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Good afternoon everyone, I was invited by the Youtube channel "The Astro Imaging Channel" to give a talk next Sunday evening (March 30th). I plan to re-present my RASC talk from November on "Super Sizing Your Solar Setup", with a new section added on the end all about the Spectroheliograph. If you are interested in participating in the livestream you can use the link below. The livestream starts at 9:30pm EDT. After that the same link can be used to watch the broadcast back whenever you like. https://youtube.com/live/Iew5n9Vq7SI?feature=share Cheers, Jim T.

Good afternoon everyone, Just a quick update on how the preparations are going for this year's event. We have approval from the property owner RioCan and Chapters book store to use their parking lot for the event. I have had a number of people already approach me saying they want to volunteer and plan to bring a telescope setup to share views with the public, which is really great - thank you everyone! One area where we are lacking support is volunteers to tend the visitor table. We need a couple people to greet the public as they arrive, answer questions, and hand out our free promotional materials (RASC star finders, old magazines, etc.). All the materials required will be provided (tables, gazebo, chairs, handouts), I just need people to run the station. If this sounds like something you would be interested in doing, even if only for part of the day, please contact me at this email address: top-jimmy@... . Note that this is an excellent way for your lazy teenagers to earn volunteer hours - wink wink. Cheers, Jim Thompson Astronomy Day co-ordinator

Hello all, I will be sending the annual card and gift card to Charlene Bootland, in appreciation for allowing amateur astronomers to continue using the private property (linked below) in Stewartville, located about one hour west of Ottawa. As you may be aware, Tom Bootland has sadly passed away last year. Charlene and her children are now looking after the property. If anyone would like to contribute to the gift card, please let me know by emailing me at meteorshowersca at yahoo dot ca I am happy to accept an eTransfer or cash at the next gabfest. And yes, I plan to be able to make it : ) Please note that the observing site is not yet available due to the Spring thaw. I will keep the group posted after I receive an update from Charlene. Clear skies! - Pierre

OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, March 20, 2025 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-04:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Reminder: OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, March 20, 2025 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-04:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Hello all, This is the first of many messages regarding Astronomy Day 2025... Date: Saturday, May 3rd Time: 10am to 10pm Place: Chapters Silver City parking lot, 2401 City Park Drive, Ottawa Come join us again this year for live views through an assortment of telescopes. During the day we will provide safe viewing of the Sun, and at night Jupiter, Mars, and the Moon. If you are interested in volunteering for the event, please contact me. Cheers, Jim Thompson top hyphen jimmy at rogers dot com

Hello all, FYI, I will be tag-teaming a talk on infrared astronomy with Paul Klauninger at this month's RASC meeting. It is free to attend, you don't need to be a RASC member to participate. You can attend in person at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, or you can pre-register to watch from home via ZOOM using the link below. Meeting starts at 7:30pm. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7017393174264/WN_g71qo7y3TkiFKvDc6vbXKQ Cheers, Jim T.

OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, February 20, 2025 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Reminder: OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, February 20, 2025 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Late last year some of you may have heard that the company that owns the Meade, Coronado and Orion brands went bankrupt. All their existing new stock was supposed to be auctioned off last month, but that auction was suddenly cancelled. Now we know why: High Point Scientific, an astronomy equipment retailer in the U.S., purchased all of the stock in one lump purchase. They are putting all that stock up for sale now at a large discount starting tomorrow, February 12th. For more information follow the link below. https://www.highpointscientific.com/meade-coronado-orion-sale Cheers, Jim Thompson

OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, January 16, 2025 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Reminder: OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, January 16, 2025 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, December 19, 2024 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Reminder: OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, December 19, 2024 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Hello everyone! A few people have been asking me if it's worth braving the cold tonight to attempt observing the Geminids meteor shower. Tonight is the peak, and the sky is expected to be clear around the Ottawa region... although it'll be cold (down to around -15C to -18 plus windchill). The Geminids have long been my favourite annual meteor shower. It is consistently active every year, produces a lot of bright, colourful meteors that move gracefully through the winter constellations, and under the best observing circumstances, they can reach up to 100 or more meteors per hour! The Geminids are also visible all night. For the Ottawa region, the radiant is low at 6 pm (local time), so only low rates can be expected. By 10 p.m., the radiant near the bright star Castor is 40 degrees high, and already plenty of Geminids can be seen. The radiant reaches its highest point in the sky at 2 am, and Geminids will appear to drop down in all parts of the sky. Unfortunately, this year's Geminids will be severely hampered by a nearly Full Moon. Only the brighter Geminids will be visible. On the plus side, the weather forecast for tonight looks excellent (but cold). During the 2022 Geminids, a 74% gibbous moon was up for most of the night and reduced significantly the sky darkness during the optimal viewing times (that is when the radiant is high up near the peak of the shower). Despite the Moon's presence, I went to a dark sky site east of Ottawa. I was fortunate to have good sky transparency — free of any clouds, humidity or haze. I could see stars as faint as 5.4 (normally can see up to 6.2 from the same location on moonless nights). It was also quite cold with the wind. Was it worth it? OH YES! During the best observing hours, I had visual rates of 48, 52 and 62 Geminids per hour! Sometimes, I would see 2 or 3 meteors within a few seconds, and a few minutes of inactivity. But I was impressed at seeing so many meteors with a bright moon in the sky. In 4.5 hours of actual viewing time, from midnight onwards, I counted 287 meteors — exceeding my expectations! I'm not so sure that I would expect to see as many meteors tonight as the Moon will be even brighter. Tonight, the Moon will no doubt reduce significantly the display and wash out most Geminids. The fainter meteors will be invisible. In my opinion, a good proportion of Geminids are bright enough to punch through the moonlight! It really helps to have a good open view of the sky, away from trees, buildings or other obstructions. Rural sites will also have an advantage by having less artificial light pollution — therefore, less total light pollution to contend with. According to the IMO, the nominal peak time of the 2024 Geminids is predicted at 01h UT (which translate to around 8 p.m. EST) on the evening of December 13 (tonight!). The peak is quite broad, and can last several hours, followed by a sharp drop in rates. During the early evening, the radiant will be a little low, and the Moon will be very high and hard to avoid. It might be a better strategy to wait until 10 or 11pm, for the radiant to be much higher. Facing the north or east and looking a little lower will keep some of the moon's glare behind you. If you look towards the north around 11pm, any Geminids will appear to drop down towards the horizon. Geminids that appear further away from the radiant also tend to have longer paths. These can be easier to spot than the short Geminids near the radiant. One more strategy is to skip the first half of the night, and get up to watch during the last hour or two before dawn (say 4 a.m. onwards). The moon will still be up but much lower over the western horizon. For instance, the Moon will be only 17 degrees above the western horizon at 5 a.m. It will then be easier to avoid its glare. There is also a possibility that the Geminids could switch to brighter meteors and fireballs late tonight as the Earth starts to exit the stream (an effect known as "mass sorting"). In a nutshell, the Geminids are considered to be the best annual shower, along the Perseids and sometimes the Quadr

Good day everyone! Back in Spring, we held our annual International Astronomy Day event in the parking lot of Chapters in east end Ottawa. One of the activities was a free draw, available for those attending, for a chance to win a surprise item. I am pleased to announce that we will give away a brand new Bushnell PowerView 10x50mm binoculars, a prize worth $129! A winner will be drawn in the next few days. Stay tune. On a different note, apologies for not having had the opportunity to setup more public astronomy events since Astro Day. I’m aware that many of us have been tied up with other commitments. I hope to set up sessions soon to take advantage of Jupiter’s prominent visibility in our evening skies! Could I see a show of hands of who would be ready to brace the cooler weather to setup sidewalk sessions at Chapters? - Pierre

OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, November 21, 2024 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa

Reminder: OAOG Gabfest When: Thursday, November 21, 2024 7:30pm to 10:00pm (UTC-05:00) America/New York Where: Tim Horton's - 1720 Innes Road, Ottawa View Event Description: As there seems to be sufficient interest to meet in person again, I have setup the calendar invite to meet at the Tim Horton's on Innes at Cyrville where we used to meet during the pre-COVID days. *** Topic: OAOG Monthly Gabfest Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time, Every month on the Third Thursday Location: 1720 Innes Road (near Cyrville), Ottawa