The Running Man Nebula

globe, multiplying our own efforts many times over in theyears to come.7) Transport Canada has expressed a willingness to workcollaboratively with the RASC to help educate Canadiansabout the safe and responsible use of green-laser pointers,and to help reduce irresponsible and hazardous use of thesedevices. Transport Canada acknowledges the legitimacyof green-laser pointer use in astronomy education andoutreach activities. Partnering with Transport Canada inthis way gives us a golden opportunity to have a say in anyfuture legislation that may be developed around the use ofGLPs. Expect to see more about this collaborative work inthe months to come.8) Last, but definitely not least, we finally have a full complementof dedicated, competent, and talented staff in theNational Office. Office procedures are being honed, androutine tasks are becoming, well, routine! This means wewill be able to devote much more of our energies to thethings we want to do, enjoy doing, and should be doing asa Society, instead of being focussed almost exclusively on“keeping the RASC lights on.”The RASC would not exist without its members, its Centres,and its volunteers, who work tirelessly at the local and nationallevels. It is your commitment and dedication that makes our Societywhat it is today – a Society internationally recognized for qualityand integrity in its work. When I look at the list of successstories from the most recent National Council meeting, I amcompelled to acknowledge here and now the superb volunteerwork done by our members, Centres, committees – indeed, allof our volunteers. This last year has seen significant contributionsfrom some very busy committees, most especially theMembership and Promotion, Light-Pollution Abatement,Green-Laser Pointer, Education, and IT committees (well, OK,the Executive Committee, too). My thanks go to everyone whohas worked hard to make good things happen in and for theRASC over the past year.I look forward with great optimism to what the next yearwill bring. I trust you also share in my optimism for a vibrantfuture in the RASC!Quo ducit Urania! VFeature ArticlesArticles de FondThe Grand Schism inCanadian Astronomy I: TheRise and Fall of Mount Kobauby Victor GaizauskasHerzberg Institute of Astrophysics,National Research Council of CanadaVictor.Gaizauskas@nrc.gc.ca1. IntroductionFeature articles in the JRASC 2008 October issue marked the30th anniversary of “first light” for the Canada-France-HawaiiTelescope (CFHT) and the 90th anniversary of the 1.8-mPlaskett Telescope at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory(DAO). The CFHT ranks high among the world’s mostscientifically productive optical telescopes. The success of theCFHT is one of the highlights in a string of major innovationsover the past three decades that has transformed Canadianastronomy and elevated it to a significant internationalpresence.The scale of the transformation is astounding when viewedfrom our position in astronomy 40 years earlier. In 1968,optical astronomy was in a state of crisis. A project had justFigure 1 — Summit camp 1966 October 06: storage/workshop nearest yellowconvertible with proud owner E. Pfannenschmidt; office/dormitory; commissary/dormitory.Mast rising above trees at upper right marks proposedlocation of dome for QEII Telescope.collapsed to build a 3.8-m telescope as a national facility on aBritish Columbian mountain bordering the west side of theSouth Okanagan Valley. The project had been initiated by theastronomers at DAO in the early ’60s. They were intent onsupplanting their 1.8-m reflector with a much larger moderntelescope placed at a location in Canada with superior seeingconditions. The search for that superior site, spearheaded byGraham Odgers, settled on Mt. Kobau, which rises above thetowns of Osoyoos and Oliver to an elevation of 1862 m abovesea level.June / juin 2011JRASC | Promoting Astronomy In Canada95