th e trigger came in the spring the cabin in the sky...
TRANSCRIPT
NO
VAN
EW
SLE
TTE
RO
FTH
EVA
NC
OU
VE
RC
EN
TRE
RA
SC
VO
LUM
E20
12IS
SU
E1J
AN
UA
RY
FEB
RU
AR
Y20
12
JAN
UA
RY
12
UB
CPr
of.
Ray
Jaya
war
dhan
a of
the
Uni
-ve
rsity
of
Tor
onto
: Ro
cks,
Ic
e an
d Pe
ngui
ns: F
indi
ng M
eteo
rites
inAn
tarc
tica
FEB
RU
AR
Y 9
H
RM
SC
Dr.
Ed K
rupp
, Di
rect
or o
f th
e Gr
iffi th
Ob
serv
ator
y: T
ime’
s Up
: 201
2 an
d th
e M
aya
Cale
ndar
MA
RC
H 8
U
BC
Dr.
Cath
erin
e Jo
hnso
n of
UBC
Ear
th
and
Ocea
n Sc
ienc
es: T
he F
irst R
esul
ts
from
MES
SENG
ER a
t Mer
cury
The
Cabi
n in
the
Sky
Obse
rvat
ory:
How
ast
rono
my
chan
ged
ever
ythi
ng fo
r on
e lu
cky
fam
ilyby
How
ard
Trot
tier
(Par
t tw
o of
thre
e)O
n M
ay 1
2/13
of
2010
, I
was
fo
rtun
ate
to re
aliz
e a
drea
m sh
ared
by
man
y am
ateu
r as
tron
omer
s. I
took
fi rs
t lig
ht fr
om an
obs
erva
tory
th
at I h
ad bu
ilt at
a re
mot
e get
-aw
ay,
and
whi
ch b
y ce
rtai
n pr
ovid
ence
s I
was
abl
e to
equ
ip w
ith fi
rst-
rate
ge
ar.
I co
uld
now
cap
ture
the
de
epes
t of
dee
p-sk
y tr
easu
res.
As I
reco
unte
d in
the
fi rs
t pa
rt
of
this
stor
y (w
hich
app
eare
d in
th
e M
arch
/A
pril
2011
ed
ition
of nova
), th
e dr
eam
had
its
fi rs
t st
irrin
gs i
n m
y ca
se a
t su
mm
er c
amp,
whe
n I
was
abo
ut
12 y
ears
old
. I
owe
so m
uch
to
a ca
mp
coun
sello
r, w
hose
nam
e I
can
no l
onge
r re
mem
ber,
who
in
trod
uced
the
glo
ry o
f th
e ni
ght
sky
to a
gro
up o
f us
, the
ner
dies
t
kids
in
th
e ca
mp.
I
beca
me
obse
ssed
with
obs
ervi
ng, e
spec
ially
de
ep-s
ky
obje
cts.
I en
dles
sly
pour
ed o
ver
refe
renc
e bo
oks
and
star
cha
rts
to p
repa
re t
arge
t lis
ts,
and
to c
ome
up w
ith st
rate
gies
for
how
I m
ight
fi n
d th
ose
cele
stia
l tr
easu
rers
fro
m t
he s
idew
alk
in
fron
t of
my
pare
nts’
hom
e, u
nder
th
e he
avily
lig
ht-p
ollu
ted
skie
s of
urb
an M
ontr
eal.
I le
arne
d by
do
ing,
sav
ing
mon
ey f
rom
pap
er
rout
es to
buy
two
tele
scop
es (w
ith
help
fro
m m
y pa
rent
s).
And
all
the
whi
le I
dre
amt
abou
t bu
ildin
g m
y ow
n ob
serv
ator
y, eq
uipp
ed
with
“se
rious
gea
r,” a
nd l
ocat
ed
infi n
itely
far
fro
m c
ity
light
s; a
pl
ace
to w
hich
I w
ould
esc
ape
to
plum
b th
e dee
pest
of s
kies
.A
ft er h
igh
scho
ol, “
recr
eatio
nal”
as
tron
omy
all
but
disa
ppea
red
from
m
y lif
e.
Whe
n I
wou
ld
occa
siona
lly th
ink
back
to th
e tim
e w
hen
I had
bee
n co
nsum
ed
by
the
purs
uit
of
the
next
de
ep-
sky
won
der,
I w
as
puzz
led
at
how
that
dre
am,
once
so
pres
ent,
now
see
med
so
rem
oved
. Bu
t it
mus
t ha
ve b
een
ther
e al
l alo
ng,
just
und
er t
he s
urfa
ce, w
aitin
g fo
r th
e rig
ht ti
me a
nd tr
igge
r to
retu
rn
to th
e fo
re. A
nd w
hen
it di
d, I
had
a fa
mily
, an
d th
at d
ream
wou
ld
chan
ge e
very
thin
g fo
r all
of u
s.Th
e tr
igge
r ca
me
in t
he s
prin
g co
ntin
ued
on p
age
2
Firs
t lig
ht im
ages
with
a C
CD c
amer
a
2 ra
sc-v
anco
uver
.com
JA
NU
AR
YFE
BR
UA
RY
2012
of
2007
. I
had
been
te
achi
ng
Intr
oduc
tion
to A
stro
nom
y at
the
Si
mon
Fra
ser
Uni
vers
ity
phys
ics
depa
rtm
ent
for
seve
ral
year
s, an
d it
seem
ed li
ke a
goo
d id
ea t
o gi
ve
the
stud
ents
the
chan
ce to
do
a bi
t of
obs
ervi
ng. I
was
not
inte
ndin
g to
do
an
y se
rious
as
tron
omy
for
mys
elf.
My
goal
was
to
give
m
y st
uden
ts
the
oppo
rtun
ity
to
dire
ctly
ex
perie
nce
som
e of
th
e ce
lest
ial
won
ders
th
at
they
w
ere
only
hea
ring
abou
t in
the
cl
assr
oom
.I
pers
uade
d m
y C
hair
that
we
need
ed a
new
tel
esco
pe.
So,
on
beha
lf of
the d
epar
tmen
t, I o
rder
ed
a M
eade
LX
-200
8”
te
lesc
ope,
thro
ugh
Vanc
ouve
r Te
lesc
ope.
On
a la
st-m
inut
e w
him
, I d
ecid
ed
to a
dd a
sm
all cc
d i
mag
er t
o th
e or
der,
the
Mea
de d
si (
abou
t 0.
5 m
egap
ixel
, co
lour
on
e-sh
ot
vers
ion)
. I ha
d a va
gue i
dea t
hat c
cd
cam
eras
wer
e a
leap
for
war
d ov
er
the
earli
er e
ra o
f fi l
m e
mul
sions
, bu
t was
com
plet
ely
unaw
are
of th
e re
naiss
ance
that
was
taki
ng p
lace
in
amat
eur
astr
opho
togr
aphy
. Whe
n I
wou
ld o
ccas
iona
lly l
ook
at t
he
stun
ning
imag
es t
hat
appe
ared
on
Ast
rono
my
Pict
ure
of t
he D
ay,
I ha
d no
idea
that
“am
ateu
rs,”
usin
g th
eir
own
equi
pmen
t, pr
oduc
ed
man
y of
th
e m
ost
beau
tiful
port
raits
.Th
e de
pth
and
scop
e of
as
trop
hoto
grap
hy
wou
ld
be
the
trig
ger.
Soon
, I
wou
ld b
e ca
ught
up
in a
rev
olut
ion
bein
g dr
iven
by
new
and
rela
tivel
y aff o
rdab
le la
rge-
aper
ture
tel
esco
pes,
with
opt
ical
sy
stem
s de
signe
d fo
r ra
zor-
shar
p im
agin
g ov
er h
uge
fi eld
s, ca
rrie
d by
mou
nts o
f stu
nnin
g m
echa
nica
l pr
ecisi
on,
and
ccd
ca
mer
as
spec
ially
des
igne
d fo
r as
tron
omy,
alon
g w
ith
pow
erfu
l so
ft war
e fo
r ru
nnin
g th
e co
ntro
l sy
stem
s an
d pr
oces
sing
the
resu
lts. B
ut in
M
arch
200
7, w
hen
the sfu
gea
r ar
rived
, I h
ad n
o in
klin
g of
wha
t I
was
get
ting
into
.W
ithin
day
s, aft
er
tryi
ng o
ut
the
new
ge
ar
on
dow
ntow
n bu
ildin
gs
in
the
dayt
ime
from
m
y liv
ing
room
, I
had
my
fi rst
ev
enin
g of
ast
rono
mic
al i
mag
ing.
I
was
pre
tty
ambi
tious
, goi
ng f
or
the
Orio
n N
ebul
a an
d Sa
turn
, w
ith d
isapp
oint
ing
resu
lts, b
efor
e se
ttlin
g th
at n
ight
on
an e
asie
r ta
rget
, th
e M
oon.
Bu
t no
w
I w
as h
ooke
d. B
y ea
rly A
pril,
my
tech
niqu
e im
prov
ing,
I
got
a re
ason
able
imag
e of S
atur
n.W
ithin
a m
onth
, I w
as g
ettin
g
cont
inue
d fro
m p
age
1co
lour
imag
es o
f de
ep-s
ky o
bjec
ts
that
had
tra
nsfi x
ed m
e as
a k
id,
incl
udin
g th
e W
hirlp
ool
Gal
axy
and
the
Rin
g N
ebul
a (n
otic
e th
e ou
t-of
-focu
s st
ars
in
that
on
e!).
I w
as s
tunn
ed a
t w
hat
was
po
ssib
le
with
re
lativ
ely
mod
est
equi
pmen
t, ev
en
for
a ne
wbi
e, an
d in
the
hea
vily
lig
ht-p
ollu
ted
skie
s of
urb
an V
anco
uver
no
less
. Im
agin
e, c
aptu
ring
the
spira
l arm
s in
the
Whi
rlpoo
l, an
d th
e 15
th
mag
nitu
de
whi
te
dwar
f at
th
e ce
ntre
of t
he R
ing N
ebul
a, fr
om th
e ci
ty, i
n ju
st m
inut
es o
f ex
posu
re!
Th e
pass
ion
had
retu
rned
, fu
ll bo
re.
By
the
fall,
I
was
ro
utin
ely
imag
ing
at sfu
, fi rs
t fo
r st
uden
ts
in m
y A
stro
nom
y co
urse
, and
then
m
ore
broa
dly
for
mem
bers
of
the
publ
ic,
who
w
ould
at
tend
st
ar
part
ies u
nder
the b
anne
r of “
Star
ry
Nig
hts @
sfu
” (b
ut th
at’s
anot
her
stor
y). O
ne o
f the
fi rs
t im
ages
that
I
shot
at sfu
was
tha
t O
ctob
er,
of C
omet
Hol
mes
, loo
king
lik
e a
cosm
ic b
owlin
g ba
ll, w
ith s
ome
stud
ents
fro
m m
y cl
ass
wat
chin
g th
e fra
mes
dow
nloa
ding
“liv
e.”M
eanw
hile
, I h
ad b
een
thin
king
The
seco
nd n
ight
: Sat
urn
M51
, the
Whi
rlpoo
l Gal
axy
(left)
and
M57
, the
Rin
g Ne
bula
(rig
ht)
cont
inue
d on
pag
e 6
JAN
UA
RY
FEB
RU
AR
Y20
12
rasc
-van
couv
er.c
om
11
VA
NC
OU
VER
TEL
ESC
OP
E C
ENTR
ES
ervi
ng t
he A
stro
nom
ers
of V
anco
uver
and
Bri
tish
Col
umbi
a si
nce
20
04
Nic
kola
s S
eiflo
w a
nd K
eith
Mac
Nut
t2
58
0 B
urra
rd S
tree
t, V
anco
uver
, BC
V6
J 3
J7Te
l: 6
04
-73
7-4
30
3 e
mai
l: in
fo@
vanc
ouve
rtel
esco
pe.c
om
Gem
ini S
ight
s
M35
(lef
t) an
d th
e fa
inte
rNG
C 21
58 (l
ower
righ
t)
Imag
e cr
edit:
N. A
. Sha
rp/N
OAO/
AURA
/NSF