International Year of Astronomy has been a resounding success in our country and around the world but here in Victoria, British Columbia, the RASC Victoria Centre proudly completed one amazing accomplishment that I don’t think was duplicated anywhere else in Canada in 2009.  For one hundred hours ( and five minutes to be exact), from 7:00pm on Tuesday, April 28th to 11:05 pm on Saturday May 2nd, members of the Royal Astronomical Society in Victoria took astronomy to the community at large and gave well over two thousand locals, tourists, and school children their 2009 Galileo Moments.

Our Mammoth Marathon, named for the famous mascot in the Royal British Columbia Museum, began on the sidewalk outside of the Museum right in the heart of downtown Victoria.  As patrons came out from viewing the IMAX show, Cosmic Voyage, and hearing a presentation from one of our local professional astronomers, we deftly corralled them to join us to look through the telescopes at the moon and Saturn. The expected “oohs” and “aahs” erupted around us as we talked to many people that evening.

As the wee hours of the night came on two ardent volunteers bundled up and took command of the tented area.  It was a cold and lonely place as we found out quickly that Victoria is not too much of a “happening place” and that washrooms are few and far between in that area of town at three A.M. Needless to say our numbers of public observers were rather thin that night but when the new cohort of volunteers showed up early the next morning to let the “overnighters” go home there were still smiles all round as Venus was rising and the Sun peeked out behind the buildings.

Over twenty-five dedicated volunteers continued the shifts all day and all night through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Throngs of tourists from all over the world stopped by to do solar and night time viewing, ask about International Year of Astronomy, and chat about Victoria.  School kids tumbled out of buses and locals, rushing by to get to work, took a peek through the telescopes.  We gave out lots of Astrocards and ran out of the RASC Planispheres early on.  We had people who came by during the day and then again at night, bringing their families and friends with them.  We were blessed this whole time with fantastic weather and, from all accounts, volunteers and the public alike, the Mammoth Museum Marathon was a big success.  But it was not over yet.

At about the 85 hour mark, on Saturday morning, the tent was taken down at the museum site and all the activity for Astronomy Day moved to the Centre of the Universe at the Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics.   Unfortunately our good weather deserted us and we had some overcast, wet weather for most of the day. One volunteer, undaunted, set out his telescope on the deck but had to huddle under cover by the afternoon as the winds and the rains came.  Lots of other activities were taking place inside, however, and Astronomy Day was a terrific success despite the weather.

But, somehow, the end of the marathon was, perhaps, the most memorable.  A few members had gone back up to the Centre of the Universe to hear a speaker that evening. There were a several dozen in attendance and, at the end of the presentation, we set out telescopes in the shelter of the deck.  There was a tremendous wind storm and the black clouds were scudding across the sky. It poured rain at one point.  The branches of trees were littering the parking lot.

It was freezing cold.  Did this prevent our marathoners from continuing?  Not one little bit.  They were determined that the conditions were not going to get the better of them and they were not going to put the telescopes away until 11:00 pm to make sure the One Hundred hours were formally put in.  

And then just about 10:30 pm the wind started whisking away the clouds from the south and the sky began clearing.  First a few stars, then the moon, and finally Saturn come out as clear as if there was not a cloud in the sky.  The Centre was closing up and at the end we had just four visitors but they were mesmerized by how great the seeing was.  Some great pictures of the visitors looking through the telescopes were taken and we asked two of them their names so we could put them in our Victoria Skynews newsletter.  And here is where the story makes a great ending.  One of the young women was the daughter of a friend and member of our Society, Blaire Pellatt, who had unexpectedly passed away earlier this year. He had been such a passionate advocate of sidewalk astronomy and was so involved in getting our Centre and members to take Astronomy to the streets that it seemed as if, with his daughter present right at the end of our Hundred Hour marathon, that he was saying thanks to us for carrying on his passion. 

Everyone in the RASC Victoria Centre supported this Mammoth challenge and we could not have done it without the time and effort over several months of a couple of important individual members and the many volunteers who came to the Museum and the Centre of the Universe for all one hundred hours… and five minutes.  It was a great Mammoth Marathon.  Now, who is signing up for next year….?