HAA Skywatch

The Astronomy & Space Exploration Society, based out of U of Toronto, will be holding their Annual Symposium on Fri Jan 20, 2012 at Convocation Hall (UoT) from 7pm to 10pm. There are 3 very interesting speakers lined up and admission is very reasonable if you order in advance. More information can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/79n7yc9
This may be of interest to HAA members and others who frequent our website.

The Phobos-Grunt Mars probe that has been stuck in low Earth orbit since early November is due to make a series of favourable passes over Hamilton in the upcoming week. When a booster rocket failed to put the probe in the proper location, a valuable Mars mission was lost and instead of going to Mars, it is doomed to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in the new year. It may be a poor substitute for the lost mission, but it makes for a spectacular satellite going overhead, so see it now while you can. Sightings for the upcoming week can be found on the Heavens-Above website:
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=37872&lat=43.096606&lng=-79.828561&loc=Binbrook+Conservation+Area&alt=197&tz=EST

Starting tonight there are several excellent opportunitites to see the Chinese space station, Tiangong 1, fly over. This unmanned station appears like other satellites, as a star (sometimes as bright as magnitude 0) travelling across the sky in a straight line and with no blinking lights.

Accompanying it is the Shenzhou 8, an unmanned craft being used to practice docking. The Shenzhou 8 will appear as a fainter light in the same orbital path, but could appear before or after the station. We don't know how long the docking practice will continue, so get out and see this pair while you can.

Here is a link to the Heavens-Above website with sighting predictions for the station. Good luck!
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=37820&lat=43.096606&lng=-79.828561&loc=Binbrook+Conservation+Area&alt=197&tz=EST

*****UPDATE*****
Shenzou 8 successfully returned to earth on November 17. You can still catch the Tiangong 1 space station as it flies overhead.

A reminder to all members that this is the new moon weekend coming up and a great opportunity to observe. This is also the busiest weekend of the year for star parties, and many of our members will be away. At times like this, when a keyholder is unavalable to open the park, there is an alternative observing location for you to use.

The alternative site is located at the west end of the park on Tyneside Road. Directions can be found here:
http://amateurastronomy.org/sites/binbrookCA/BinbrookTyneside1.jpg

There is parking just off the road and a small field to set up scopes. The sky is as dark as at the main site in the park, and no key is needed to access this site. This location is open to the public, so remember to be safe, take care of yourself out there and take care of the park.

Enjoy the dark sky and feel free to post any observing you do on this blog to share your experiences with your fellow members!

The Milky Way over Binbrook

Comet Garradd is well placed for evening viewing between the constellations of Delphinus and Sagitta.The comet is currently at magnitude 8.3 and should be visible in binoculars. I haven't observed it yet, but I expect you will need dark skies to see it. Here is a link to an excellent, printable, finder chart: http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/comets/2009_P1.pdf .