New Online Series!

Calling astronomers new and old! We have developed several online webinar series to keep you all entertained during this period of isolation. Find details on each series in the menu to the left. Registration for all sessions is limited to 500 people. All sessions will be livestreamed to our YouTube Channel or available at the links below in the members' area after the webinar.

The Insider's Guide to the Galaxy

Tuesdays, 3:30pm ET
Join RASC member Chris Vaughan and outreach coordinator Jenna Hinds for a series on introductory astronomy. Learn how to download and use Stellarium, complete some Scavenger Hunts and have all your space questions answered.

Self-Isolation Star Parties!

Every other Wednesday (starting April 8th, ending May 20th), 10:30pm ET
Hosted by Astronomy in Action's Ryan Marciniak and RASC outreach coordinator Jenna Hinds! We will discuss different topics each week with guest experts. Weather- and Moon-permitting, we will be exploring the night sky live using The RASC Robotic Telescope in California!

Speaker Series

Please check website for specific events
We will be hosting speakers from across The RASC for all to watch.

How to Use the Observer's Handbook

Mondays at 3:30pm ET (starting April 6th, ending May 25th, no session May 18th)
THIS IS AVAILABLE FOR MEMBERS ONLY
Want to get more use out of your Observer's Handbook? RASC members are invited to join Handbook Editor James Edgar, RASC outreach coordinator Jenna Hinds, and some Handbook section authors as we go through how to use each section of the book.

A Message from RASC President Chris Gainor
March 23, 2020

To the Members of The RASC,

I am writing today to update you on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

General Assembly

First, I am announcing the cancellation of the 2020 General Assembly, which was set to take place in Vancouver in early June. I’m sure that I need not elaborate on the reasons behind this decision. The prospect of a lengthy period of social distancing due to the coronavirus and the difficulties this has imposed on the organizers of the GA made it clear that we should cancel this event, the first time this has happened in the more than 60 years of RASC General Assemblies.

Hayley Miller and her team at the Vancouver Centre have been doing a tremendous job preparing for this event, and their work will pay off in some virtual events which we shall announce in the coming days. Those who have already registered for the GA will soon hear about refunds for their registration fees. In making this decision, we hope that RASC members will be able to gather at a GA in Vancouver in the not too distant future.

The RASC will hold an Annual General Meeting later this year. More details on this event will be communicated once they are available.

As you know, we have advised centres to move all meetings and talks online. All centres should cancel all public outreach events during the COVID-19 emergency.

The RASC has a long history going back more than 150 years. That history is so long that the situation we are currently facing with the coronavirus is not without precedent. Some members will be aware that during the great influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1920, a number of RASC meetings were cancelled to protect the health of members back then.

We will continue keep members posted during this period as events warrant.

Keep healthy and keep looking up!

Chris Gainor, Ph.D.
President, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
250-361-5553
cgainor (at) shaw.ca
rasc.ca

March 16, 2020

In light of recent events occurring across the world and at home, The RASC National Office has made the decision to temporarily close its office location in Etobicoke. As health officials have recommended, all of our staff are now safe, working from home. 

National Office will be providing Centres with a special Zoom account to host virtual Centre, council and member meetings. We will be offering training to Centres on how to do this. We will be reaching out to Centre Presidents with more details shortly.

During the next few weeks, you might find yourself with some time on your hands, particularly if you are self-isolating at home. If that is the case, we have you covered. All of our members have access to some of the Robotic Telescope Data, which you can work with as you like. You can find all the data we have collected  here .

If you have questions regarding the virus, the General Assembly, or any actions that you as a member should take, please contact Executive Director Phil Groff at phil (at) rasc.ca

If you have questions regarding accounting, please contact Renata Koziol at nationaloffice (at) rasc.ca

If you have questions about membership or orders, or would like to sign up as a new member, please contact Adela Zyfi at mempub (at) rasc.ca

If you have questions for the Marketing and Communications Coordinator, please contact Eric at eric.wickham (at) rasc.ca

If you have questions about how to do outreach at this time, existing outreach programs, activities for kids or adults to do at home, or about our planned member Zoom trainings, please contact Jenna Hinds at jenna.hinds (at) rasc.ca

ADVISEMENT FROM NATIONAL OFFICE

Centre Meetings and Talks

For regular centre meetings or talks, we recommend moving your meetings online. We are using Zoom as a platform, and will make it available to you through online training sessions. Zoom login information will be shared with presidents (who can then share it with their event planners). A webinar account with room for 100 participants will be available for use at meetings.

Outreach Events

We recommend that all outreach events be cancelled or postponed at least until June. There are too many opportunities to share materials at these events. Please note that Astronomy By The Bay hosts online star parties on Sunday evenings on their YouTube Channel. If you have requests from individuals to host star parties, or want to take part in observing while also staying self-isolated, please check out Astronomy By The Bay’s YouTube Channel and tune in Sunday nights!

ZOOM TRAININGS

We will be hosting a series of trainings on Zoom, both regular meetings and webinars. We want members to feel comfortable with the technology in case their centres decide to move meetings online. Some meetings will have multiple times. This is because Webinars are currently limited to 500 people, and we want to allow as many members as we can to join these meetings. If they fill up, we will create more. We will start scheduling practice webinar sessions for Centre Presidents or Event Planners who are interested in practicing starting the week of March 23 ^rd . Please contact Jenna at jenna.hinds (at) rasc.ca if you would like to practice hosting a webinar. You must practice hosting a webinar before receiving the login information for our account.