Free and Open to the Public 

Telus World of Science – Zeidler Dome

7:00 PM – Pre Meeting Mix & Mingle

7:30 PM – Meeting

Please note, the November meeting is the third Monday of the month due to Remembrance Day 

2020 RASC Calendars will be on sale at this meeting

Featured Speaker:

Dr Warren Finlay

“van Gogh, Turbulence and Star Formation: Are They Connected?”

Warren Finlay is a Distinguished University Professor and Canada Research Chair in Aerosol Mechanics at the University of Alberta. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Aerosol Science and Technology and is the recipient of numerous international awards for his research, as well as a lifetime designation as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.  As part of his duties as a professor at the University of Alberta he instructs a senior undergraduate course entitled “Busting Myths with Analysis”. His talk will touch on material from this course in which he examines the myth that van Gogh’s Starry Night painting captures turbulence like that occurring in star forming giant molecular clouds. As an amateur astronomer, he is the author of the book “Concise Catalog of Deep Sky Objects”, and is a Simon Newcomb award winner. He is also a passionate visual observer and is an award winning nightscape photographer.

 

Free and open to the public

Telus World of Science – Zeidler Dome

7:00 PM Pre meeting Mix & Mingle

7:30PM  Meeting

Please note the October meeting is the Third Monday of the month. 

2020 RASC Calendars will be on sale at this meeting

Featured Speaker:

Dr. Martin Connors

“How to die on the way to Mars“

“Space is Radioactive!” were words spoken by a junior researcher at the dawn of the Space Age. The Van Allen radiation belts had just been discovered, now over sixty years ago. How can a “vacuum” be radioactive? Magnetic fields trap high energy particles, shielding us from them while making a radioactive zone near our planet. When we venture beyond this protective shield, we take risks of a solar radiation storm, and a steady, known hazard from galactic cosmic rays. To make matters worse, mass must always be reduced in spacecraft, yet it is the best protection against radiation. This talk will look at the science behind radiation hazards, which is a bit different from that in the comic books. The sad conclusion is that we are likely to see people die in space unless this hazard is taken seriously.