The January Meeting that had EVERYONE on their feet!

This month’s meeting was one that should NOT have been missed!

The meeting started out with some updates on what has been a very busy month. First we had an overview of the club membership and we are up 4 members this month! Members were also reminded that they can buy 2016 calendars for just $15 (contact Bill Leggitt if you want to buy one).  Bill also played the role of Santa, giving 2 members their observatory key money back for the volunteer work they’ve done for the club.

There was an update on how well things are progressing with AstroCATS and with the CAPS photography school event (register if you want to come to this amazing event)!  We were also treated to a view of some of the things the board is working on with respect to a 5 year plan.  The big initiative for 2016 will be investing the time to see if the construction of a planetarium at the Royal Botanical Gardens is feasible.  Andy Blanchard has lined up various stakeholders and meetings will be held in the coming weeks and months to see if everybody can get together to work on this amazing project!

Following this amazing news, Roger Hill introduced the membership to our new Forum.  Every club member has been set up, so there is no need to register, just to start using it (contact Roger for your password). Roger went through a quick overview of the Forum and how it works, and encouraged members to start using it.  The Forum will replace email communications back and forth, and everybody is encouraged to start using it.

The coolest part of the meeting was Ted Rudyk showing us the cloud chamber (if you are interested in constructing your own, click here).  With this chamber, we were able to see alpha particles and electrons (and possibly some muons as well)!

Needless to say, everybody was up taking a close look to see these particles.  It was a really amazing experiment and was a huge hit!  Thanks to Ed Mizzi for the pictures from the day!

 

 

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