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Join us this Friday June 11 at 7:30 PM for our members meeting as we welcome Robert Chapman as our special guest speaker. Robert will be delivering his popular talk “The Life of a Star”.
Robert is one of the provinces most accomplished observers, having completed many observing programs from the Astronomical League and the RASC as well as creating his own. Observing now from just outside Algonquin Park, Robert is working toward completing his lifetime goal of observing all 2,500 objects on the original Herschel list.
Join us this Friday April 9th for our April members meeting. Our very special guest this month is Mary Beth Laychak, Director of Strategic Communications for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.
Mary Beth will be giving us an overview of this world-class observatory, and the great work they do there. This is an extraordinary opportunity to get an insider’s view of this amazing facility and talk to one of the staff there. This will truly be a CAN’T MISS EVENT!
There will also be another installment of The Sky This Month with Christopher Strejch filling in for Matthew Mannering this month, along with an assortment of door prizes!
Members will receive a ZOOM link for the meeting and all others can watch via our YouTube channel here. Subscribe if you haven’t done so already so you can watch past meetings as well as some additional content.
We hope to “see” you there!
Photo credit: www.cfht.hawaii.edu
Please be advised that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Perseids event scheduled for August 15 has been cancelled. Public safety for all is our main concern and look forward to hosting this event again in 2021. For more details on the Perseids you can visit here.
The latest issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!
In this issue you’ll find…
- The Sky This Summer 2020
- What Have I Been Doing During The Lockdown?
- CaLIGHTs DSO Astrophotography Image Calibration Tool — June 2020 Update!
- NASA Night Sky Notes
- Eye Candy
- Plus More
Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.
Photo credit: Sketch of Solar Prominences, by John Gauvreau.
Today HAA is launching a new portal to help education, inform, and entertain the children in our lives as we adjust to the new normal of social distancing and remaining at home to flatten the curve.
To that end, we will be posting a daily astronomy or STEM based activity to help foster the learning process.
The new portal can be accessed here.
Join us on November 8th 2019 at 7:30pm – Admission is free and everyone is welcome!
HAA welcomes Trevor Jones as our guest speaker for our first meeting at McMaster Innovation Park, our new home.
Trevor Jones is the creator of AstroBackyard, a popular astrophotography website and YouTube Channel. From his light polluted backyard in St. Catharines, Ontario, he captures deep sky objects using a variety of camera and telescope equipment. Trevor brings his YouTube audience along for the ride, through every mistake, triumph, and especially run-ins with his black lab mix, Rudy.
Continue ReadingOur public solar observing and stargazing event scheduled for today has been cancelled due to the extreme heat. Please join us on August 9 for our Annual Public Perseids Meteor Shower Night at Binbrook Conservation Area.
Join us on February 8th 2019 at 7:30pm – Admission is free and everyone is welcome!
These cold, cloudy months have undoubtedly frustrated many a backyard observer. With warmer temperatures and spring skies just around the corner our talk this month addresses the topic of planning a successful observing session. This talk is designed to get you back in field with your telescope by relating timely tips to help you get the most from your limited observing opportunities. Drawing on his considerable observing experience and time at the eyepiece, our speaker this month, Bernie Venasse, says ‘Thank you Mother Nature’ and to remember to bring a paper and pen (and a friend!).
Continue ReadingRoger Burrough, the owner of Hamilton’s Camtech Photo & The Scope Shop, has passed away. Roger was a longtime supporter of the local astronomy community and we will miss him very much.
Visitation & services are this Saturday. Details can be found here.
1960’s Star Trek could only imagine the power we wield today with our smart phones and the amount of information available at our fingertips. I’m never far from my phone, dawning it from my pocket whenever I need a bit of information or to access some tool for a task at hand. Somewhat akin to Mr. Spock’s tricorder, using astronomy apps I can point my phone at the cosmos and see what star is in view, when the International Space Station will cross the sky or predict upcoming aurora. Here is a list of some of the apps I use and while I’ll be focusing on iOS apps, many of these or similar are also available for Android and other platforms.
Be it under a night sky or riding the train home from work, Aurora Forecast provides up-coming aurora predictions and includes a 3D view of the Earth showing exactly where the aurora is presently visible. Added details such as solar wind speed and density help provide a complete picture which can be fascinating on its own even if the aurora is not visible.