Science Literacy Week 2017
The UVic observatory will host two special events as part of the Science Literacy Week 2017, a nationwide celebration of science set to take place this September 18th-24th for the fourth year running. Coast to coast we're expecting some 700 events, ranging from nature hikes to chemistry demos, astronomy nights to public talks and more (scienceliteracy.ca).
Monday, September 18, 2017, 2 – 4pm
UVic observatory, 5th floor, Bob Wright building,
Be-dazzled by stars in bright sunshine!
Given the recent excitement over the ‘Great American Solar Eclipse 2017’, we will explore the life of our Sun in detail using two specially adapted telescopes. One will project an image of the Sun to show sunspots and other surface features. The second will have a special filter, which will permit us to peer directly and safely at the Sun to see any prominences in the solar corona and coronal mass ejections, if any. We will also have a spectrograph to show the spectrum of sunlight and the ‘fingerprints’ of various chemicals, which permit astronomers to infer the age, surface gravity and chemical make up of stars. In addition, we will use our 32” DFM telescope to look at planets and bright stars even in the dazzle of the bright autumn sunshine! The event will run as an open house, no pre-registration necessary. Astronomers will be present to answer your questions and lead the discussions.
(Note: Weather dependent. Rain checks handed out if cloudy or worse!)
Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 8 – 10pm
UVic observatory, 5th floor, Bob Wright building,
Stargazing and Astrophotography
We will enhance our usual weekly public open house at the UVic observatory with a special event to highlight the tools and techniques of astrophotography – the art of capturing the amazing beauty of the deep sky objects on digital media. For viewing, we will set up several 8” Celestron telescopes and the 32” DFM telescope to observe planets, stars, nebulae, star clusters and even our closest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). In addition, members of the UVic astrophotography club will be present to run a mini-workshop on cameras, mounts, trackers, image processing software and image stacking techniques. The event will run as an open house, no pre-registration necessary. Astronomers will be present to answer your questions and lead the discussions. The astrophotography workshop will begin at 8:30 and run for an hour.
(Note: Weather dependent. Rain checks handed out if cloudy or worse!)