• Cart$0
  • Log In
  • Cart
  • Checkout

  • Home
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Events
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Blog

  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Join our Facebook Group
  • RSS

Astronomy Day

this entry has 0 Comments/ in Uncategorized / by Quarky Bruce
May 22, 2012

 Astronomy Day celebrations at the University of Victoria were at the Bob Wright Centre, home of the biggest university telescope in Canada. On hand were volunteers from RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada), the UVic Astronomy Department, and the HIA (Herzburg Institute of Astrophysics). Despite the cloudy conditions, there were over 700 visitors to the event. The solar telescopes were set up for public use, but viewing conditions were very overcast for most of the day. There was a lot of interest in the other activities, with the Ask an Astronomer booth and numerous displays.  There were also astronomy lectures every hour on the hour, making use of the lecture hall that RASC uses for its monthly meetings in the Bob Wright Centre. 

As a member of RASC, I was there showing the public different types of telescopes that we use as amateur astronomers. I had my Celestron NexStar 8SE 203.2mm (8”) Schmidt Cassegrain telescope on a computerized alt-azimuth mount.  There was also reflector telescope on a dobsonian mount and a Celestron refractor on an equatorial mount.  In the display next to me, there was a pair of amateur astronomers showing techniques for grinding your own telescope lenses. One of them was making his first hand ground lens. There was a raffle draw for a 10” reflector telescope on a dobsonian mount that I sadly did not win, but the person who did got themselves a very nice telescope for a bargain! The proceeds from the raffle ticket sales will be used to buy a solar telescope that will be used for RASC’s public outreach programs. There were a lot of families at Astronomy Day and it was a rewarding experience to spend the day talking to people who shared an interest in viewing the night sky.

The clouds spoiled what would have been a night of viewing the night sky through our telescopes, but we had a special guest speaker to more than make up for the bad weather. Bob MacDonald, from CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks, gave a presentation to a packed auditorium. His talk, titled “Vacations in Space:  the Hottest Holiday Spots in our Solar System”, was well received.

Weather aside, it was a very successful public outreach event to bring an awareness of astronomy to the public. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and other groups will be building on the successes of Astronomy Day, getting ready for upcoming public viewing events for the Solar Eclipse (May 20th) and the Transit of Venus (June 5th).

← Convection Demonstration (previous entry)
(next entry) Transit of Venus 2012 →
Comments

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Search the Blog

Blog Categories

  • Project Of The Month
  • Uncategorized
Popular
  • An Astronomer in World War IINovember 10, 2016, 1:23 pm
  • Super SlidesMarch 29, 2012, 9:32 pm
  • Modular Polyhedra SculptureApril 4, 2012, 9:53 am
  • Eco-Friendly Shipping and PackagingApril 12, 2012, 8:09 pm
Recent
  • An Astronomer in World War IINovember 10, 2016, 1:23 pm
  • 2016 Summer Science Reading ListJuly 7, 2016, 2:23 pm
  • Lunar Eclipse from 2011, taken through a 203mm (8") telescope.Lunar Eclipse! Sunday, Sept. 27th, 2015September 26, 2015, 5:35 pm
  • Summer Reading ListJuly 8, 2014, 2:34 am
Comments
Tags
about Celestron microscope new stuff paper craft polyhedra prepared slide pack projects welcome

Product Categories

  • Anatomical Models
  • Digital & Analog Scales
  • Electronics
  • Interactive Science Kits
  • Lab Equipment
  • Magnifiers
  • Microscopes
  • Microscopy Accessories
  • Sports Optics
  • Sports Optics Accessories
  • Telescopes
  • Telescope Accessories
  • Toys & Games

Recent Products

  • Landscout 12-36X60mm SpotScope Celestron 52322 LandScout 12-36x60mm Spotting Scope with Table-top Tripod $119.95
  • Ultima Binocular 8X42 Celestron 72252 Ultima 8×42 Porro Binocular $155.95
  • Ultima Edge 15mm Eyepiece Celestron 93541 Ultima Edge15mm Flat Field Eyepiece – 1.25″ $165.95
  • AZ5 SkyWatcher S20110 AZ5 Mount With Steel Tripod (Sky-Watcher) $431.95
  • Bric Structures Elenco SCBric1 Bric Structures (Snap Circuits) $63.95
  • Music Machine Elenco SMRT1032 Smartivity Music Machine (mechanical xylophone) $65.95
  • Star Adventurer Tripod Extension SkyWatcher S20565 Star Adventurer Tripod Extension $55.95
  • Star Adventurer Tripod SkyWatcher S20555 Star Adventurer Tripod $125.95

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @QuarkyScience

Pages

  • About Us
  • Beanstream Testimonial
  • Blog
  • Cart
  • Change Password
  • Checkout
  • Checkout → Pay
  • Contact Us
  • e-Commerce Usage Documentation
  • Edit My Address
  • Events
  • Lost Password
  • My Account
  • Order Received
  • Projects
  • Shop
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Track your order
  • Tutorials
  • View Order
  • Welcome to Quarky Science

Useful Links

  • Quarky Science on Facebook
  • Quarky Science on Twitter
  • Terms & Conditions
© Copyright - Quarky Science -  |  Payment Gateway powered by Beanstream
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Join our Facebook Group
  • Subscribe to our RSS Feed