Sunday, March 6, 2022
Victoria, British Columbia
Mainly sunny. High 10. Low 3. Details, B4
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Victoria astronomer Tyrone Woods looks to go back in time in search of the first stars, with the aid of a spectacular new telescope
Ukraine’s future in doubt, Putin says The Associated Press LVIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war,” while a promised ceasefire in the besieged port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror. With the Kremlin’s rhetoric growing fiercer and a reprieve from fighting dissolving, Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians forced from their country grew to 1.4 million. By
Saturday night Russian forces had intensified their shelling of Mariupol, while dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said. Bereft mothers mourned slain children, wounded soldiers were fitted with tourniquets and doctors worked by the light of their cellphones as bleakness and desperation pervaded. Putin continued to pin the blame for all of it squarely on the Ukrainian leadership and slammed their resistance to the invasion. “If they continue to do what they are doing, they are call-
ing into question the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he said. “And if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience.” He also hit out at Western sanctions that have crippled Russia’s economy and sent the value of its currency tumbling. “These sanctions that are being imposed, they are akin to declaring war,” he said during a televised meeting with flight attendants from Russian airline Aeroflot. “But thank God, we haven’t got there yet.” Russia’s financial system suffered yet another blow as Mastercard and Visa announced they
were suspending operations in the country. Ten days after Russian forces invaded, the struggle to enforce the temporary ceasefires in Mariupol and the eastern city of Volnovakha showed the fragility of efforts to stop the fighting across Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said Russian artillery fire and airstrikes had prevented residents from leaving before the agreed-to evacuations got underway. Putin accused Ukraine of sabotaging the effort. A third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will take
place Monday, according to Davyd Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation. He gave no additional details, including where they would take place. Previous meetings were held in Belarus and led to the failed ceasefire agreement to create humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of children, women and older people from besieged cities. >See INVASION, A2 >First Nations show support, A8 >Plea to U.S. for warplanes, A9
WWF calls for tighter rules on ship dumping DARRON KLOSTER Times Colonist and The Canadian Press
Sid Sidhu in his mini-observatory in the Highlands. Sidhu has had an asteroid named after him after being nominated by the Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for his decades of outreach work. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
Amateur astronomer can see his name in stars after asteroid named for him PEDRO ARRAIS Times Colonist An amateur astronomer from Highlands who has spent almost four decades peering at the stars and inspiring youth can now train his telescope on an asteroid that bears his name. The International Astronomical Union announced last month that the asteroid formerly known as 10109 will be named Sidhu in honour of Sid Sidhu — an announcement that came as a complete surprise to the 86-yearold. The Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, of which Sidhu has been a member since 1985, had nominated him for the honour four years ago, but kept it a secret. Asteroid Sidhu, which is about 9.4 kilometres in diameter, orbits the sun outside the orbit of Mars. For the next three to four months, the asteroid will be visible with the help of a telescope. Discovered in 1992 by a stronomers at the Mount Palomar Observatory in California, it can be found southeast between the Virgo and Boötes constellations travelling slowly northeast. “I still don’t believe it — it
hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Sidhu, who was also awarded the national Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s President’s Award in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy. “It has been an exciting journey and it is humbling to be nominated for this honour.” Randy Enkin, president of the Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, said when Sidhu was informed of the honour, “he kept saying: ‘I don’t believe you! I don’t believe you!’ ” Enkin said thousands of Victorians have got their first glimpse of the moon, planets and distant objects in the universe thanks to Sidhu, including a few who ended up making a career out of astronomy. “The Victoria Centre unanimously approved the idea of putting Sid’s name forward for this honour, and we are pleased that the International Astronomical Union has joined us in recognizing Sid’s great work.” Each newly discovered asteroid needs to have its orbit sufficiently documented, a process that takes five to six years at a minimum and up to 10 years, to receive a permanent designation — a unique identifying number. Once it is designated, the honour
of naming it goes to the discoverer. However, some decline the opportunity and it can remain as a number for years. Individuals and organizations can put forward a name for consideration to the International Astronomical Union, which regulates the naming of asteroids. A special committee made up of a dozen astronomers from around the world reviews the applications once or twice a year. Sidhu, who attributes his lifelong love of astronomy to his inquisitiveness, has spent decades promoting astronomy in Greater Victoria. He leads the outreach program for the Victoria Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, where he would, pre-pandemic, give more than 70 presentations a year on the subject to students in Grades 1 through 6. He also runs the Victoria Centre’s telescope loaner program. Sidhu said he first peered into the cosmos for the first time on a family camping trip to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park in 1983, igniting a lifelong passion for exploring the universe. Because his hobby requires observing celestial objects in a dark sky, he and wife Carol Sidhu sold their Gordon Head
house to purchase property in Highlands on a lot with tall trees and no street lights. He then proceeded, with the help of a structural engineer, to build a miniobservatory in his backyard. On a clear night, he retracts the roof and uses his telescope to explore the stars. “I can’t think of a more deserving person to receive such an honour,” said Dave Balam, a professional astronomer with the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and the National Research Council since 2007. “Sid is an easy-going guy who is both humble and extremely competent.” Balam, who has discovered more than 600 asteroids in his career, said Sidhu’s asteroid is only the 547th with a Canadian connection. While some are named after astronomers or scientific institutions, one is named in honour of the Tsawout First Nation. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, which began in 1868, has more than 5,000 members across Canada. The Victoria Centre was founded in 1914 and currently boasts more than 200 members. Most members of the society are amateur astronomers. parrais@timescolonist.com
As the cruise-ship season starts to ramp up along the West Coast, an environmental group is calling on the federal government to tighten its rules and raise minimum standards around vessels dumping sewage and other waste in protected marine areas. World Wildlife Fund Canada said in a report this week that all types of ships operating in Canadian waters generate — and potentially dump — 147 billion litres of operational waste each year, the equivalent of 59,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The report said that nearly 10 per cent of what flows overboard goes into marine protected areas and other protected waters. It says one of the most at-risk areas in Canadian waters is the Scott Islands, the first marine National Wildlife Area established by the federal government in 2018. Covering 11,546 square kilometres off north Vancouver Island, the five Scott Islands are a key ecological breeding and nesting habitat for 40 per cent of the province’s seabirds, including 90 per cent of Canada’s tufted puffins and 95 per cent of Pacific Canada’s common murres. The area is also teeming with whales and stellar sea lions — and located along the major cruise-ship route to Alaska. After being shut down for two years because of the pandemic, the route will be active this year, with the large passenger ships plying B.C. coastal waters from early April through to October. In Victoria, 350 ship calls are scheduled for vessels sailing to Alaska. WWF-Canada based its report on 2019 data from movements of 5,546 ships in Canadian waters, and the four major waste streams those ships created, where waste is likely dumped and by what types of vessels. The waste streams in the study include sewage; toxic scrubber wash water; grey water from ship sinks, showers and laundries; and bilge waters that contain fuels and oils. >See SHIPPING, A2
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