At
the Royal BC Museum and the Beginning of 2016 Public Night-Sky Viewing at the
Centre of the Universe
International Astronomy Day 2016
takes place in Victoria on Saturday, May 14th, with
daytime activities at the Royal BC Museum from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, and public
telescope viewing at the National Research Council of Canada’s Dominion
Astrophysical Observatory and the Centre of the Universe from 8:00 pm to 11:00
pm in the evening.
Astronomy Day activities will begin
at 10 am at the Royal BC Museum with solar telescopes for safely viewing the
sun and the RASC’s famous “Walk among the Planets” display outside on the main
concourse.
Inside Clifford Carl Hall there will
be telescope, mirror grinding, astrophotography and historical displays.
RASC volunteers and Science Venture students from the University of Victoria
will engage children with hands-on activities.
There will be two lecture presentations
on astronomy in the Newcombe Conference Hall, one at 1:00 p.m. and a second at
2:00 p.m. All of the Astronomy presentations, displays and workshops are free,
but regular admission charges apply to the permanent galleries of the Royal BC
Museum and the IMAX theatre.
The RASC’s Victoria Centre and NRC
Herzberg will host evening activities for International Astronomy Day on
Observatory Hill, 5071 West Saanich Rd., from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm, rain or
shine. The co-hosts will welcome visitors with tickets to Observatory
Hill starting at 7:30 pm.
The Centre of the Universe exhibits
will be open and tours of the Observatory will be given every half hour.
The historic Plaskett Telescope will be open for tours, and RASC members will
have personal telescopes set up for public viewing if weather permits.
Astronomer Ivar Arroway will present a public lecture on the Kuiper Belt at the
edge of our solar system at 8:00 pm.
Astronomy Day 2016 marks the
beginning of 2016 public events at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory put
on by the Victoria Centre of the RASC. Further public events at the DAO will
take place this spring and summer on the following Saturday evenings: May 21
and 28, June 4 and 11, July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, and August 6, 13 and 20.
Entry to the Observatory grounds for
all public evenings in 2016, including May 14, is by ticket ONLY.
Tickets are FREE. To obtain your entry ticket, please go to: https://summerstarparties.eventbrite.ca
The RASC Victoria Centre is proud of
its history and association with both amateur and professional astronomy in
Victoria and its mandate for public education in Astronomy. Come
celebrate International Astronomy Day with the RASC on May 14!
For
more information please go to our website at www.victoria.rasc.ca
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