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Potpourri Meeting – Light Pollution Abatement and the new Dorner Telescope Museum
April 8, 2022 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Title: Light Pollution Abatement at the RASC
Speaker: Dr. Victoria Kramkowski, RASC Light Pollution Abatement Committee member
Abstract: Dr. Victoria Kramkowski will outline the purpose and work of RASC’s National Light Pollution Abatement Committee, including the issues that the National LPA Committee seeks to address. This will include an overview on types of light pollution and the impacts of light pollution on ecosystems and humans, including health, culture and public safety. Victoria will also delve into RASC’s Dark-Sky Site Program, including the different types of designations and existing RASC designated Dark Sky Sites. Finally, Victoria will also go over some of the additional tools being developed by the National LPA Committee to support RASC Centres in addressing light pollution and ways that members can get further involved.
Bio: Dr. Victoria Kramkowski is a professional in the fields of environmental planning and climate change, with a focus on working in various governmental sectors, including provincial, municipal, and other governmental agencies. Most recently this work has extended to protecting and rewilding the night sky and Victoria is a member of the RASC National Light Pollution Abatement Committee, where she is developing a toolkit for RASC members to advocate for night sky protections. Victoria has worked in academia, independent consulting, and the public sector and her current role in government relations for a conservation authority includes working with, and advocating to, various levels of government, as well as private landowners, community groups and other organizations and agencies in order to move forward environmental protection projects. Victoria has a PhD in environmental planning from York University and is also a member of the RASC National Science Committee and RASC Toronto Centre.
RASC Light Pollution Abatement website
Title: Building a Museum in a Time of Plague: the Dorner Telescope Museum
Speaker: Randall Rosenfeld
Abstract: The Dorner Telescope Museum was conceived in 2019 through the generosity of long-time RASC member Rudolph Dorner (1948–2022). Its goal is “to tell the story of the telescope in Canada—people, instruments, practices—through unlocking the potential of glass with a story”. Tonight you’ll learn something of the scope of the project—its acquisitions to date, the nature of the planning and design process to bring it from conception to reality, and planned programs to benefit RASC members, and the wider community.
Bio.: R.A. Rosenfeld is the Society’s Archivist, and the Director of the Dorner Telescope Museum. He has a particular interest in old observational records, and occasionally publishes on them. He is a Fellow of the RASC, and the IAU named asteroid 283990 in his honour.
Title: The Hennigar Telescope Legacy
Speaker: Kirby Alguire
Abstract: Tracing the history of a telescope made in the 1930s through to donation to the Dorner Telescope Museum at RASC HQ on March 23rd.
Kirby is a member of the Mississauga Centre, a member of Council and Co-chair of the Observing Committee