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Walter's YearBook |
| 1983 |
| April 1983 My First |
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With the help of my friend Steve Chomniak, I installed a 6"x9' square tubed pier sunk 5' in the ground with concrete. The extra height allowed me to observe at comfort near the zenith. Later this pier would be installed in LCO at the Farm. |
| May 1983 |
In May, this big, naked eye comet (named IRAS-Araki-Alcock) moved across the sky in only 4 days! I wouldn't see a comet this good again until 1990.  |
Above: Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock
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| June 1983 |
Pioneer 10 became the first probe to leave the solar system when it passed the orbit of Pluto this month. |
| July 1983 |
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A nice conjunction of Venus & Regulus occurred; closest approach was July 9th.
Photo taken at "The Farm". |
| July 1983 RASC |
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From left to right: Walter MacDonald, Johnny Curtain, Glenyce MacDonald, Joan Curtain, Lionel Armtstrong, Eric Galt, Scott Ramsay (rear), Les MacDonald, Steve Spinney
Sat/Sun July 16/17, 1983: The RASC Toronto Centre Holleford Crater Expedition wrapped up with a night of observing at The Farm. The picture above is rather grainy because it was taken with an exciting new film introduced in 1983: Kodak VR-1000. This was the beginning of the truly high-speed film era. Before this, commonly available films ranged only from 25 to 400 ASA. After this, even faster print/slide films were developed and their quality improved which made astrophotography easier than ever before. |
| 1983
Lex von |
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| Left to right: Lex von Treifeldt, Scott Ramsay, me. Sitting on the front porch at the Old MacDonald Farm. |