Larry McNish Calgary astronomer Photo credit: From the Calgary Herald article: "Calgary Herald Best of Alberta 2010-5" by Colleen De Neve Biography: Larry is a retired Computer Consultant with a BSc in Electrical Engineering and has been an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer for the past 26 years. He is currently the First Vice-President and Webmaster of the Calgary Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) which is a non-profit organization of 4000 amateur astronomers affiliated with 29 coast-to-coast regional 'centres'. After he and his family moved to Calgary from Winnipeg in 1988, Larry joined the Calgary Centre of the RASC in 2003, volunteered to be the Webmaster of its extensive astronomy web site (calgary.rasc.ca) in 2004 and also served as its president from 2006-2008. Larry served on the Organizing Committee for "Astronomy Roundup 2007" which saw over 300 members of the Canadian RASC, and the American AAVSO and ALPO organizations hold their annual meetings at a joint astronomy conference at the University of Calgary in the summer of 2007. In 2008, Larry was pleased to preside over events surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Calgary Centre of the RASC. In 2008-2009 Larry was on the regional Organizing Committee for the Calgary and area events for the International Year of Astronomy and attended at many public outreach events during the IYA. Larry also designed and constructed observatory buildings for their Centre and the University of Calgary's. The RASC Calgary Wilson Coulee Rolloff Roof Observatory The University of Calgary's RAO Rollaway Building Observatory When he's not working on educational articles or Public Outreach Event photo pages for their website, Larry can usually be found at any public "star night" in the Calgary and surrounding area with his computer-guided telescope showing members of the public the stars, planets and deep-sky objects. The Orion Nebula by Larry Larry and his Celestron NexStar-8 telescope Larry's scope Larry's Public Outreach Event photo pages can be found here and here. Free Astronomy applications created for the web: Dark Sky Calculator When will the sky be dark this month? (and a host of other astronomical information in a monthly calendar format.) Night Sky Planner Generate a customized table of what's visible on any night from anywhere in the world. Astronomical Time Displays astronomical (sidereal time) on your PC Messier Marathon Planner Plan your Messier Marathon observing session Larry's Top Ten Astronomy Articles: (based on web count hits to Educational Articles on the Calgary RASC website) A Complete Guide to Right Ascension and Declination Can a telescope see the Lunar Landers or Lunar Rovers on the Moon? How Fast Are We Moving? The Solar System The Atmosphere, Astronomy and Green Lasers The Sun, The Moon, and Eclipses The Biggest Things in the Sky Can planets and stars be seen in the daytime sky? Field Rotation with an Alt-Az Telescope Mount Frequently Asked Questions About Space Some Cooperation on International Projects: Lunar Parallax - University of South Africa World Map of Astronomical Observatory Sites - European Southern Observatory The Satellite Tracker User Manual Pictures of the Day: Earth Science Picture of the Day June 07, 2008 Earth Science Picture of the Day April 03, 2013 Optics Picture of the Day Speaker Topics: "The Greatest Unsolved Mysteries in Astrophysics" - Larry explains more than 20 conundrums that scientists are still struggling with as they try to make sense of our Universe. A one-hour light-hearted presentation for general audiences. "Astronomy Videos" - Larry has created over a dozen astronomy music videos from time-lapse photographs or simulations to describe some of the interesting aspects of space. Entertainment Suitable for a one-hour session for all ages. Free Video: "A Year and a Half of SOHO Sun" - This video creation showing Solar activity from January 2010 through July 2011 was created by Larry from the ESA and NASA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft images and is now hosted and available for free downloading as a SOHO "Hot Shot" at SOHO. A "FAQ" page about my music video can be found here Contact Information: