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GT—Jrascaugust 2018 WEB.Indd The Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada PROMOTING ASTRONOMY IN CANADA August/août 2018 Volume/volume 112 Le Journal de la Société royale d’astronomie du Canada Number/numéro 4 [791] Inside this issue: Fran Bagenal’s Visit Viewing the Moon Early Theoretical Research at the D.O.A. RASC Stamps and Coin Trifi d & Lagoon The Best of Monochrome. Drawings, images in black and white, or narrow-band photography. Michael Gatto spent some time with the Moon on 2018 June 22 to work on his RASC “Observe the Moon” program, with a goal of eventually sketching all the mountains and craters in the list. Here are 2 entries, crater Longomontanus (#61 on the list, top) and crater Wilhelm (#88 on the list, bottom right). This sketch was completed at the eyepiece of a Dob-mounted 8” ƒ7.5 Newtonian between 10 and 11 p.m., with a 13-mm Baader Hyperion eyepiece, under only average seeing conditions. Scanned and adjusted in Photoshop. August / août 2018 | Vol. 112, No. 4 | Whole Number 791 contents / table des matières Feature Articles / Articles de fond 172 Imager’s Corner: Noise Reduction and Masks by Blair MacDonald 149 Fran Bagenal’s Visit by James Edgar 174 Dish on the Cosmos: Mysterious Magnetism by Erik Rosolowsky 151 Viewing the Moon Across Time: RASC Sesquicentennial Observing Program 177 John Percy’s Universe: What Does a by Randall Rosenfeld Giant Star Look Like? by John R. Percy 157 Early Theoretical and Digital Research at 179 Binary Universe: A New Weather the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Forecasting Resource by Don Morton by Blake Nancarrow 162 Pen and Pixel: M108 and the Owl / The Southern Cross Departments / Départements and the Coal Sack / Jellyfi sh Nebula / the Sun 142 President’s Corner by Blair MacDonald / Michael Watson / Dan Meek / by Colin Haig Paul Campbell 143 News Notes / En manchettes Columns / Rubriques Compiled by Jay Anderson 164 FHT Chronicles: SPIRou Comes to Life 176 The RASC Stamps and Coin by Mary Beth Laychak 184 Astrocryptic and February Answers 167 Skyward: An Observing Man for all Seasons by Curt Nason and Sharing the Sky by David Levy 184 It’s Not All Sirius by Ted Dunphy 170 Observing Tips: Observing Tips—Surviving Aperture Fever iii Great Images by Bill Weir by James Edgar Klaus Brasch obtained this image of the M8 and M20 Milky Way region from his favourite local ultra-dark site, Wupatki National Monument. This is a stack of 3 x 1-, 2-, and 3-minute exposures through his now antique (55-years-old) Olympus Zuiko 200-mm ƒ/4 telephoto lens with his modifi ed Canon 6D and Astronomik CLS insert fi lter, all mounted on an iOptron Sky-Tracker. August / août 2018 JRASC | Promoting Astronomy in Canada 141 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 sciences. Colin A. Haig, M.Sc. It contains articles on Canadian astronomers and current activities of the RASC and its ([email protected]) Centres, research and review papers by professional and amateur astronomers, 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, and professional Can you predict our Society’s next astronomers with institutional affi liations are asked to pay publication charges of $100 per 150 years? 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 submitted material may be Our Society predates the invention of so many things that in English or French, and should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. have disrupted our lives and have brought immeasurable Editor-in-Chief Contributing Editors bene ts and challenges. A short list of innovations since 1868 Nicole Mortillaro Jay Anderson (News Notes) would include Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, Nicolaus Email: [email protected] David M.F. Chapman (Observing Tips) Web site: www.rasc.ca Ted Dunphy (It’s Not All Sirius) Otto’s 4-stroke internal combustion engine, George Eastman’s Telephone: 416-924-7973 Mary Beth Laychak (CFHT Chronicles) photographic lm, the Alouette satellite, the Dominion Fax: 416-924-2911 David Levy (Skyward) Blair MacDonald (Imager’s Corner) Astrophysical Observatory, David Dunlap Observatory, and Associate Editor, Research Blake Nancarrow (Binary Universe) Douglas Hube many more. Today, the world is more connected, more mobile, Curt Nason (Astrocryptic) Email: [email protected] John R. Percy (John Percy’s Universe) and more populated than ever before. Associate Editor, General Randall Rosenfeld (Art & Artifact) Michael Attas Eric Rosolowsky (Dish on the Cosmos) Astronomy is no longer the lone scientist peeking through Email: [email protected] Leslie J. Sage (Second Light) a long refractor or the amateur grinding a mirror in the David Turner (Reviews) Assistant Editors basement. We have smartphones that bring us together, Michael Allen Proofreaders Martin Beech Ossama El Badawy electric and hybrid cars that allow easy personal transport, Dave Chapman Margaret Brons CMOS and CCD cameras that give us stunning images in Ralph Chou Angelika Hackett Ralph Croning Kim Leitch seconds, and robotic telescopes that can gather data while we Dave Garner Design/Production sleep comfortably in our memory-foam beds. Science is now Patrick Kelly Michael Gatto, Grant Tomchuk an international, collaborative a air, with Canada’s partici- Production Manager Email: [email protected], James Edgar [email protected] pation in the irty Metre Telescope (TMT), the Square Email: [email protected] Advertising Kilometre Array, and the International Space Station. As I Julia Neeser write this, we’re all anxiously hoping for a Martian dust storm Email: [email protected] to pass, so that the Curiosity rover can recharge its batteries Printing Cansel and carry on exploring, almost 15 years after its 90-day initial www.cansel.ca mission (and warranty?) was up. Canada’s contribution was the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) that is an essential part of this intrepid explorer. The Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is published at an annual subscription rate of $93.45 (including tax) by The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Membership, which includes the publications (for personal use), is open to anyone interested e next 150 years will hopefully bring us stunning discov- in astronomy. Applications for subscriptions to the Journal or membership in the RASC and eries from the TMT, the James Webb Space Telescope, and a information on how to acquire back issues of the Journal can be obtained from: new generation of radio astronomy powered by “Big Data,” The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada the vast computing resources and analytics for processing 203 – 4920 Dundas St W Toronto ON M9A 1B7, Canada mind-bogglingly large data set. We will likely see new, more sensitive detectors, new computing capabilities, and new Email: nationaloffi [email protected] Web site: www.rasc.ca ways of collaborating. e successful New Horizons probe Telephone: 416-924-7973 will visit Ultima ule 2014 MU69 in the Kuiper belt and Fax: 416-924-2911 unlock further mysteries as it did during its visit to (dwarf-) Canadian Publications Mail Registration No. 09818 planet Pluto. Technology will continue to get cheaper and Canada Post: Send address changes to 203 – 4920 Dundas St W, Toronto ON M9A 1B7 Canada Post Publication Agreement No. 40069313 We acknowledge the fi nancial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. © 2018 The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. All rights reserved. ISSN 0035-872X Cert no. SW-COC-005174 142 JRASC | Promoting Astronomy in Canada August / août 2018 more capable, and clever people will continue to innovate. I and ensure there are exciting, fun, and compelling activi- remain optimistic about the future of amateur and professional ties for people of all ages. Our greatest value is in the sharing astronomy in Canada. of knowledge, the mentoring, coaching, and encouragement that we provide one another. We have great in uence, and our As my term as President wraps up at the end of the rst 150 e orts in the media, and through publishing, reach more people years, I look back at the accomplishments we’ve made together, than we know. Let’s use our talent and our reach with care. and look forward with anticipation to the future. Visits to a handful of Centres, various university events, and the recent I’m proud to see we’ve made steps to improve our culture, to grand re-opening of the David Dunlap Observatory park begin fundraising, and to start the Robotic Telescope project helped me realize we are making great strides. More women that many of you asked for. You can learn a bit more at are pursuing science degrees, more young people are looking www.rasc.ca/telescope. up, and a greater focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is starting to bear fruit. I am ank you for this opportunity to serve you, and I hope to pleased to say there is more family engagement at the Centre continue to move astronomy in Canada along in the coming level, and the membership is becoming more representative of years. Please join a committee or a local e ort to help set the the Canadian population, with greater diversity. stage for the next 150 years. To prepare for the next 150 years, we will need to rejuvenate is may be my last column, but not the last time I will say: ✶ our programs, re-commit to the ght to save the night skies, “At the RASC, our business is looking up!” News Notes / En Manchette than 100 giant planets that potentially host moons capable of supporting life.
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