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The Chris Graham Robotic Telescope

May 2008

by Craig Breckenridge
Vancouver Centre CGRT Coordinator

Back in early 2005, an individual approached some of the executive of Vancouver Centre to see if there would be any interest in participating in a remote-telescope project. Needless to say, Council thought this would be an excellent project to bring the ability to work in new technologies to our membership. The initial planning meetings with Chris Graham, the equipment owner, and the interested Vancouver Centre members were held and an agreement in principle was worked out; Chris would provide the equipment and most of the software, and the RASCVC would provide some setup expertise, operation labour, and processing experience. It was a match that would evolve over time with both sides learning a great deal about remote-telescope operation.

The other members of the Executive Committee, with the endorsement of the Board Pilot Committee, have appointed Dave Lane as RASC National President. Dave will complete the term of Scott Young, which ends on 2008 June 30 (the second National Council meeting at the GA). As a result of this, Dave has resigned from the position of 1st Vice-President, which we expect will remain vacant until the GA.

We welcome Dave to his new role, and we ask you to give him all of your usual support and enthusiasm.

A Cosmic Ocean of Islands

Our Universe is made up of a staggering amount of starry islands, we call galaxies. With the average galactic population of about 200 billion stars, astronomers believe there are more than 100 billion galaxies residing in the known Universe. These tiny patches of grey can only be glimpsed with a telescope or very large binoculars steadily mounted on a tripod. Like fish in the ocean swimming alone or in schools, galaxies are found by themselves or in small groups and clusters.