MKSP 2012

Synopsis for 2012

For 2012 we have a list of the Speakers, the Pins Awarded and The Prize winners. And some images taken at the event.

Pins and Awards

Congratulations to the observing program pin recipients at the 2012 MKSP
NAME UNAIDED EYE BRIGHT OBJECTS STANDARD LIST CHALLENGE LIST
Joanne Paulson Pin Awarded Pin Awarded
Laura Stewart Pin Awarded Pin Awarded

SPEAKERS and TOPICS

Talks given at the August 11 - August 19 2012 MKSP
DATE TIME SPEAKER TOPIC
Wed 15 15:00 Lee Johnson Cepheus: King of Everything Except/Messiers. This presentation will highlight supergiant stars, planetary nebulae, emission nebulae, open clusters and even a galaxy in this giant constellation which,oddly, has no Messiers objects in it.
Wed 15 22:30 Murray Paulson The Mount Kobau Binocular Star Walk - Ever-popular, Murray's low-magnification tour shows off many highlights of Mount Kobau skies.
Thur 16 20:20 Jack Dudych Astro-camping with Solar Power. This talk looks at how solar energy can be used to enhance your camping experience(and that of everyone with earshot of your camp).Topics include keeping yourself cool and bug-free, charging an RV battery, keeping food cold, running household AC appliances, basic electrical concepts, electrical safety, determining an energy budget, solar energy system components (and how to specify them), construction tips, how to kill a battery, solar energy system management, a brief history of the invention of the silicon solar cell, and designing a solar array that would be equivalent in power (by day) to Chernobyl reactor #4.
Fri 17 15:00 Jason Rickerby Time, Position and a Bit of Astronomy. You may have the time, but what time do you have? As amateur astronomers we are likely all familiar with Greenwich, England, and the astronomical relationship of this location to setting the worlds clocks. However Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) has not been the global standard for time since January 1, 1972. What was GMT? What replaced GMT? Do the world’s clocks still tick to astronomical time, or something different? If you have a birthday on February 29th, you know how frequently a Leap Year occurs, but what about a Leap Second? Why is any of this important anyway?
Fri 17 20:20 Chris Beckett Rich Field Observing and wonderous wide sky. In recent years, inexpensive wide-field eyepieces, portable refractors, large and imaged-stabilized binoculars, and fast (sub-f/4) reflectors, have increased in popularity, while dark-sky preserves continue to spring up as attractive observing destinations. Such equipment and sites lend themselves to viewing wondrous wide-field deep-sky objects, but despite these equipment advances the prevailing observing guides recommend objects best suited for high powers and small fields of view. This talk will explore rich-field DSO’s from the easy & often overlooked to challenge objects.
Sat 18 20:20 Murray Paulson The Transit of Venus from Yellowknife, NWT

Winners of the 2012 Prizes

Images taken at the 2012 Event