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02-Mar:Apr 2021 LR Star Gazer News Astronomy News for Bluewater Stargazers Vol 15 No.2 Mar/Apr 2021 Mar/Apr 2021 SGN Contents p 1: BAS will have exec positions available in 2021 p 2: Two former club members remembered Veteran astro-imager Alan Dyer captured the Jupiter-Saturn p 3: “Heavens blaze forth the deaths of princes" Conjunction of Dec, 2020 on Dec 20, the night before (image p 4: Moon water may be from Earth above) and again on the night after Dec 22. A snowstorm p 5: New Solar Halo type discovered prevented viewing on Dec 21! p 6: Most Distant Solar System object is “Far far out" p 7: Why is there something and not nothing? The image above was taken Dec 20 when the two planets were p 8: Perseverance lands on Mars 8’ 23” or so apart and the brighter planet Jupiter was almost p 9: Mars images exactly below Saturn. Inset shows an enlarged view. p 10: Sunspot cycle 25 has started p 11: Quetican FoV: Beauty and Wonder in Nature -part 2 On Dec 22, Alan had clear skies again and time to make a p 12: Tom Thomson’s Northern Lights video which he posted on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/ p 13: Constellations: Taurus and Auriga 494479858 -it is well worth a look. He presents a telescopic p 14: Indigenous Constellation: Wintermaker view with Jupiter 10 arc-minutes from Saturn. The video is p 15: March & April Sky and Planet Sights labelled and he does a commentary that is very informative. p 16: New ZWO planetary cam images After seeing his video you can say that you have seen the p 17: Miscellaneous Page: Stuff for Sale Great Conjunction of 2021! BAS needs YOU to consider an exec position Please consider helping out your club by making yourself This month is election time for BAS exec positions. Any available for executive duties. Once we start back up again BAS member can nominate themselves for one of the four after the Covid-19 issue is behind us, perhaps by summer elected positions: president, vice-president, secretary and or fall of 2021, having additional expertise on exec would treasurer. Positions like public outreach, membership chair, take some of the stress off the long-serving members who Member-at-Large, etc., are appointments made by the have given their time and experience to this organization current exec as need arises and given willing volunteers. thus far. The duties associated with all BAS positions are outlined in our By-Laws available on our website. Note that, as in many So kindly give it some thought. New executive members are other organizations like ours, duties are shared among the always appreciated by those who will continue to serve, and group on a co-operative basis, which has worked well for us are a welcome source of new ideas, approaches and in the past. Members have received an email explaining the expertise as BAS continues into the post-Covid-19 era. nomination/voting procedure already. Disclaimer: SGN reports on the activities of the Bluewater BAS Executive 2020-2021 Astronomical Society (formerly Bruce County Astronomical President (interim): vacant Society) but any opinions presented herein are not necessarily V-President (interim): vacant endorsed by BAS. For up-to-date details relating to BAS Secretary: Lorraine Rodgers [email protected] Treasurer: Cheryl Dawson [email protected] events see the BAS website at www.bluewaterastronomy.com. Member-at-Large: Zoë Kessler [email protected] SGN is produced and edited by John Hlynialuk and I am solely Membership: Marian Ratcliffe [email protected] responsible for its content. I maintain a web presence at www.johns- Public Outreach: John Hlynialuk [email protected] astronomy.com. Your original articles, images, opinions, comments, observing Past Pres: John Hlynialuk [email protected] reports, etc., are welcome at SGN. I reserve the right to edit for brevity or clarity. Errors or omissions are entirely mine. I will not publish your emails or other materials without your specific permission. No part of this publication shall be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the editor’s consent. However, the Sky Events and Constellation pages are free to copy for non-commercial use. Feel free to forward this issue in its entirety to friends. You are welcome to email comments and/or submissions to [email protected] S G N BAS club members remembered Mar/Apr 2021 pg 2 Keith Oswald Keith Oswald, of West Grey, passed away suddenly in London, Ont. on Thursday, December 24, 2020. He was 57. Born in Sunderland, England on December 14, 1963 to Bryan and Irene (nee Smith) Oswald. Survived by loving spouse Marian Ratcliffe of West Grey, 32 years of happy marriage and 38 years as best friends. Dear son of Bryan and Irene Oswald of Kanata, Ontario. Dear brother of Peter (Teresa) Oswald of Nepean and their children Rebecca and Jacob. Son-in-law of John Ratcliffe of Scarborough. Fondly remembered by his brothers-in-law Doug Ratcliffe of Kitchener, Alan (Deb DaCosta) Ratcliffe of Vanessa, Norman (Tracey) Ratcliffe of Keswick and their families. Predeceased by his mother-in-law Roberta Ratcliffe. He will be dearly missed by his friends and by coworkers at Chapman's Ice Cream. We would like to thank the Chapman's family for all the support they offered Keith during his illness. Keith enjoyed living out in the country with the dark skies, where he could pursue his love of amateur astronomy. He was a member of the Bluewater Astronomical Society. Keith Oswald was a long time member of BAS and always ready to lend a hand with his telescope on star-gazing To honour his wishes, cremation has taken place. There will be nights. He and Marian were consistent participants in our a private family Celebration of Life at a later date when it is safe events and enjoyed sharing the night sky. Both were eager to do so. to conserve the dark night sky status in the West Grey area and Keith supported Marian’s work with the local In recognition of the excellent care and services provided to municipal dark sky committee. Keith during his illness memorial donations to the London Health Sciences Foundation - Cancer Program would be BAS has made a contribution to the London Health appreciated as expressions of sympathy. Sciences Foundation in Keith’s Memory. -ed More Remembrances of Robert Williamson After the last issue of SGN was published, I received a tribute to Robert Williamson from his daughter, Janet (image left with Robert). She also sent along a number of photos and two are included here. As mentioned in the last last issue, Robert donated his 12 inch Dobsonian (image right) to BAS and it is in use as a club scope presently. As indicated last time, Robert was an avid tinkerer and made interesting adjustments to the scope, creating camera holders, balancing systems, and a custom light shroud among other items. That telescope is referred to as “Inspector Gadget” in tribute to Robert. He also had an 8-inch Celestron SCT and he had several homemade items on it as well. These included a sunfinder, laser pointer holder, and a custom battery box. It was clear that Robert greatly enjoyed adding these devices to his scopes to make them more useable. S G N Two club members remembered Mar/Apr 2021 pg 3 A Tribute to my Dad, Robert by Janet Williamson For decades Dad lived in Toronto and was an active member My father, Robert James Williamson, was born July 3, 1923 of the Astronomical Society and after retirement, he moved to and died November 10, 2020. Dad was the fifth child of Port Elgin and elated, he continued his commitment to twelve and at an early age was inspired by his musical attending and supporting the Astronomical Society there. He parents to play the piano by ear. His gift for piano extended honoured the members of the society, helped to erect the new into his 97th year. building and spoke highly of many who shared a common bond in the love for astronomy, the stars and universe. Dad worked as an accountant all his life, immigrated from The astronomical society was his second family and it also Jamaica to Canada with a wife and four children when he was included his brother-in-law who shared his passion. I age thirty-five. In Canada three more were born for a family of remember when he bought his big telescope that he wheeled seven children. Unfortunately, his marriage ended, and within out on a dolly, and all the gadgets he created to enhance the ten years his family moved away to British Columbia. I, his telescope's performance, so that he could take pictures of third child and first daughter, stayed in Ontario and remained the transit of Venus. This pleased him, indeed. very close to my Dad all my life. He was a vital part of his grandchildren's lives, participating in all our Celebrations, Astronomy was Dad's deepest passion, and his telescope Christmas, Easter, birthdays, Holidays and his was always in ready mode, situated at a window with the best grandchildren's Graduations. night sky view. When Dad moved to Peterborough at age 90 and then to live with me at age 93 until his entry into a Dad was by my side comforting me when his first grandchild, nursing home at age 96, his use of the telescope diminished, my daughter, passed away as a young adult. His quiet, but his love and conversation about the stars never waned.
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