THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

                     STANDING COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATIONAL ACTIVITIES

FROM NATIONAL CHAIRMAN                                                   Bulletin No. 5


The Society's annual General Assembly affords our Committee the rare opportunity of
meeting in person instead of by correspondence. The meeting held at the General
Assembly in Winnipeg was a good one. Although not all members were present, it was
well attended and there was an atmosphere of enthusiasm. We discussed many matters
and it was the general feeling that, although the emphasis may have shifted from ora
field of observation to another, the interest in observational work is increasing and
there is more activity nay than a couple of years ago.

One of our chief concerns is to find the right people for Co-ordinators of the various
observing disciplines and, having found them, to persuade them to accept the responsibi-
lity. This year we were fortunate in obtaining two more Co-ordinators. Franklin
Loehde of the Edmonton Centre has agreed to be National Co-ordinator of Occultations,
while George Ball of the Victoria Centre will be National Co-ordinator, Instrumentation.
On the debit side we have to report that Geoffrey Gaherty, who has been Co-ordinator of
the Planetary Section for several years, can no longer give the time required, but Archie
Ostrander volunteered to take on the Planetary Section in addition to the Lunar Section
since the two are so closely related. The complete list is given below.

   Standing Committee:     Isabel K. Williamson (Montreal), Chairman
                           Pierre Lemieux (Centre Francais de Montreal)
                           Earl Milton, Ph.D. (Regina)
                           R. V. Ramsay (Toronto)

   National Co-ordinators:

   Aurora         - Earl Milton, Ph.D., Dept. Pbysics, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Regina,Sask.
   Comet & Nova   - Jim Low, 108 Roy Avenue, Apt. 102, Dorval, Que.
   Instrumentation- George Ball, 54 West Maddock Avenue, Victoria, B.C.
   Lunar          - A. Ostrander, 75 Rabbit Lane, Islington, Ont.
   Meteors        - S. A. Mott, 2049 Honeywell Avenue, Ottawa 13, Ont.
   Occultations   - Franklin Loehde, 8332 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alta.
   Planetary      - A. Ostrander, 75 Rabbit Lane, Islington, Out.
   Variable Stars - Terence Dickinson, 16 Palamar Road, Downsview, Ont.

With this Bulletin are enclosed bulletins from the Co-ordinators of the Aurora and the
Comet & Nova Sections. A short time ago you received Bulletin No.2 of the Variable
Star Section. Within the next few months you will be hearing from the other Sections.
It is our intention to send out series of bulletins every three or four months.

As we have stated before, the Standing Committee has three main objectives: (i) to keep
members informed of the observational activities of all Centres, (2) to give help and
encouragement to the Centres in developing observational programs, and (3) to develop,
ultimately, programs of definite scientific value in which the experienced amateur can
participate. We hope that you will respond to the bulletins you receive. If your
Centre is active in some field for which as yet there is no Coordinator, please write
to the National Chairman, for we really do want to hear about your activities.

                                          Isabel K. Williamson, Chairman,
                                          Standing Committee on Observational Activities,
                                          5162 Belmore Avenue,
July 1966.                                Montreal 29, Quebec.