NEWSLETTER OF THE VANCOUVER CENTRE RASC

VOLUME 2000 ISSUE 4 JULY/AUGUST 2000

Keep Up or Fall Behindby Barry Shanko

Keep Up or Fall Behind 1

Star Party Updates 2

President�s Message 3

Inns of Comfort 4

Deepsky Hunting 6

The Universe is Not Flat 8

National Council Report 10

Battle for the Stars... 11

Comet and Star Gazing 11

Members� Gallery 11

Looking Ahead

Remember, you are alwayswelcome to attend meetingsof Council, held on the firstTuesday of every month at7:30pm in the G.S.O.

July: Gary Wolanski and his16� aluminum wonder.

August: Dr. John Hutchingsof the DAO: �Building andoperating FUSE: Canada'spart in a space telescope�

Next Issue Deadline

Material for the September Novashould submitted by Monday, Sep-tember 4, 2000. Please send sub-missions to:

Gordon Farrell(gfarrell@home.com)

or Bob Parry(robpar@ballard.com)

continued on page 9

In this technological age, if you don�tkeep up, you soon fall so far behindthat you become obsolete. While thepace of change in professional as-tronomy isn�t as great, it�s present.

In a report released at the CanadianAstronomical Society meeting at UBCin May, Canadian astronomers are ask-ing for a morethan doubling ofthe planned fed-eral governmentfunding for as-tronomy over thenext 15 years inorder to partici-pate in four newt e l e s c o p eprojects.

The report, TheOrigins of Struc-ture in the Uni-verse, points outCFHT will ceaseto be a front lineobservatory around 2005. WhileCanada has a part of the Gemini tel-escopes, that by itself is not enough tokeep the nation at the forefront of as-tronomical research. The report can bedownloaded from http://www.casca.ca/lrp.

While it isn�t required that this coun-try contribute to new projects, sinceindividuals can always apply for timeby themselves, one well-known Cana-dian astronomer, who wished to re-main anonymous, said, �Partners de-cide who shall have access to facili-ties, and there is no guarantee of be-ing able to freeload forever. We defi-

nitely can�t afford to rely only on thiskind of charity. Being involved putsCanada into the scientific drivingseat�we design things to do the sci-ence we care about.�

Canadians� research results are citedin scientific papers with a frequencysecond only to American and European

astronomers, akey measure-ment of how Ca-nadian work isreceived in thep r o f e s s i o n a larena. To keepthis standing,this nation�s as-tronomical com-munity needs in-vestment in anew group ofground- andspace-based ob-servatories.

Rather thanthinking of them as separate projects,the report states these facilities willcomplement each other, discoveriesmade with one can be followed up withthe others. In descending order of im-portance, it recommends Canada�sparticipation in:

1) The Atacama Large MillimeterArray, a group of 64 12-meter ra-dio telescopes spread over 10square kilometres of Chile. TheU.S. and Europe are looking forpartners, who could be Japan andCanada. It�s a successor to theJames Clerk Maxwell radio tel-escope�s probing of the universe

A proposed design for the Next Gen-eration Space Telescope (NGST)

2

Manning Mountain Star Party Reportby Bob Parry

Hello to all those chickens that wouldnot go to Manning this year. I mustadmit that after a long week I did notfeel like driving up to Manning Fri-day evening. That was a shame, asFriday night was a wonderful nightfrom what I was told.

The die-hards were there, MikePenndelton, Wally Helter, GaryWolanski and John Sherrett. Pomponiaand I arrived Saturday afternoon justas Bryan Kelso and his wife Vera weresetting up camp. The weather in Man-ning Park was quite nice, a big con-trast to the thunderstorm that was oc-curring in Vancouver at the time.

Saturday night was quite lovely; therewere a lot of clouds around but it

cleared for good periods of time andprovided good views through thescopes that were set up. I personallydid not get my 10� set up but had someexcellent views through the 80mm re-fractor. Just as we were about to giveup for the night and were getting readyfor bed�the sky had clouded over andit was now around 1:00 AM�the skyparted and the most impressive viewof the Milky Way I can ever rememberwas �Right There�. One could almostreach up and grab ahold. I will remem-ber that view for a long time. We wererevitalized and were talking of seeingcomet Linear as Andromeda was ris-ing; alas it was not to be as the cloudsreturned, ending the evening�s view-ing.

Next morning, Sunday dawned brightand sunny with big puffy clouds andwarm sunshine. We went for a walkalong a logging road and saw some ofthe local wildlife such as a grouse andsmall bird�s nest with three blue eggsin it. We were hopeful for a betterevening than Saturday, but it was notto be. Just before suppertime, theclouds rolled in and, unlike the nightbefore, did not open up even little�Sucker Holes.� Everyone went to bedearly after a pleasant talk under thetarp at the Kelso�s.

It was unfortunate that the weather didnot co-operate; I was looking forwardto my first view of the stars in manymonths. We are owed a few good eve-nings which I hope start very soon. ­

by Angela Squires

Mount Kobau July 29 - August 6,Osoyoos. Billed as �week-long, mile-high observing� some 150-200 enthu-siasts attend, mostly from BC, Albertaand Washington. At 6000 feet, nightscan get very cold. There are no serv-ices except porta-potties, so take allsupplies. Fresh food from Osoyoosstores means you brave the road. Al-low 50 minutes for this rough ride thathas claimed more than its share ofmufflers and shocks. Events take placeWednesday through Saturday and fea-tured speakers are:

· Thursday: Dr. Lewis Knee ofDRAO; Gary Seronik of Sky &Telescope

· Friday: Tom Cameron of RothneyAstrophysical Observatory; KenHewitt-White; Murray Paulson

· Saturday: Jack Newton.

Get your entry forms at the Registra-tion desk for the MKSPastrophotography and amateur tel-escope makers� contests. Swap meet isSaturday 5pm with the group photoand door prizes draw at 6pm. KobauLookout Forest Road is signposted on

the north side of Highway 3, on thecrest of a hill 35km east of Keremeos,or 11km west of Osoyoos. The gate isalways open. Fees are:

· One Night: Single - $15.00; 2 peo-ple or more - $25.00

· Two or More Nights: Single -$30.00, 2 or More People - $50.00

Website: http://www.bcinternet.com/~mksp/

Email: Caroline Wallace (Registrar)cwallace@vip.net

Pre-registration not required but appre-ciated. Make cheques payable to:Mount Kobau Astronomical Society.Mail to: MKSP Registrar, P.O. Box20119 TCM, Kelowna, B.C. V1Y 9H2.

The Grapevine says that someRASCVC members are going to Man-ning Park first. Even Giovanni finallyadmitted to me that Manning is darkerthan Kobau! MKSP need to do someserious campaigning about light pol-lution to the local Councils. I havewritten the owner of the �Esso Nebula�

below our Manning site requesting thathe turn off his floodlit sign by 11pm,and am taking him a RASC Calendar.Hopefully sugar and bribery will work!

Manning Park 2 September 1st - 4th.We need two New Moons a month inour too short Summer! I�d like to goto Kobau to see people but PMO beck-ons and then there is�

TMSP July 27-29th. The Table Moun-tain Star Party (6357ft) is about 20miles NW of Ellensberg, WA, exit 106on Interstate 90. Over 1200 attend! Theroad is paved to within 3 miles andgravel for the rest. It is steep and nar-row, one lane with turnouts for pass-ing so be cautious. They offer meals,speakers, workshops, seminars, a swapmeet, door prizes, a young astronomerprogram, and much more to enrichyour experience. During the day, inaddition to astronomical program-ming, there are beautiful areas to hike,mountain bike, and explore. This is aremote and primitive high altitudesite�medical help is one hour away.Bill Burvee of Ellensburg provides

continued on page 9

Star Party Update

3

2000 VancouverCenter Officers

President/Nova EditorBob Parry 215-8844robpar@ballard.com

Vice-Presidentvacant

Secretary/WebmasterBill Ronald 733-7036ronaldb@home.com

TreasurerBryan Kelso 261-8292bryan.kelso@telus.net

LibrarianWilliam Fearon 939-3154

National Rep./MembershipDan Collier 732-6046

Chair, CARO CommitteeDuncan Munro 826-9523dmunro@sfu.ca

TelescopesPhil Morris 734-8708

Public RelationsAngela Squires 734-9726esquire@vcn.bc.ca

SpeakersBarry Shanko 271-0615barry.mail@intouch.bc.ca

Nova EditorGordon Farrell 734-0326gfarrell@home.com

CouncillorsDan Grimard 438-5780Doug Montgomery 596-7058Marcellus Redmond 533-1830Norman Song 299-7924Marc Verschueren 986-1485

TrusteesSally Baker 324-3309Lee Johnson 941-5364

CAROTony Overton 463-2358

AdvertisingNova encourages free use of itsclassified ads for members withitems for sale or swap. Notify theEditor if you wish your ad to run inmore than one issue.

CommericalRates

1/2 Page: $25.00 per issueFull Page: $40.00 per issueRates are for camera-ready, or elec-tronic files. Payment, by cheque,must accompany ad material. Makecheque payable to:RASC Vancouver Centre.

About RASCThe Vancouver Centre, RASCmeets at 7:30 PM, in the audito-rium of the H.R. MacMillan Plan-etarium and Vancouver Museumcomplex at 1100 Chestnut St.,Vancouver, on the second Tues-day of every month. Guests arealways welcome. In addition,the Centre has an observing sitewhere star parties are regularlyscheduled.

Membership is currently $45.00per year ($22.50 for personsunder 21 years of age) and canbe obtained by writing to theTreasurer at the address below.Annual membership includes theinvaluable Observer�s Hand-book, six issues of the RASCJournal, and, of course, accessto all of the club events andprojects.

For more information regardingthe Centre and its activities,please contact us at the addressor phone below.

NOVA, the newsletter of the Van-couver Centre, Royal Astro-nomical Society of Canada, ispublished on odd numberedmonths. Opinions expressedherein are not necessarily thoseof the Vancouver Centre.

Material on any aspect of as-tronomy should be e-mailed tothe Editor, mailed to the addressbelow, or downloaded viaSpaceBase�at 473-9357, 58,59.

Web Site

http://pacific-space-center.bc.ca/rasc.htmlor http://www.rasc.ca and followthe link to Vancouver.

RASC1100 Chestnut Street

Vancouver, B.C.V6J 3J9

(604) 738-2855

President�s Message

This month we have put together acommittee to bring Ray Villard to Van-couver to speak to us. For those whohave heard him speak before, no in-troduction is necessary; for those whohave not, Mr. Villard is the Directorof Public Relations for the HubbleSpace Telescope. He has spoken to ustwice before and has shown us newlyreleased photos from the Hubble eachtime. Both talks were enthusiasticallyreceived with everyone wanting to hearhim again. Our goal is to have him inVancouver this fall.

This is a costly proposal. We have triedto get others to share the costs, such asthe Planetarium, UBC, and others. Sofar we are alone, although every onewants to hear him speak. The commit-tee which consists of myself, BryanKelso, Barry Shanko, CraigBreckenridge and Pomponia Martinezis looking at the RASC VancouverChapter acting as a �Promoter� andpaying the up front costs to bring Mr.Villard to Vancouver. The Club wouldthen charge a percentage of the gatecosts from his speaking engagementsto recover costs. The intention is tohave a private talk for our members atno cost. This however is dependent onrecovering costs from other sources. Ifthis is not possible then a small covercharge would have to be charged. Fivedollars has been suggested.

As a club we cannot absorb the entirecost, as the budget is approximatelyhalf of our annual operating budget.There remains $600 or so in the Ca-sino account that would not have to berepaid but that is the maximum amountthat the Club could afford to subsidizethis project. The Planetarium seats 240people which at a maximum charge of$10, with VC getting 50% of the gate,still leaves us outside our budget win-dow. We hope that there are other or-ganizations that may also want to hearMr. Villard. Please advise any mem-ber of the committee if you are awareof any organization that may want himto speak.

continued on page 6

4

Inns of Comfortby Angela Squires

An astronomer in search of pristinedark skies who would like to take theirpartner along can have a problem.Primitive camping on remotemountaintops is bearable for a keenobserver but anathema for the non-as-tronomer or camping-challenged. As-tronomy-oriented accommodation pro-vides a solution. RASCals find crea-ture comforts increase the quality oftime at the eyepiece, as all Pine Moun-tain fans will tell you.

Arizona�s clear, dry skies are a mag-net for rain-soaked souls from thenorth. The Skywatcher�s Inn is 47miles east of Tucson near Benson, at3900 feet elevation, overlooking theSan Pedro River valley. The adjacentVega-Bray Observatory boasts 8 scopesfrom 6 to 20 inches, most located in aroll-off roof enclosure for convivialobserving. A 20� f/10 MaksutovCassegrain and CCD are housed in adome and computer-controlled from atemperature-friendly room. There arevarious rates for driven scopes andexperienced amateurs may use theDobsonians for free�a nice touch. TheInn is stylish, elegantly furnished andspacious with formal living, diningand media rooms. The Egyptian bed-room could tempt some away from the

eyepiece much earlier than usual! I�mnot surprised it�s a favourite for hon-eymooners and romantic astrotrysts.The bath comes with a jacuzzi and theroom is $110 a night. Other rates arefrom $75 for their astronomer�s roomsto $160 for the Egyptian Suite. For thatI�d perform the dance of the sevenveils!

A delicious full breakfast is includedand for other meals you may dine

nearby or cook your own food in thefacilities�another nice touch.Website: www.communiverse.com/skywatcher/ and phone (520) 615-3886.

New Mexico boasts the Star Hill Inn,the first amateur retreat in the coun-try, opened in 1988. It�s located in theSangre de Cristo Mountains, an houreast of Sante Fe and 10 miles north ofLas Vegas, NM and has a municipalairport. Charming cottages nestle on195 private acres surrounded by tran-quil ponderosa pines. Each is fullyequipped with a small fireplace, porch,handcrafted furniture and unique deco-rations. At 7,500 feet, this is one ofthe best dark-sky locations with a lim-iting visual magnitude of 6.5 and av-erage winter darkness from 7:30pm to5:30am. The latitude of 35� 44� Nmeans New Year�s Eve champagnewith Canopus just sneaking over thehorizon and Betelgeuse 60 degreeshigh! Guest facilities include a librarywith extensive book and video collec-tion, astronomical viewing deck, tenrental telescopes from 7-24�, outdoorgas grill, meadow and mountain hik-ing trails, mountain meadow labyrinthand meditation garden. There are pow-ered piers for your own scope and the24� is an impressive Ritchey-Chretienoriginally built for the University ofDenver. You won�t want to spend allyour time observing and sleeping be-cause there�s lots to do and visit. Birdwatching, hiking, Native Americanpueblos, historic Sante Fe and Taoswith its art community are all accessi-ble. Rates are $95 to $145 a night, 10%less for six nights or more. Website:www.starhillinn.com/ and phone (505)425-5605. You can join hosts Phil and

The luxurious Egyptian Room at the Skywatcher�s Inn

Exteriorof Aster Cot-

tage at the StarHill Inn, north-ern NM Rocky

Mountains

5

Rae Ann for their weekly �Dessert onthe Deck,� scrumptious goodies servedprior to observing. Now that�s my ideaof heaven! When photon starvationreaches critical mass around Jan/Feb,a trip south is medically necessary�ifnot tax deductible. Is there any inter-est among members for a group trip tothe Star Hill Inn? �Sunrise House� istheir newest and most luxurious cot-tage at 1800 square feet with soaring,20-foot ceilings and spectacular viewsover the Great Plains. It can sleep upto 8 in comfort. Very tempting!

Getting down south by road would bealmost a three-day trip and with theprice of gas, flying is a possibility. Nov.to Feb. return airfare per person toTucson or Albuquerque is almost $600

from Vancouver, unless there�s a seatsale. Baggage allowance is 42kg.Albuquerque is the recommended ar-rival point for the Star Hill Inn andhas all the major car rental companiesfor the two-hour drive to the moun-tains. Travel information courtesy ofJoadey Caldwell, Bell Travel, 535-2587. My friend Joadey has beenRASCalized by me and will cater toyour every need, travel wise! She savedour travel budget $100 last year.

Upon his retirement, Jack and AliceNewton created their ideal lifestyle.They spend November to April at theirFlorida Imaging Centre and May toOctober in Osoyoos, Canada�s onlytrue desert, receiving a mere 9 inchesof precipitation annually. Their Ob-

servatory B & B, at 1600 feet, over-looks Lake Osoyoos and has a 16�scope with CCD cameras housed in arooftop observatory. $50 per persongives you a three-hour hands-on tuto-rial with Jack using his state-of-the-art instrumentation. Rental scopes areavailable for $35 a night. Allguestrooms have private baths andsliding doors to patio areas. There isan in-home theatre with surroundsound, 800-plus videos, laser discs andDVDs! Rates are reasonable: Moonroom $100; Saturn suite $125; Eclipse(family) suite $135 (based on single/double occupancy) plus $10 each ex-tra person and of course includes yourbreakfast. Website:www.jacknewton.com/ and phone:(250) 495-6745. Mount Kobau StarParty fans will find the Newton�s B &B very tempting for a couple of nightsin comfort and stargazing in the mildair. It�s located on Anarchist Moun-tain, off Highway 3 East, with a realroad up too! ­

SKYWATCHER�S INN

5655 N Via Umbrosa, Tucson,Arizona, USA, 85750-1357Tel/Fax: (520) 615-3886www.communiverse .com/skywatcher/E-mail:vegasky@azstarnet.com

STAR HILL INN

P.O. Box 707, Sapello, NM87745Tel: (505) 425-5605www.starhillinn.comEmail: stay@starhillinn.com

OBSERVATORY B & B

#3 Observatory Road, OsoyoosBC V0H 1V0Tel: (250) 495-6745www.jacknewton.comEmail: jack@jacknewton.com

The Observatory B & B overlooking Lake Osoyoos

Jack and Aliceenjoying theirWinter quarters,the FloridaImaging Centerin Chiefland,where the skiesare very dark, theair stable andevenings tropi-cally warm.

6

Deepsky Hunting

continued from page 3

by Steve Whitehouse

Apart from death, taxes, and cloudynew moon weekends, there are not toomany certainties in life these days.However there is one thing you canalways count on.

July and August always brings us themagic of the summer Milky Way.

Stretching across the sky from Perseusin the northeast to Sagittarius in thesouthwest, the Milky Way is home tomany visual treats. A very dark sky, apair of binoculars or a small rich-fieldtelescope that gives a view of 2 or 3degrees is all that is needed to searchout the best that the Milky way has tooffer.

Starting in the northwest, Perseus andCassiopeia are home to dozens of openstar clusters that are easily visible inbinoculars. The most famous clusterin Perseus would have to be NGC884and NGC869, better known as theDouble Cluster. This bright, rich opencluster never fails to mesmerize me.Glowing at mag. 6.1 and 5.3 they areeasily seen with the naked eye from adark site. Through binoculars theycome alive like diamonds on black vel-vet. I have never seen a photograph ofthese objects that compares to the realthing. They just have to be seen withyour own eyes. Two degrees north ofthe Double Cluster lies a lesser-knownopen cluster called Stock 2. Thislooser, odd-shaped cluster glows atmag. 4.4 and always reminds me of astick man.

Scanning north into Cassiopeia, wemust take a peek at M103. This mag.7.4 open cluster contains about 40stars. The late, famed observer JohnMallas, observing with his 4-inch re-fractor, said that many of the fainterstars appear to show colour. Cassiopeiais also home to M52, a richer and morecondensed cluster that shines at mag.6.9 and will be an easy target for anypair of binoculars. Also in Cassiopeiais NGC281, a 7.4-magnitude emissionnebula. Although it is 35 x 30 secondsof arc, it might be a real challenge inbinoculars. This type of object will be

easier to spot using a nebula filter.

Moving into Cygnus we approachM39, another loose open cluster ofmagnitude 4.6.

Heading into the heart of Cygnus weapproach NGC 7000 .It is better knownas the North American nebula. At 120x 100 minutes of arc, you will need ascope with a very large field of view. Ihave seen it with binoculars from verydark sites. A telescope with a three-degree field and a high contrast nebulafilter works the best. NGC 7000 glowssoftly at mag. 5.9. Can you see it withthe naked eye? Give it a try�manypeople have. Also look for the Pelicannebula just to the southwest. Still mov-ing south through Cygnus, we reachGamma Cygni, the center star in theNorthern Cross. Still equipped withyour nebula filter, you will see faintstreams of emission nebulosity sur-rounding Gamma Cygni.

Still south of this you should find M29,a loose and sparse open cluster of mag-nitude 6.6. There are about 20 stars inthis star-poor cluster. Heading south-east to the constellation Vulpecula youwill find Collinder 399. Nicknamedthe Coat hanger, this is a must-see opencluster. This 3.6-magnitude cluster re-ally looks like a coat hanger. The bestview will be through binoculars or afinder scope. Vulpecula also containsM27, the famous Dumbbell nebula.This mag. 7.3 object will look bestthrough a telescope, but it can easilybe seen with binoculars as well. Theconstellation Scutum contains manyrich-field objects. M11, the Wild Duckcluster, is an easy target for your bin-oculars. M11 contains about 500 starsin this mag. 5.8 densely populated clus-ter. Look for B111, a dark Barnardnebula just north of M11. Scutum isfull of dark matter. Thick dense regionsof dust and gas that are not illuminatedby hot stars.

M26 is another Scutum open clusterthat contains 70 or more stars, andshines at magnitude 8.

Moving south into Sagittarius, M24was listed as a large nebulosity byMessier, but is in fact a detached partof the Milky Way. It is about mag. 4.5and can be seen with the naked eye.NGC6603 is an open cluster in thecentre of this detached portion of theMilky Way.

Sagittarius contains many more celes-tial treats; M16 the Eagle, M20 theTrifid Nebula and M8 the LagoonNebula to name a few. All are spec-tacular sights even in binoculars. M22,near the top of the Sagittarius teapot,is an easily seen large globular clusterthat is one of many globular clustersin Sagittarius, all easily visible in bin-oculars.

Binocular observing of the summerMilky Way can be a very rewardingway to spend an evening. You don�thave to own a large telescope to enjoyastronomy in the summer Milky Way.

Clear skies� ­

Joan Cosar has kindly volunteered togreet new members and guests to ourmeetings. She will be wearing anametag and will address the membersat the monthly meetings. I want to ex-tend my thanks and appreciation toJoan for her help.

Please read Dan Collier�s account ofthe proceedings at the AGM that tookplace over the Canada Day weekendin Winnipeg. This has some informa-tion that is relevant to all of us. Thecost increase was approved, at this timewe are not certain as to how much thiswill impact our costs. We will keep youinformed and let everyone know at afuture meeting.

For those who might want to come tothe next Council meeting, be advisedthat it has been moved to July 25th.This is because on the regular meet-ing date of Aug. 1st most of the coun-cil members will be at Mt. Kobau.

Thanks, and Clear Skies

Bob Parry ­

7

ASTROCOMPUTING

SpaceBase� (473-9357). Affili-ated since 1992 with RASC Van-couver, our link to RASC Net,RASC Members only chat area.Future data distribution hub forCARO Project. Features includelatest HST images, current worldspace news and astronomy pro-grams. Provides a file uploadingfacility for submitting articles andimagery to Nova.

LIBRARY

The centre has a large library ofbooks, magazines and old No-va�s for your enjoyment at theGSO. Please take advantage ofthis club service and visit oftento check out the new purchases.Suggestions for future library ac-quisitions are appreciated.

RASCVC on the Internethttp://members.home.net/

ronaldwp/rasc_vc/index.html

H.R. MACMILLANSPACE CENTRE

The Pacific Space Centre Soci-ety is a non-profit organizationwhich operates the H.R.MacMillan Planetarium andGordon M. Southam Observa-tory. Annual Membership ($30Individual, $65 Family) includesa newsletter, Discounts onSpace Camps, special programsand lectures, Vancouver Mu-seum Discounts, and free admis-sion to the Space Centre. Ad-mission to the Pacific SpaceCentre includes: Astronomyshows, Motion Simulator rides,multimedia shows inGroundStation Canada, and ac-cess to the Cosmic CourtyardExhibit Gallery. For Membershipinformation, call Mahi Jordao at738-7827, local 237 for informa-tion. You can also reach them onthe Internet at http://www.pacific-space-centre.bc.ca/

MEMBERSHIPHAS ITS

PRIVILEGES!

New members, did you know?The Vancouver Centre has 6 tel-escopes available for loan freeof charge! We have telescopesranging from 3" to 10" diameter.For more information call PhilMorris, Director of Telescopes at734-8708, or see him in thelobby of the GSO after the mem-bers meeting. The loaner periodis for one month only. All tel-escopes are to be picked up andreturned after the membersmeeting. No telescope will beallowed to circulate outside ofthese meetings!

Your greatest opportunity as amember of the R.A.S.C. is totake advantage of the companyof other enthusiasts to increaseyour knowledge, enjoyment andskill in astronomy.

The best thing you can do to gainthe most from your membershipis to get active! Take in the clubmeetings; engage other mem-bers with questions; come out toobserving sessions (also knownas �star parties�), and, by allmeans, volunteer to take part inour many public events.

Observing takes place at theDale McNabb Observatory in theAldergrove Lake Park, located inLangley, on 8th Avenue, just eastof 272nd Street. We are theremost clear nights. Contact MikePenndelton at 888-1505 orHoward Morgan at 856-9186.

For SaleVista 805

80 mm F-5 SHORTUBEREFRACTOR

COMES WITH 30 MM FINDERTUBE RINGS/90 DEGREE MIR-

ROR STAR DIAGONAL17 MM PLOSSL EYEPIECE

GREAT SCOPE FOR TRAVELSTEVE-DAYS 294-2244

EVENINGS 526-9212$225

FOR SALE:

a/ 80mm f/7 Rich Field Refractor with1.25" Rack&Pinion Focuser and Mir-ror Diagonal. Neither mount nor eye-piece included. Field of View 3.0 de-grees at 14 power. Makes a great giantfinder for a big scope or could be usedas a portable scope for wide-field lowpower views of the Milky Way. At 14xwith an OIII filter all three parts of theVeil Nebula are visible simultaneously,including the delta-shaped section be-tween the two main arcs! Stars aresharp to the edge of the field. How-ever, this low-resolution achromat isNOT suitable for planetary and lunarobserving. Price $190 firm.

b/ The Jim Kendrick Dew RemoverSystem 14"/16" Heater. (DC Powerrequired.) As advertised inSky&Telescope. Never used. Price$110.00 firm.

c/ Beautifully machined DAR 1.25"Helical Focuser. Has fast focus threadsand fine focus threads. Superb crafts-manship. Won as door prize and notneeded. Price $80 firm.

Save shipping charges by picking theitems up at the Mount Kobau StarParty. (Or having a friend do so.)

Alan Whitman

awhitman@vip.net

250-497-6759

FOR SALE

8

continued on page 9

The Universe is Not Flatby Marc Verschueren

The universe is flat. That was the con-clusion in an article in one of the na-tional newspapers a few weeks ago.The article was an interesting one. Itreported on the results of measure-ments of the cosmic background radia-tion performed with a radio telescopeattached to a balloon launched from abase in the Antarctic. There is a Ca-nadian connection here. Two of theauthors of the original paper publishedin Nature are Canadian. I must men-tion that there were a total of 37 namesunder the title. This is typical now forthis kind of research. These projectsare so complex and involved that theyrequire the collective effort of a verylarge team of scientists. I always ap-preciate it when a newspaper that ba-sically writes for the general publicpays attention to this kind of subject.Most of us cannot have continuouscontact with the literature in as-tronomy, even at the amateur level. Areference in the general press can pointto important developments. We shouldnot be too critical when some of theconclusions presented are not alwaysaccurate. These new results are veryinteresting and important. Let us dis-cuss this a little bit further. I think thatone can make a safe statement that theuniverse is not flat, but such a state-ment demands some qualifications.

First, a quick review of what the ex-periment was all about. What is calledthe �cosmic background radiation�was discovered in 1964 by ArnioPenzias and Robert Wilson. We seemto be surrounded by a background ofradio waves with a wavelength of theorder of centimetres. At first sight thisradiation seems to be uniform in alldirections. It is very weak and it takesvery sensitive instruments to detect it,but it is clearly present. It was quicklyrealized that this radiation was a rem-nant of the Big Bang of cosmology.Several people had pointed out earlierthat the Big Bang should have pro-duced a background radiation with thiskind of wavelength. This radiationcomes to us from the origin of the uni-

verse and this very large distancecauses it to be red-shifted all the wayto the centimetre range. This was a mo-mentous discovery in astronomy sinceit supported the Big Bang theory andmade this theory much more plausi-ble. One problem was though to be thatif the beginning of the universe was souniform, how was it that we see todayso many structures around us, fromstars to galaxies to clusters of galax-ies? Then, in 1992, it was announcedby George Smoot�and his very largeteam�that one can measure densityfluctuations in this background radia-tion. This would than make it moreconsistent with the non-uniform den-sity of the mass that we see in ourneighbourhood of the universe today.The fluctuations were seen as varia-tions of the power of the radiation overlarge angles (more than 10 degrees).Their existence introduced the possi-bility of a non-uniformity which wasalready present very early in the evo-lution of the universe, even if the largeangles do not really allow for muchstructure as such.

The new measurements show thatthere are density fluctuations over an-gles smaller than two degrees. This isimportant because the fluctuations oversuch a small angle are caused by vi-brations in the substance of the uni-verse at the moment of the emission ofthe radiation. This is fascinating. Thismeans that we can look at some aspectof the universe, some dynamics of theuniverse, during its very early life. Howcan we draw this conclusion? One cancalculate these density fluctuations ifone accepts a theory about the earlyuniverse. One can make reasonable as-sumptions about the early universe onthe basis of what we know about theuniverse at the present moment. Themodel used in this case is known asthe inflation theory. Inflation theoryproposes that in the very early stagesthe universe expanded very fast,exponentially fast, for a short while.This theory solved a number of prob-lems of the traditional Big Bang. And,for one thing, it predicts that the uni-

verse today is basically flat. The infla-tionary universe is fairly widely ac-cepted today, but it is certainly not be-yond discussion.

The term �flat� refers here to the theoryof gravitation as proposed by Einstein�sGeneral Theory of Relativity. Einsteindescribes gravitation as a manifesta-tion of the true geometry of space. Ifthere were no gravitation the geometryof the universe would be one whereparallel lines remain parallel no mat-ter how far one extends them, the sumof the angles of a triangle would be180 degrees, and other aspects of theEuclidian geometry we all learned atschool years ago would hold true. Butif there is gravitation, space becomescurved. The orbits of the planets, forexample, are a manifestation of thiscurvature. In this sense one can clearlysay that the universe is not flat, other-wise all masses would move in straightlines�straight in the sense of our oldschool geometry. Since space is curved(measurably so in the neighbourhoodof large masses) one cannot really saythat the universe is flat without anyfurther specifications. What one meansin the preceding paragraph is that theuniverse is flat on a very large scale.Suppose one considers the universe ona scale so large that all structures inspace, even those as large as galaxies,can be considered to basically be pointswhen compared with the total size ofthe universe. On that scale, the theoryof inflation says that the universe isflat. And the measurements of the den-sity fluctuations in the background ra-diation behave as predicted by the in-flation theory. There are some prob-lems with the agreement, but they arenot serious enough to spoil the basicconclusions. This is indeed very im-portant. Theories like the inflationtheory cannot be taken seriously ex-cept when confirmed by some experi-mental facts. Experiments about theearly universe are of course extremelydifficult to come by. It is very impor-tant to note that the inflation theorymade predictions about density fluc-

9

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tuations before it was known that theyexisted. This is always a strong pointin favor of a theory. Trying to fit factsinto a theory afterwards is alwayseasier and sometimes even a bit sus-pect. When the theory of inflation saysthat space is flat, that also means thatthe universe will keep expanding for-ever. It will not reverse to go into aBig Crunch. So, the inflation theoryhas received a strong boost from thisexperiment. The flatness of the uni-verse on a large scale has gained con-siderable support. This cannot be ig-nored when one builds models of thevery early universe.

In another way, one can say that theuniverse is not flat at all. Let us lookat that a little bit closer, too. Space issometimes very curved�near and in-side neutron stars, for example, be-cause of their enormous density. Neu-tron stars were also proposed beforeany astronomer had ever identifiedobjects like them. A few months ago,Prof. George Volkoff passed away inVancouver. Professor Volkoff was, formany years, professor of Physics atUBC and, later, head of the Depart-ment of Physics. In 1939, he was agraduate student of RobertOppenheimer of nuclear bomb fame.Oppenheimer and Volkoff togetherdescribed the physics of stars thatwould consist only of neutrons. In sucha star, the electrical forces do not playa role. The particles making up the starcan come very close together�electri-cal repulsion does not keep them apart.Because of this, the star can be verysmall yet have a large mass and veryhigh density. It is a very typical exam-ple where relativistic effects (effectsaccording to Einstein�s relativity) playan important role because gravitationis so strong there. In the neighbour-hood of such a star, the universe is cer-tainly not flat. It is strongly curved. Fordecades, Oppenheimer�s and Volkoff�sneutron star was only a theoretical dis-covery. Then pulsars were discoveredand were quickly identified as neutronstars. We know now that they are theremnants of supernova explosions ofstars. The centre of the Crab Nebula is

still the most classical example. Andof course there are the black holes, thenext step of concentration of matter.Their gravitation is so strong that spacefolds onto itself and from the outsidewe cannot observe anything anymore.For a long time black holes were onlya theoretical game, but now many as-tronomers are convinced that blackholes are rather common, especially atthe centres of galaxies.

When I look through my small tel-escope, I should be able to see the CrabNebula. A more experienced observercan do so without difficulty in a goodlocation. Here is an object with a vio-lent past that leads to an area of theuniverse that is very curved and yetvisible in an ordinary telescope. Mostof these exotic objects are not accessi-ble to the amateur astronomer. Phe-nomena that relate directly to the verybeginning of the universe are not di-rectly observable by us. But wheneverI look at the sky I have to make theconnection with the magnificent real-ity that sits behind whatever I see. Allit takes is some imagination. ­

at millimetre and sub-millimetrewavelengths where young and yet-to-be-born stars radiate the strong-est. For more information, seehttp://www.mma.nrao.edu/sci-ence.

2) The Next Generation Space Tel-escope is Hubble�s follow up.Optimized for IR wavelengths, itwill see the first galaxies formedafter the big bang and the begin-nings of star and planet formationin our galaxy. The CanadianSpace Agency has committed $50million, with exact Canadian par-ticipation to be announced oncethe telescope is designed. For aCanadian perspective, see theNGST Canadian Scientist�s website at http://astro.utoronto.ca/~lilly/NGST/index.html.

In a report released by the Na-tional Academy of Science onlyweeks before the CASCA report,the above two projects were alsorated one and two in importance

as the next major astronomicalprojects the American government

should fund.

3) The Square Kilometre Array is inthe planning stage. It strives tobuild an array of radio telescopeswith a collecting area of onesquare kilometre. As a point ofcomparison, the Arecibo dish isone-thirtieth the size. One of itsmajor goals is to study the era ofthe universe in-between when thecosmic microwave backgroundwas created and the first galaxiesformed. See http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/SKA/sci-ence/science.html.

4) The Very Large Optical Telescopeis an attempt to build a 25-metreor larger ground-based telescopeby following up on the experiencegained with Keck and other tel-escopes with segmented prima-ries. Astronomers hope this tel-escope will do for the Next Gen-eration Space Telescope whatKeck does for Hubble, an instru-ment that can be used for followup observations of individual ob-jects. It is hoped that a 25-metreinstrument will be operational in2010, with a 100-metre follow upinstrument about 10 years later.

All these projects are arrayed arounda theme: the study of the origins ofgalaxies, stars and planets in additionto charting the distribution of and un-derstanding the nature of dark matter.Astronomers believe they are on thecusp of understanding how all theseobjects formed, evolved and make theuniverse appear as it does today.

The plan proposes additional fundingof $254 million above the $100 mil-lion planned to be spent on Canadianastronomy in the years 2000-2015.Even if this increase is granted, itpoints out that this will still put Canadanear the bottom in astronomy fundingby the major industrial nations. In thewords of one Canadian astronomer,given the size of federal governmentsurpluses over the next five years, it isa very affordable plan. ­

continuted from page 1

10

by Dan Collier

Highlights:

¨ Fees Increase September 1st¨ Life Memberships on sale, act

soon!¨ New Centres: Moncton and

Charlottetown¨ Bob Garrison becomes National

President¨ Rajiv Gupta (Vancouver) now

National 1st VP¨ 2001 Observer�s Calendar avail-

able

The Winnipeg General Assembly, theRASC�s collective annual meeting,took place on July 2nd at the Univer-sity of Manitoba. Attendees votedstrongly in favour of raising the Soci-ety�s fees by four dollars. The marginof approval was reported by outgoingNational President Randy Attwood as257-23. I asked Randy twice to repeatthese figures but I still believe them tobe erroneous even with all the proxiesthrown in. In any event the vote wasnot close. Most Centres were repre-sented and the attendance was muchbetter than at last year�s G.A. in To-ronto.

As of the first of September, new ap-plicants over the age of 21 are to pay$49 for twelve months of membershipin Vancouver Centre (those under 21will pay the new youth rate of $25).Members with expiry dates in Septem-ber and afterwards will be invoiced for$49 per year. If you are one of the lat-ter, you can no longer beat the fee hikeby renewing early. Unattached mem-bers pay only $40, but receive NO Van-couver Centre privileges or services.

IMPORTANT: If you have everthought about becoming a life mem-ber of the Society, DO IT NOW! Thefee is only $720 until September 1stwhen it increases to $800. You canconvert your membership to �life� bypaying the life-member fee (instead ofthe regular annual dues) any time be-fore your membership expiry date.

The fee increase helps Vancouver Cen-

National Council Report

tre directly. Of the old $45 fee, $23.40was paid into Vancouver�s accountsand the remainder was retained byNational to pay for the Handbook, theJournal, Sky News, and administra-tion. When the new fee comes into ef-fect, the Centre�s portion increases to$25 (Centre will collect $10 from the$25 youth-member fee, up from $9).Centre�s portion pays for NOVA, meet-ings, loaner scopes and so on. Nationalwill additionally pay our Centre $16per annum for each of our 13 LifeMembers, up from $14.40.

You should not be surprised to see an-other fee increase in the 2001-2002time frame. National�s portion of yourfee, or $24, isn�t enough to pay for yourentitlements even when the (large) sub-sidies from Handbook and Calendarsales are factored in. Furthermore, thespecial fund which is supposed to sup-port our life members is too small.Because interest rates have been low,general revenue has been subsidizingthe lifers.

A motion from one Centre to reducethe Youth fee to $20 was defeated. Theonly other fiscal business was the ap-pointment of Tinkham & Associatesas the Society�s auditors, against whoma solitary proxy was pledged.

Peter Jedicke defeated May LouWhitehorne in the election for the po-sition of Second National VP. Peter wasproposed for nomination on short no-tice but accepted the challenge, citinga desire to tighten the management ofthe Society�s assets (he was the onlymember present who voted against thefee increase). Mary Lou is highly re-garded for her committee work, espe-cially in the education-outreach field.That this affair ended in smiles andmutual support is an indication that wehave persons of stellar quality on Na-tional Council.

Two brand new Centres, Moncton andCharlottetown, were officially in-ducted, bringing the total number to25.

National Council and Vancouver Cen-tre will reimburse me each 50% for myairfare and lodging, an amount total-ling about $460, to which the Centrewill add a further $125 for registra-tion, meals, and bus fare. I have onemore trip to Toronto before the end ofmy 3-year term as National Rep, forwhich 25% of the airfare and lodgingwill be paid by Vancouver Centre. Byyear-end, I will have spent an esti-mated $570 of Vancouver Centrefunds, or roughly $2 per member, fortravel. Duncan Munro, who has ac-companied me on several trips, hasbeen reimbursed for similar amounts.

More of the 2000 G.A. proceedingswill appear in the next issue of NOVA.­

food service�evening meals Wednes-day to Saturday and breakfast Satur-day morning. Pre-order to guaranteeyour feast. The set meals are $7-10 andsound delicious. His �Martian Van�serving fast-food stays open at nightas long as there is business. See thewebsite at: www.tmspa.com/ for fam-ily rates; the individual fee is $20US.Deadline July 8th. $10 extra for lateregistration, possibly negotiable as re-quested brochures to RASCVC weremailed late by TMSP. ­

continuted from page 2

11

by Angela Squires

The Searchlight Bylaw was passed andFamous Players (FP) was given 30 daysto comply. They instead filed suit inBC Supreme Court challenging theBylaw. I sent out a comprehensivepress release as a result of which TheVancouver Sun published �Search-lights �vandalism�� June 15th and TheGlobe and Mail published �Langleyresidents call searchlights sky pollu-tion� on the 16th, a longer, excellentarticle by Jane Armstrong. Rob Dick,Chair of LPAC for RASC is writing abrief for Township Council. I am in-vestigating the Vaughn, Torontotimeline and there will be further press

Battle for the Stars in Langley

releases. A Colossus is proposed forLaval, Quebec, and I am asking theMontreal Centre to pass on my releaseto Laval Council. I have obtained use-ful advice from a Provincial Govern-ment senior planner. I will be advis-ing the Union of BC Municipalitiesdirectly on the situation in Langley.Bob Mizon of the Campaign for DarkSkies with the British AstronomicalAssociation (BAA) has given valuablehelp. Canadian Law is based on Brit-ish Common Law and a favourablejudgment ruling that skybeams comeunder the Advertising Act is of inter-est. Europeans must wonder if Canada

really is a country, what with profes-sionals needing a licence for each prov-ince, interprovincial smuggling andprovinces forever squabbling! Munici-pal Bylaws are relatively simple to ac-complish compared with ProvincialActs. However, I feel province-wideregulation would be worth pursuing.If politically conservative Texas can doit, so can we! I am also contacting theresponsible environmental organiza-tions here for their policies on lightpollution, if any. Email me atesquire@vcn.bc.ca if you want a copyof my press release. ­

by Bob Parry

At this month�s council meeting, it wasasked if we could take members up toCypress Bowl to do some star watch-ing, as many cannot make it out toAldergrove Lake. So I called up thepeople at Cypress and was told thatthere were no restrictions to our mem-bers going up for a Star Party. Angelasuggested Saturday July 22nd; this willallow us to view Comet Linear. Thiscomet is the first visual comet sincecomet Hale-Bopp. Although the maxi-

mum magnitude is predicted to be 4 to5, this is much dimmer than Hale-Bopp which was around -1 to -2.

I have been up to Cypress and it is quitedark when the ski lights are turned offas they are during the summer. TheMilky Way is quite evident and thehorizon is reasonably good except tothe north which is restricted by themountain itself.

The thought is to meet probably at the

Planetarium and go up to Cypress fromthere. Transportation for those who donot have cars can be arranged. To ar-range transportation and get the latestdetails as they become finalized, pleasecall one of the following people:

Bob Parry 215-8844

Bryan Kelso 261-8292

Angela Squires 734-9726

Hope to see you there. ­

Upcoming Comet and Star Gazing

Members� Gallery

Bill RonaldCorona Composite

(digital, using 12 exposures)Photographed from the deck of the "Vistafjord"on the centre-line in the Black Sea near the coast of Turkey.

Fuji NPH 400 print filmVista 508 80mm f/5 telescope with 2x teleconverterf10, (1/4000 to 1sec) on fixed tripod2:19pm, August 11, 1999

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