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The Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada PROMOTING ASTRONOMY IN CANADA April/avril 2021 Volume/volume 115 Le Journal de la Société royale d’astronomie du Canada Number/numéro 2 [807] Inside this issue: Meteor Outburst in 2022? Scheduling of Light Soul Nebula The Best of Monochrome. Drawings, images in black and white, or narrow-band photography. Semaj Ragde captured this image from the tower of the Bastille during a violent uprising on July 1789, long before cameras were invented. It shows the waxing crescent Moon on an extraordinarily clear night, caught using eyepiece projection. (See inside back cover.) April / avril 2021 | Vol. 115, No. 2 | Whole Number 807 contents / table des matières Research Articles / Articles de recherche 86 CFHT Chronicles: A Big Day for SPIRou by Mary Beth Laychak 60 Will Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Produce a Meteor Outburst in 2022? 89 Astronomical Art & Artifact: Exploring the by Joe Rao History of Colonialism and Astronomy in Canada Feature Articles / Articles de fond by Randall Rosenfeld 96 John Percy’s Universe: The Death of the Sun 72 The Biological Basis for the Canadian by John R. Percy Guideline for Outdoor Lighting 5. Impact of the Scheduling of Light 98 Dish on the Cosmos: In Memoriam Arecibo by Robert Dick by Erik Rosolowsky 76 Pen and Pixel: North America Nebula and the Pelican Nebula / M22 / Flame and Orion / Departments / Départements Orion Nebula by Godfrey Booth / Ron Brecher / Klaus Brasch / 54 President’s Corner Adrian Aberdeen by Robyn Foret 55 News Notes / En manchettes Columns / Rubriques Compiled by Jay Anderson 79 Skyward: A Great Conjunction, the Christmas 100 Astrocryptic and Previous Answers Star and Orion by Curt Nason by David Levy iii Great Images 81 Binary Universe: The New Double Stars Program by James Edgar by Blake Nancarrow 84 Observing: Springtime Observing with Coma Berenices by Chris Beckett Ed Mizzi captured a beautiful region of the Soul Nebula in Cassio- Errata: peia from his backyard observatory in Waterdown, Ontario. He used In the February 2021 issue, the caption to Figure 6 a ZWO AS183 mono camera on a Skywatcher Esprit 100 mm APO, on p. 19 incorrectly reads “Arthur Griffin” — it should ƒ/5.5 mounted on a Skywatcher EQ6-R. He used PHD and SG Pro and have read “Jack Grant.” processed it in the Hubble Palette using PixInsight and Photoshop in Ha, OIII and SII for a total of 30 hours. April / avril 2021 JRASC | Promoting Astronomy in Canada 53 The Journal is a bi-monthly publication of The Royal President’s Corner Astronomical Society of Canada and is devoted to the advancement of astronomy and allied by Robyn Foret, Calgary Centre sciences. It contains articles on Canadian astronomers and current activities of the RASC and its Centres, research and review papers by professional and amateur astronomers, ([email protected]) and articles of a historical, biographical, or educational nature of general interest to the astronomical community. All contributions are welcome, but the editors reserve the right to edit material prior to publication. Research papers are reviewed prior to publication, Looking back at 2020, interest in and professional astronomers with institutional affiliations are asked to pay publication astronomy has blossomed as evidenced by charges of $100 per page. Such charges are waived for RASC members who do not have access to professional funds as well as for solicited articles. Manuscripts and other overwhelming attendance at virtual events submitted material may be in English or French, and should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. and the depletion of inventory at almost all telescope dealers and manufacturers. Editor-in-Chief Contributing Editors Nicole Mortillaro Jay Anderson (News Notes) While texts abound on the topic, it is images of celestial Email: [email protected] Chris Beckett (Observing Tips) Web site: www.rasc.ca Dave Garner (Celestial Review) objects that inspire the newcomer, and technology has placed Telephone: 416-924-7973 Mary Beth Laychak (CFHT Chronicles) David Levy (Skyward) the means to capture data and create imagery in urban and Fax: 416-924-2911 Blair MacDonald (Imager’s Corner) rural settings like never before. Associate Editor, Research Blake Nancarrow (Binary Universe) Douglas Hube Curt Nason (Astrocryptic) As with any science, astroimaging begins with knowledge and Email: [email protected] John R. Percy (John Percy’s Universe) Randall Rosenfeld (Art & Artifact) is honed with experimentation and peer review. The RASC Associate Editor, General Eric Rosolowsky (Dish on the Cosmos) offers programming that addresses these nicely. Starting with Michael Attas Leslie J. Sage (Second Light) Email: [email protected] David Turner (Reviews) knowledge, www.youtube.com/c/RASCANADA/videos is Assistant Editors Proofreaders a great place to start, specifically in The Insider Guide to the Michael Allen Michael Attas Galaxy series of tutorial videos for Introductory and Interme- Dave Chapman Margaret Brons diate Astrophotography. Other guides on instruments, imaging Ralph Chou Angelika Hackett Ralph Croning Michelle Johns tools, and other resources abound. Dave Garner Barry Jowett Alida MacLeod Patrick Kelly Once you have enough information to jump in, the RASC Design/Production Production Manager Michael Gatto, Grant Tomchuk Astroimaging Certificate Program is where to go next. Start James Edgar Email: [email protected], here https://rascastroimaging.zenfolio.com/ to see the kind Email: [email protected] [email protected] of images that are expected to earn certificates. It’s advisable Advertising Printing to set realistic goals for yourself and to use our imaging Adela Zyfi Cansel Email: [email protected] www.cansel.ca community to help you along the way. The Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is published at an annual While there is no required order for the three available certifi- subscription rate of $125 (plus Canadian tax), $140 USD for US subscriptions, $150 USD for International subscriptions. Membership, which includes the publications (for personal cates, those are described here www.rasc.ca/astro-imaging- use), is open to anyone interested in astronomy. Applications for subscriptions to the certificate. Astroimager – Wide Field is a great place to start as Journal or membership in the RASC and information on how to acquire back issues of the Journal can be obtained from: it introduces you to many types of astronomical imaging. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada The Astroimager – Solar System will hone your skills of 203 – 4920 Dundas St W Toronto ON M9A 1B7, Canada tracking, focusing, stacking, and image processing. You will need to master all of these to reach the required level of detail Email: [email protected] Web site: www.rasc.ca and quality demanded by this Certificate. Telephone: 416-924-7973 Fax: 416-924-2911 The Astroimager – Deep Sky, like the Solar System Certifi- Canadian Publications Mail Registration No. 09818 cate, also depends on your ability to master tracking, focusing, Canada Post: Send address changes to 203 – 4920 Dundas St W, Toronto ON M9A 1B7 stacking, and image processing. Canada Post Publication Agreement No. 40069313 While submissions for these certificates are accepted from © 2021 The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. All rights reserved. ISSN 0035-872X RASC members only, the membership dues pale in compar- ison to your astroimaging set-up, and the peer review offered by the dedicated and experienced Astroimaging Committee members is invaluable. Some will achieve the certificate on Cert no. SW-COC-005174 their first submission, but others will receive great critique and tips on what needs tweaking. 54 JRASC | Promoting Astronomy in Canada April / avril 2021 One more resource worth mentioning on this topic is the A final word on what may be the greatest astroimager ever: RASC’s Robotic Telescope. While capturing your data The Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble has brought new insights and processing it with your own hands is required for the and stunning imagery to scientists and the public at large aforementioned certificates, the RASC has made available in unprecedented quality and quantity. To learn more about image data from its Robotic Telescope. Image sets from Hubble, be sure to check out the official memoirs of the our 16-inch telescope in the Sierra Nevada mountains are space telescope in the new book, Not Yet Imagined: A Study available for purchase. Visible-light targets have 8 hours of Hubble Space Telescope Operations by our own Past of exposure and narrowband targets have 20 hours of President, Dr. Chris Gainor, available as a free download exposure. More info is offered here: http://secure.rasc.ca/ at www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/not-yet-imagined.html. V StoreCat?Category=RT%20DATA Congratulations, Chris. News Notes / En manchette Study participants in all three communities showed the same sleep oscillations as the Moon progressed through its 29.5-day Compiled by Jay Anderson cycle. Depending on the community, the total amount of sleep varied across the lunar cycle by an average of 46 to 58 minutes, No werewolves, but the full Moon still disturbs sleep and bedtimes see-sawed by around 30 minutes. For all three communities, on average, people had the latest bedtimes and For centuries, humans have blamed the Moon for our moods, the shortest amount of sleep in the nights three to five days accidents, and even natural disasters. But new research leading up to a full Moon. indicates that our planet’s celestial companion impacts something else entirely—our sleep. When they discovered this pattern among the Toba-Qom participants, the team analyzed sleep-monitor data from 464 In a paper published January 27 in Science Advances, scientists Seattle-area college students that had been collected for a at the University of Washington (UW), the National Univer- separate study. They found the same oscillations. sity of Quilmes in Argentina, and Yale University report that sleep cycles in people oscillate during the 29.5–day lunar cycle.