark Kaye’s.
July 14 Guy Nason, “IOTA: the International Occultation Timing Association” (held in Chernoff Hall Auditorium)
June 9 Dr. Douglas Welch (McMaster University) “Revolutions Amateur and Professional Optical Astronomy in the 21st Century”
May 12 James Silvester (Queen’s University), “Solar Astronomy and the Pic du Midi observatory”
April 14 Peter McMahon, “Marshmallows on Venus: A backpacker’s guide to wilderness stargazing” (We also held a Special Meeting to approve updated RASC-KC By-Laws.)
March 10 Dr. Bryce Bennett (University Western Ontario) “Copernicus, Kepler, and the Mystery of the Analemma”
February 10 Members’ night featuring short presentations by Diane Torney, Doug Angle, Joseph Benderavage, Kevin Kell.
January 13 Walter MacDonald, “A Dome on a Home: The Story of Winchester Observatory”
2005
December 9: Paul Mortfield “The Sun and Space Weather “.
November 25: 2005 “Big-Bang-Quet” Annual Awards Banquet
Dr. Bryce Bennett “Tracking Objects in Space: Orbit Determination from Kepler to CASTOR”
November 11: Annual General Meeting
October 14: Ken Kingdon “Mars”
September 9: Members Night featuring short presentations by Ken Kingdon, Brian Hunter,
Doug Angle, Leslie Roberts.
August 12: Annual “MarkFest” BBQ at Mark Kaye’s.
July 8: Richard Schmude (Georgia State) “Photoelectric photometry of Jupiter”
June 10: Members Night featuring short presentations by John Hurley, Ken Kingdon, Kevin
Kell, Susan Gagnon, Kim Hay, Leo Enright.
May 13: Laura Gagne “Sirius dating in Egypt” Stephen Gagne “Reading the weather for observers”
May 02: Dr. David Levy “I’m Dreaming Of A Moon Shadow: My Adventures With Eclipses”
*special meeting in Chernoff Hall Auditorium, Queen’s U.
April 8: Peter Jedicke (RASC London) “Astronomy in Hawaii: Research, Outreach, Observing – and Politics”
March 11: Melissa Ruiters (McGill University) “The Globular Cluster Systems of selected Virgo Galaxies:
What do they tell us?”
February 11: Members Night featuring short presentations by Kim Hay, Kevin Kell, and Ken Kingdon.
January 14: Dr. Sun Kwok (University of Calgary) “Cosmic Butterflies”
2004
Leo Enright, who prepared us for the Venus Transit; Ken Kingdom regaled us with his
memories and pictures from the Texas Star party;
introduction to webcam astrophotography by Steve Barnes;
Antonina Vassilieva-Durham (RASC Belleville) presented her memories of her father working on the Great
Tunguska Mystery, June 30, 1908;
John Crossen (President of the Peterborough Astronomical Association) and Founder of the
Buckhorn Observatory gave a talk entitled “the Observatory that went Wonderfully Wrong”;
Kevin Kell treated us to the spectacle of the Venus transit, caught on video;
Science Fair winners showed their stuff. Megan Payne, Grade 7, presented her project
on “Comets and Shooting Stars”. Kristin Smith, Grade 5, and our newest youth member, presented her project on Mars. She constructed a cockroach-sized rover, and tested its ability to move
under varying conditions (freezer, room temperature, and heat lamp). Robin Prest, Grade 6, presented her project entitled “Exploring Mars.” Her “mini rover” was a BIG hit!;
2003
December 12: Stirling Hall D, Queen’s University – Peggy Hurley – “Solstice Celebrations”
November 29: Annual Dinner Meeting: David Turner (St. Mary’s University) “Will Polaris stop Pulsing?”;
November 14: Stirling Hall D, Queen’s University Gregg Wade (Royal Military College) “Magnetic Activity of the Sun
and Stars”
October 10: Stirling Hall D, Queen’s University- Members’ Night: Mark Kaye showed some of his
latest slides; Doug Angle “Tides”; Leo Brodeur showed some of his aurora pictures; Laura
Gagnon “The Antikythera Mechanism”; Mike Earl “Finding Lost Satellites”; Dieter Bruechner
“The Ries Crater”
September 12: Leo Enright “Transits of Mercury and Venus.”
Leo presented the causes and patterns of transits
of the inner planets, along with some fascinating stories of early transit expeditions.
August 8: Annual Bar-B-Que at Mark Kaye’s. Guest Speaker: Geoff Gaherty “Observing under Urban Skies”
July 11: Dr. Richard Jones “Amerigo Vespucci’s Measurements of Longitude.” Richard presented
his research proposing that Amerigo Vespucci made accurate measurements of longitude in the
New World in the early 16th century, much earlier than commonly thought.
June 13: Dr. Rajiv Gupta “Astro Imaging Techniques.” Rajiv showed his techniques for capturing and processing astro images with film, digital scanners, and Registar(r).
Wednesday May 7th 7:30pm Monthly Public Meeting at Stirling Hall Theatre D. (doublebooked.. moved to Chernoff Hall Amphitheatre) David Levy “Shakespeare’s King Lear and the
Comet of 1605: A cosmic union of Science and Art.” David gave and enthusiastic talk on historical
comets and his own early experiences in astronomy. The Astronomy winners from the
Regional Science Fair joined us.
April 11: Dan Falk “The Quest for the Theory of Everything.” Dan presented a historical overview
and latest theories of the unified field theory.
March 14: Doug Angle “Using Star Charts and Starhopping.” Our scheduled speaker was not
able to attend. Doug Angle led an exercise in using the Handbook, planisphere, and star charts
to find a Messier object by star hopping.
February 14: Jan Wisniewski “How to do a Messier Marathon.” Jan showed how he prepares for and
conducts a Messier Marathon, including some of his experiences in his three attempts to see all
110 Messier objects in one night.
January 10: Student presentations on spacecraft were cancelled
due to weather. Doug Angle did an
extended “What’s up tonight?” and Jan
Wisniewski showed some of his fine astronomical
images.
2002
Dec
Nov
Oct
Friday Sept 13th 7:30pm Monthly Public Meeting at Stirling Hall Theatre D. Guest Speaker: Attila Danko (Ottawa Center) “How to Forecast Observing Conditions – the Sky Clock”
Friday July: Fred Barrett
Friday June:
Monday May 13th 7:30pm Monthly Public Meeting Guest Speaker: Dr. David Levy (Kingston Centre among others) “What the RASC-Tucson branch has been up to”
August 16: Annual Markfest with guest speaker, Dr. Larry Widrow “Dark Matter Research: M31”
July 12: Fred Barrett “Observatory Building and Other Projects”
June 14: FLA County Science Fair presenters
Friday May 10th Monthly Public Meeting postponed to Monday May 13th for special guest speaker.
Dr. David Levy “What the RASC-Kingston Centre Tucson Branch has been up to”
Astronomy Week Monday April 15th through to Sunday April 21 Public Observing Session (always weather permitting) Sunset 19:50 edt Two observing sessions daily, solar observing from 12:10-12:50 (Monday-Friday and Sunday) and Stellar observing from: Sunset for 1.5 hours (Mon-Sun)
Saturday April 20th International Astronomy Day displays at the Frontenac Mall on Bath Road.
First Light Ceremonies on the 24″ Venor Telescope to be held at the Murney Tower Waterfront Observing Session that evening.
Friday April 12th 7:30pm Monthly Public Meeting Guest Speaker: Dr. Brian Hunter (Queen’s University) “Observing Earth Satellites”
*Special Date* Friday March 15th 7:30pm Monthly Public Meeting Guest Speaker: Rocky Persaud (University of Toronto) “Mars on Earth”.
CANCELLED Friday March 8th meeting
Friday Feb 8th Monthly Public Meeting 7:30pm Stirling Hall Theatre D; Dr. Tom Dean (RASC Kingston) ““Introduction to Predicting Satellite
Apparitions using Orbital Elements”
Friday Jan 11: Monthly Public Meeting 7:30pm Stirling Hall Theatre D; Guest Speaker: Members Presentations
2001
Friday Dec 14 Monthly Public Meeting. Members Presentations
Friday November 9th Monthly Public Meeting. Dr. Barry Robertson (Queen’s University) Topic: Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. New time 7:30pm and new location (Stirling D)
Friday October 12 9th Annual General Meeting, elections
Friday/Saturday 2001 September 21/22 Fall’N’Stars 2001 Overnight Observing Session at VandeWater Conservation area near Thomasburg about 20 minutes north of Belleville, in association with the Belleville Astronomy Club. Contact Dave Pianosi or Doug Angle for more details. This event is open to the public! Tickets will be available at the gate. $15/person $25/family for the two day event. Speakers: Joe Shields, Doug Angle, Les Dempsey, Hank Bartlett, Kevin Kell
Friday September 14th Guest Speaker: Ken Kingdon (Kingston) Topic: Deep Sky Secrets
Friday August 10th 6:00pm Annual BBQ, slides and Observing Session at the home of Mark Kaye (NO Monthly Public meeting at Queen’s University) Guest Speaker: Dr. Judith Irwin on the new Queen’s Observatory in Ellis Hall
Friday July 6th 8:00pm ONE WEEK EARLIER THAN NORMAL Guest Speaker: Richard Schmude (Kingston Centre) Topic: “My photoelectric magnitude study of Mars over the last 10 years”
Friday June 8th: Guest Speaker: Terry Dickinson (Skynews) Topic: “Mars 2001: Observations and Expectations.” The talk will be a brief review of observations of Mars from Schaparelli to the present. Then a more detailed section on observing Mars around its opposition this June.
Friday May 11th: Guest Speaker: Dr. DJ Saikia (Queen’s University)- active galaxies
Friday April 6th: Guest Speaker: Alan Ward (Moonward Optics) Topic: Mirror Coatings!
Friday March 9th: Members presentations “History of the Kingston Centre, Part 2” by Leo Enright
Friday Feburary 9th : Guest Speaker: Dr. Bob Garrison (RASC National President) on ORIGINS: NASA’s New Program for Nearby [40 parsecs or less!] Stars
Friday January 12th : Members presentations “History of the Kingston Centre” by Leo Enright
2000
Fri Dec 8th Monthly Public Meeting. Guest Speaker: Jan Wisniewski Topic: Homebrew CCD Imaging,
Friday November 10th, Annual General Meeting & Elections. David Orenstien, Chair of the National Public Education Committee about the Education; and members presentations.
Friday October 13th Monthly Public Meeting Guest Speaker: Bill Broderick (Kingston) Topic: The Truth about Astrology
Friday September 8th Monthly Public Meeting Guest Speaker: Dr. JJ Kavelaars (McMaster University) He is currently engaged in studies of the outer solar system (the Kuiper Belt), searching for more moons around the gas giants, and the use of globular star clusters as probes of galaxy formation and dark matter halos.
Friday August 11th – Markfest BBQ. Guest Speaker: Marc Castel (NYAA) on his fully robotic telescope.
Friday July 14th Monthly Public Meeting. Guest Speaker: Kathy Perrett (Queen’s University) on the Queen’s New Observatory at Ellis Hall.
Saturday July 8th – Sky is the Limit Festival – Bagot Street City Park
Friday June 9th Monthly Public Meeting. Guest Speaker: Ray Berg (Kingston Centre) – A Southern Odyssey This accounting of a month long journey through New Zealand, Fiji and Australia describes the author’s observations of the wondrous night skies at these locations, meeting with southern amateurs and a visit to famous Siding Springs Observatory. Comments are presented on southern variable stars observed, including recently publicized Eta Carinae. David Malin’s astrophotos obtained with the Anglo-Australian-Telescope illustrate some of the most impressive deep sky objects in the southern heavens.
Friday May 12th Special Meeting (Monthly Public meeting moved to Stirling Hall for the Queen’s Dept of Astro Guest Speaker: Prof. Bruno Sicardy from Paris University and Observatory.
Friday April 14th Monthly Public Meeting. Guest Speaker: Randy Attwood (President – RASC) Topic: Sending a Spider to the Moon July 20, 1999 was the 30th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing. This talk will take a detailed look at what was involved in the design and construction of the Apollo Lunar Module.
Friday March 10th Roger Hill (Hamilton Centre) – How to build an observatory for $500
Friday February 11th Monthly Public meeting. Guest Speaker: Walter MacDonald (Kingston Centre) “A CCD Imaging Primer: Imaging Made Easy and Fun” This CCD Primer will discuss CCD imaging for the beginner, using a minimum of equipment and effort.
Friday January 14th Dr. Judith Irwin (Kingston): A Tale of GMRT – the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in Pune, India
1999
Friday December 10th Dieter Brueckner (RASC Kingston): A Tale of Two Craters – An Illustrated Tour of the Lonar Meteorite Crater in India and the Ries Basin in Germany
Saturday November 27th Annual Awards Banquet at the Lasalle Travelodge Motel. Peter Ceravolo (RASC Ottawa) “Fly Me To The Stars”.
Friday November 12th : Annual General Meeting & Elections
Friday October 1st Kendra Angle (RASC Kingston): How to Build a Telescope From Scratch
Friday September 10 Denise Sabatini (Unattached) : Archeoastronomy of Ancient Egypt
Friday August 13th Annual BBQ meeting at the home of Mark Kaye
Friday July 9th Kendra Angle (RASC Kingston) Statistics & ATM Mirror Testing
Saturday July 03rd Sky is the Limit Festival at Lemoine Point
Friday June 22 Don Mastrianni (RASC Kingston) NASA & the Apollo program
Saturday May 22 Astronomy Day Frontenac Mall
Friday May 14th Prof. RN Henriksen (Queen’s) Cosmology
Friday April 9th John Percy (RASC Toronto) Astronomy in Ontario’s schools
Friday March 12th Michael Watson (RASC Treasurer) Computer Simulations
Friday February 12th Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Sky Atlases
Friday January 8th Peter Ceravolo (RASC Ottawa) Adventures in Astrophotography: Developing and Using Modern Astrographs
1998
Friday December 11 Cancelled
Saturday December 05 Annual Xmas Banquet & Awards Night
at the Golden Rooster Restaurant
Friday November 13 Annual General Meeting – Elections!
Friday October 02 Tim Seitz (RASC Kingston) Impacts
Friday September 11 Members Night
Friday August 14 Annual BBQ meeting at the home of Mark Kaye
Saturday July 18th Sky is the Limit Festival Grass Creek Park
Friday July 10 Laura Gagne (RASC Kingston) Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Travel
Friday June 12 Peggy Hurley (RASC Kingston) Summer Solstice Celebrations and Traditions
Friday May 08 Telescope workshop
Saturday May 2nd Astronomy Day 98 Cataraqui Town Centre
Friday April 03 Mark Kaye (RASC Kingston) 30 years of astrophotography
Friday March 13 Kendra Angle, Tom Dean & Doug Angle (RASC Kingston)
Friday February 13 Doug George (RASC President)
Friday January 09 CANCELLED due to Ice Storm ’98
1997
Friday December 12th Annual Christmas Dinner at Kelsey’s restaurant
Friday November 14th ATM group and the Fitzgerald telescope
Friday October 10th Annual General Meeting, elections
Friday September 12th Phil Gebhardt (Ontario DX Association) Radio Meteor Detection
Monday August 25th Charleston Lake Star Party
Friday August 15th Annual BBQ meeting at the home of Mark Kaye
Friday July 11th Dr. Jayanne English (Queen’s) Visualization in Astronomy
Friday June 13th General Assembly Preparation
Friday May 09 Cathy Hall (RASC Kingston) Star Hill Inn Expedition
Saturday April 12th Astronomy Day Cataraqui Town Centre
Friday April 11th Members Night
Friday March 14th Steve Manders (RASC Kingston) Convection Currents in the Sun
Friday February 14th Dr. Vic Hughes (Queen’s) My Love of Radio Astronomy
Friday January 10th Walter Smith (RASC Kingston) Manifest Destiny or Stellar Superstition? the origins of astrogoly
1996
Friday December 13th Annual Dinner & Awards (Eastside Marios). Steve Manders (RASC Kingston)Solar Winds
Friday November 8th John Baker (RASC Kingston) Fun with Astronomical Algorythms
Friday October 11th Annual General Meeting & Elections
Friday September 13th
Monday August 19th Charleston Lake Star Party
Friday August 16th
Friday July 12th
Friday June 12th
Friday May 9th
Saturday April 20th Astronomy Day Cataraqui Town Centre
Friday April 12th David Levy (RASC Kingston) Astronomy at the Millenium the latest discoveries and what they mean
Friday March 8th Jim Towgood (RASC Kingston) The India Eclipse
Friday Feb 9th Terry Hicks (RASC Kingston) Gregorian Calendars, Peggy Torney (RASC Kingston)The moon Cycle in the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Friday Jan 12th Christine Kulyk (RASC Kingston) Cinemascopic Astronomy
1995
Friday December 9th Steve Manders (RASC Kingston) Solar Collisions: Their Effect on Earth
Friday November 10th Denise Sabatini (RASC Kingston) Mithraic Origins
Friday October 13th Cathy Hall (RASC Kingston) How to Observe Meteors
Friday September 8th Members Night
Friday August 11th Rob Dick (RASC Ottawa) Skies over Painacota 1994 November Eclipse Trip
Friday July 14th John Gauvreau (RASC Hamilton)
Friday June 9th Peter Ceravolo (RASC Ottawa) Through the Glass Clearly Getting the most of Your Telescope
Friday May 12th Paul Boltwood (RASC Ottawa) The Boltwood Observatory
Saturday May 6th Astronomy Day Cataraqui Town Centre
Friday April 7th Astro Workshop
Friday March 10th Dr. Dave Hanes (Queen’s) Globular Clusters
Friday February 10th Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Meteor Showers
Friday January 13th Dr. Martin Duncan (Queen’s) Origins of Comets
1994
Friday December 9th Dieter Brueckner (RASC Kingston) Modelling Creation An Experimental Perspective
Friday November 11th Dr. Richard Henriksen (Queen’s)
Thursday November 3rd Doug Hube (RASC President) The Lunar Grazing Occultation Expedition of the Edmonton Centre to Fort Nelson BC
Friday October 14th Doug Clapp Virutal Observing the The Sky and SkyPro; Annual General Meeting and Elections
Friday September 9th Members Night
Friday August 12th Walter MacDonald (RASC Kingston) More Tales from a Spinning Astronomer
Friday July 8th Gord Taylor (RASC Kingston) Gravitational Lenses
Friday June 10th Cathy Hall (RASC Ottawa) Astronomy in Available Light Photography
Friday May 13th Rob Dick & Glenn Ledrew (RASC Ottawa) Astronomy and Videography
Saturday April 16th Astronomy Day Kingston Centre Mall
Friday April 8th Astronomy Workshop
Friday March 11th John Gauvreau (RASC Hamilton) Naked Eye Atmospheric Phenomena
Friday February 11th Peggy Torney (RASC Kingston) The Art of Astronomy
Friday January 14th Judith Irwin (Queen’s) Outflows from Spiral Galaxies
1993
Friday December 10th Bill Broderick (RASC Kingston) Big Bang or Big Bust? Annual Christmas Dinner McGinnis Landing
Friday November 12th Peter Broughton (RASC President) What is the RASC? Past Present Future
Friday October 22nd Terence Dickinson From the Big Bang to Planet X
Friday October 8th Annual General Meeting & Elections
Friday October 1st David Levy (RASC Kingston) Year of the Comet: Collision with Jupiter
Friday September 10th Members Night
Sunday August 22nd Charleston Lake Star Party
Friday August 13th Dr. Richard Henriksen (Queen’s) What’s new in Cosmology Part 2
Friday July 9th Dr. Dave Hanes (Queen’s) Observing Globular Clusters with the Hubble Space Telescope
Friday June 11th Denise Sabatini (RASC Kingston) The Interrupted Journey
Monday June 7th Jack Newton (RASC Victoria) Colour CCD Imaging
Saturday May 8th Astronomy Day Frontenac Mall
Friday May 7th Terence Dickenson The Southern Sky from Las Campanas Chile
Friday April 2nd Dr. Richard Henriksen (RASC Queen’s Astronomy) What’s New in Cosmology Part 1
Friday March 12th Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Eclipses in the 20th Century
Friday February 12th Ian Levstein (RASC Kingston) Planets and Parchment, Astronomical Hebraica
Friday January 8th Kevin Kell (RASC Kingston) The Solar System Then Now and Later
1992
Friday December 11th Peggy Torney (RASC Kingston) The Winter Solstice
Friday November 13th Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Solar Eclipses in History
Friday October 9th Stan Hanna (RASC Kingston) Anthropomorphic What? George Greenstein’s Contributions to Contemporary Astronomy.
Saturday September 26th Kingston Centre Mall Display
Saturday September 12th Sky is the Limit Festival Grass Creek Park
Friday September 11th Members Night
Friday August 14th Christine Kulyk (RASC Kingston) Spheres of Influence or when Astronomers Ruled the Earth
Friday July 10th film
Friday June 12th Walter MacDonald (RASC Kingston) Variable Star Observing Astronomy’s Black Sheep
Saturday May 9th Astronomy Day Frontenac Mall
Friday May 8th Gordon Taylor, Mark Kaye, Kevin Kell (RASC Kingston) Astronomy Software
Friday April 10th Denise Sabatini (RASC Kingston) Archeoastronomy
Friday March 6th Dr. Ed Kennedy (RASC Saskatoon) 1835 Moon Hoax
Friday February 14th Kevin Kell (RASC Kingston) Observing Without a Telescope
Friday January 10th John Mirtle (RASC Calgary) Astrophotography
1991
Friday December ? 1991 Ian Levstein (RASC Kingston) Harmony of the Spheres
Friday October 11 Bill Broderick (RASC Kingston) Light Pollution
September 26th Damien Lemay (RASC President) Astronomy, Hobby or Science?
Friday September 13 Members Night
Friday August 16 special meeting at the Charleston Lake Star Party
July 19thDenise Sabatini (RASC Kingston) Archeoastronomy
June 14th Walter McDonald (RASC Kingston) 1984 Solar Eclipse
May ? Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Upcoming Solar Eclipse
May 4th NFCAAA Conference Dr. Martin Duncan (Queen’s) Chaos in the Solar System
April 20 Astronomy Day at the Kingston Shopping Centre
Friday April ? 1991 Ian Levstein (RASC Kingston) The Surface is Fine and Powdery- Apollo Lunar Landing Program
March 26 Alister Ling (RASC Edmonton) Deep Sky Observing
Friday March 8 Peggy Torney (RASC Kingston) A Voyage Through the Universe
Friday February 8 Stan Hanna (RASC Kingston) Richard Preston’s At First Light
Friday January 11 Cancelled due to Blizzard
1990
December Annual General Meeting, elections
November David Levy (RASC Kingston) Comet Discoveries
November Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Holleford Crater
October – John Griese III (RASC Kingston) July 1989 Total Solar Eclipse
September Members Night
August Charleston Lake Star Party with Terry Dickinson
August Bill Broderick (RASC Kingston) Our Cosmic Connections
July Terry Hicks (RASC Kingston) Where will the Sun Set?
June Walter McDonald (RASC Kingston) Questar 12″ Experience
May Members night
April Astronomy Day displays at 2 malls (Cataraqui and Belleville)
April Dr. Philip Baille – Great Men of Astronomy from ancient times to 1700
Friday March Ian Levstein (RASC Kingston) Astronomy in the Sci-Fi Film
February Gerald Moriarty-Schieven (RASC Kingston) Star Formation and ProtoPlanets
January Terry Dickinson (RASC Toronto) Voyager 2 Neptune Flyby
1989
Friday November 10th Lloyd Higgs (RASC President) National Report, Radio Astronomy
Friday October 20 Clyde Tombaugh – The Discovery of Pluto
Friday October 13th Joady Ulrich (RASC Windsor) Astronomy on Canvas
Friday September 8th Neptune video
Friday August 11th Mike Jefferson (RASC Hamilton) Buying a Telescope
August 9th Charleston Lake Star Party
Friday July 14th Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Voyager at Neptune
Friday June 9th Light Pollution Forum
Friday May 12th Walter MacDonald (RASC Kingston) Computers in Astronomy
Friday April 13th Denise Sabatini (RASC Kingston) Mayan Astronomy
Friday March 10th Denise
Sabatini and husband Leo Enright, on a winter trip to the Kennedy Space Centre
Friday February 10th Terence Dickinson, who spoke of a recent visit to Australia and showed
slides taken from the southern hemisphere
January Michael Csuzdi and a presentation of his theory on Repulsion Forces in Planetary Landmasses, leading to continent formation.
1988
December AGM and Holiday Dinner
November Walter MacDonald. His presentations were numerous slides and a very detailed account of the construction of his observatory on the family farm. He provided us with an overall picture of what the amateur can build with a little patience and a lot of hard work.
October John W. Griese’ III, a well known variable star observer and recent new member to our Centre spoke to us in October. He has considerable experience in variable star observing and has done much work in observing cataclysmic stars such as S.S. Cygni.
September Mrs. Hicks, our president, showed us some of Jack Newton’s astro slides brought back from the General Assembly in Victoria, B.C. in July. Mr. Kashijap told us about the origins of the names of the days of the week.
August saw 14 members gather at Fairfield Park west of Kingston for the 2nd annual
R.A.S.C. picnic and we enjoyed a fellowship along with the highlights of the evening – a tour through a turn of the 17th century United Empire Loyalist homestead.
July 2nd we were saddened by the passing of Dr. A. Vibert Douglas, founder and honorary president for 25 years of the RASC Kingston Centre; Terence Dickinson, noted amateur astronomer
and author. He showed us 30 slides of his recent work including Moon/Jupiter conjunctions, Moon shots and constellations.
June Leo Enright spoke to us again in June and showed us some new astronomical publications
and also a set of slides he had purchased from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. He also included some excellent shots of his own of Comet Bradfield, Comet Borelly, and several constellations.
May Dr. Victor Hughes (Queen’s University), who spoke on the topic of star formation, and
showed overheads and slides of his work showing new stars forming within a very short time, in the region of Cepheus “A”
April 23rd was International Astronomy Day and our Centre participated at one of our local malls with a high quality display of telescopes, slides, and photographs, which the general public found interesting.
April Tom Dey of the Rochester Astronomical Society, and a slide show of his own astrophotographs on light pollution.
March Effie Ginsburg on the NetNorth Communication System and a demonstration of an
Astro-Soft program called “Star Find”, which allows the user to find planet-satellite positions, planet data, and has a perpetual calendar included.
February – cancelled due to weather
January Leo Enright showed us his astronomical almanac and a collection of excellent quality astrophotography slides of the sun, moon, galaxies, nebulae and star clusters.
1987
August 1st annual Charleston Lake Star Party
At our regular meetings members reported the usual observations of sunspots, planetary phenomena, fireballs and deep sky objects. Highlights include Leo and Hein reporting their daily recording of sunspot numbers. Hein recorded observing sunspots for over 32 consecutive days. Martyn McConnell reported completing his Messier Objects list. Larry Manuel tested and perfected his handmade three inch doublet refractor. Roy Sutton demonstrated his computer program for satellite identification and location.
Leo Enright : Toronto G.A. Travelogue 1987; Stellafane 1987; Syracuse Summer Seminar 1987; Slides
of Sunspots, Moonshots and the Milky Way.
Ruth Hicks : Toronto G.A. 1987 Report.
Terry Hicks : Gregorian Calendar.
David Stokes : Journey into Darkness – The Eclipse of 1973 off the Coast of Africa.
Hein Van Asperen : Toronto G.A. and National Representative Report.
Donna Whittaker : Astronomy at Queen’s University.
Special Guest Speakers:
Mary Grey : “History of the Dominion Observatory” .
David Levy : “My Observing Program” .
Warren Morrison : “Observing Variable Stars” .
Luc Simard : “Radio Astronomy for Amateurs” . (Quebec Centre)
Roy Sutton : “Satellite and Digital Planetarium” .
Dr. Gunter Wessel : “Evolution of Stars”.
1986
September 12 Peter Ceravolo (Edmonton) Optical Design for Telescopes
August 22 Doug George (Ottawa) Deep Sky Observing Techniques
Murray Anderson : Mars; Slides from Kingston’s International Astronomy Day.
Hein Van Asperen : Optics; Astronomical Position Line; Travelogue Winnipeg G.A.; New Stepper
Motor.
Leo Enright : Champlain’s Astrolabe; New Superfast Fujichrome Film; Travelogue G.A. 1986;
Stellafane 1986; Solar Eclipse Slides; Greenwich Observatory.
Terry and Ruth Hick s : New Zealand and Comet Hailey.
Mark Kaye : Barnard’s Loop Photographs,
Larry Manuel : Optical Glass; Building a Refractor.
Mark Sorensen and Larry Manuel : Steliafane 1986.
David Stokes : Gravity o f Orbits; A clock for all Occasions; Computer Program for Moonrise and
Moonset.
Special Guest Speakers:
Dr. Roy Bishop : “SS 433 – A Stellar Spectacle.”
Peter Ceravolo (Edmonton Centre): “Optical Design and Manufacture for Telescopes.”
Margaret Cohoe : “The Kingston Observatory in 1855.”
Arthur Covington : “Radio Astronomy – 40th Anniversary.”
Doug George (Ottawa Centre): “Deep Sky Observing Techniques.”
Peter Jedicke (London Centre): “Fun with Ellipses” .
Dr. BRK Kashyup : “Indian Astronomy and Astrology.”
Mark Levison and Scott Murray : “Computer Space Simulator.”
1985
January 11:
Murray Anderson, Interplanetary Trajectories and the Rocket Equation; The Rocket Equation –
Part II.
Hein van Asperen, Determination of Sunspot Latitudes; Travelogue of G.A. in Edmonton.
Jocelyn Boiley, Space Ships and Travel.
Leo Enright, Slides of Aurora and Zodiacal Light; Travelogue of G.A. in Edmonton; Stellafane
1985; Satellites of Saturn; The Recording of Observations; The Observer s Handbook 1986.
Robert Heaton, The Neutrino Problem.
Terry D. Hicks, The Astronomical Position-Marine Navigation Part II.
Martyn McConnell, S.E.T.I.
Special Guest Speakers:
Dr. Chau Wai-Yin, Mysteries of the Universe
Peter Jedicke, The Canadian Participation in the American Planned Space Station.
Rolf Meier, Galaxies and Supernovas.
David Levy, The Discovery of Comet Levy-Rudenko 1984t.
Dr. David Hanes, Globular Clusters and Intergalactic Distance Scale.
Peter Broughton, Historical Aspects of Comet Hailey.
1984
November 9: Sue Sorensen (RASC Kingston) Outstanding Women Astronomers
October 26: Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Amateur Planning to Observe Comet Halley
October 12: Mark Sorensen (RASC Kingston) The Shape of the Universe
September 14: Leo Enright (RASC Kingston) Sunspot Photographs
August 10: David Levy (RASC Kingston) ALPO’s Meteor and Comet Sections
June 22: Terry Dickinson: CHFT in Hawaii
May 5th: Astronomy Day Cataraqui Town Centre
April 13: Peter Jedicke (RASC London) “Io”
Dr. Richard Henriksen, Theories of the Early Universe
Leo Enright, Lunar Astrophotography, Crater Beals; Safe Solar Observing and Demonstration on
How to Use the Telescope for New Members; G. A. Report and Travelogue; Observing Sunspots;
Amateur Planning to Observe Comet Hailey; The 1985 Handbook: A Wealth of Information; Conjuctions
of the Last Five Years.
Martyn McConnell, Possibilities of Interstellar Flight, Extraterrestrial Civilizations
Sue Knight Sorensen, Women in Astronomy from 5th Century B.C. to 1872; Report on Canadian
Women Astronomers.
T.D. Hicks, Principles and Uses of the Sextant as Used in Marine Navigation
Mark Sorensen, The Shape of the Universe
David M. Stokes, Probability of Viewing the Northern Lights During Magnetic Midnight
Franklin Loehde, The Edmonton Space Sciences Centre
Dr. Richard Henriksen, Theories of the Early Universe
1983
Leo Enright, Astrophotos, Modes of Astrophotography, Libration of the Moon, Locating Beales
Crater.;
Gerald Schieven, “The Hidden Universe”, Tides and Rainbows.;
Martyn McConnell and Leo Enright, General Assembly and travelogue.;
Tim Gladwin, Scopes and Observatories made from Scrap Material.;
Mark Sorensen, Meteorite Craters of the Canadian Shield.;
Youth Member Hugh Thompson, The Speed of Light.;
Klaus R. Brasch, Astronomical sights in southwest USA with a C-10.;
David Stokes, Slides on Mont Megantic and Video Computer Uses.;
Jocelyn Boily, Radio Waves from Nebula, Galaxies and Quasars.;
Special Guest Speakers:
Dr. John Coleman, Eddington: Astronomer and Theoretical Physicist.;
Peter Jedicke, (London Centre), Infrared Astronomy-IRAS.;
David Levy, (Tucson, Arizona), My Comet Hunting Programme.;
Angelika Hackett, Astronomical and other Marvels of the West.
1982
January 8, 1982 Leo Enright, Observatory Building Project.
January 22 David Stokes, Scandinavian Eclipse of 1954.
February 12 Leo Enright, memorable aurorae.
February 26 Gerald Schievan, stellar formation.
March 12 Leo Enright, Comet Bowell.
April 2 Dr. Vibert Douglas, “Astronomy in the Bible”.
April 16 Dr. Ian Halliday, “Canadian Contributions to the Field of Meteor Research”.
April 30 Terry Hicks, determing latitude.
May 14 Leo Enright, astrophotographs.
May 28 Peter Jedicke, RASC events.
June 11 Members’ Night, recent scouts and campground visits.
June 25 Gerald Schieven, recent observing in Arizona.
July 9 Leo Enright and Andrew Skelly, astroslides.
July 23 David Stokes, Arabic Star Names.
August 13 Leo Enright, public group slide show.
August 27 David Levy, “Observing in the shadow of Kitt Peak”.
September 10 David Levy, “Astronomical Experiences”.
September 24 Leo Enright and Jeff Frett, astroslides.
October 15 Leo Enright, “A Tour of Astrophotography”.
October 29 Leo Enright, “Useful Math Formulae for Amateur Astronomers”.
November 12 Terry Hicks, “Calculating the Position of the Sun”.
1981
February 27 London Centre Exchange during which Peter Jedicke and Tom Flinos came
to give a talk.
April 11 and 12 An incredible Auroral display as a result of a solar flare on April 10th gave
us an opportunity for some fine auroral photography later shown by Leo
Enright at our May meetings.
May 8 Meeting with slide show entitled “Observatories on Kitt Peak” by Leo
Enright.
May 9 Astronomy Day – a mall display and public star night in which many
members took part.
June 28 Canada Day Weekend – General Assembly in Victoria at which four of our
members were present and papers were given by Leo Enright and David
Levy.
August 14 Meeting featuring a talk by David Levy: “Observing and Other Astronomical
Work in Tucson” .
August 30 Kingston Centre hosted the Syracuse Astronomical Society in a tour of the
Holleford Crater, a very old meteorite impact crater.
October 30 Meeting featuring a talk by Gerald Schievan: “ Degenerate Stars” .
November 13 Meeting with a talk by Leo Enright: “Astrophotography: A Basic
Introduction” .
November 27 Annual Banquet and Annual Meeting.
December 11 Meeting featuring a talk by our president, Angelika Hackett: “ Sunspot
Observing” .
1980
February 14th the Centre participated in the Queen’s University Open House. On the 21st, Peter Jedicke and Tom Glinos of the
London Centre gave a talk about their cable television programme and their trip to Tucson.
March, the Centre’s president, Angelika Hackett, visited Tucson and the Kitt Peak
Observatory.
May 29th, Dr. A.V. Douglas, our Honorary President, talked about her
expedition to India to observe the February 16th total solar eclipse.
At the General Assembly
in Halifax, David Levy received the Chant Medal.
October 5th several members made an excursion to the Holleford Meteor Crater, a few miles north of Kingston.
November 13 Mr. Covington talked about Radio Astronomy;
November 27th, Leo was awarded the Membership Certificate.
Leo also gave an informative talk about the vast array of atlases on the market.
December 11th, Andrew Ager talked about NASA.
1979
February solar eclipse on February 26. The eclipse was an unforgettable experience, recorded by David Levy in the form of a one-half hour slide presentation. This excellent show has been seen by many groups in various cities, and won the second prize at the General Assembly in London, Ontario,
last May.
February Dr. John Percy, President of the R.A.S.C., speak
about the evolution of stars,
April Dr. A. Vibert Douglas, our Honorary President, who spoke about the work of Sir Arthur Eddington.
June, after several years of work, our Centre completed its own telescope, a 10-inch
Newtonian reflector, which we name the Dr. A. V. Douglas Telescope,
David Levy had made arrangements to enter the Millhaven Penitentiary,
a maximum security institution, in order to present the eclipse slide show to about twenty
inmates. It was a very well received and successful endeavour.
August 13th David Levy attended a program of the International Astronomical Union’s
Commission 46, at the Universite de Montreal. There he gave an excellent presentation on
teaching astronomy to children. Dr. Douglas and Leo Enright were also present at this 17th
General Assembly of the I.A.U.
January 24 A talk by David Levy on the “Great Comet of 1861”
February 7 A talk by Leo Enright on the astrolabe
February 21 A talk by Dr. A.V. Douglas on the history of the I.A.U.
March 7 A talk by David Levy on the observation of variable stars
March 21 Elections and a planned lunar observation night for the public
April 4 A talk by Leo Enright on the different types o f light in the sky
October 5 A talk by Peter Jedicke o f the London Centre on the colonization of space
1977
Dr. A.H. Batten, our National President, honoured us with a visit and lecture as did
Dr. John R. Percy, 1st Vice-President, and Dr. A.H. Bridle of the Physics Department of
Queen’s University.
1976
Dr. A. H. Bridle of Queen’s University,