Join Us – All Welcome for the Annual Perseid Meteor Shower Event this August 12, 2017

Free Admission

Watch the Perseids meteor shower with the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers at the Binbrook Conservation Area from 8 to 11 p.m. on Saturday August 12. Admission is free so bring the whole family for a fun evening under the stars! There will also be a meteorite display, night sky tour and members will set-up their telescopes for observing celestial objects.

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The Hamilton Amateur Astronomers’ very own John Gauvreau will be speaking at Hamilton & Grimsby Public Libraries between July and October. Well worth checking out, John covers a wide range of astronomical topics both informative and entertaining.

Be sure to visit an event near you!

• Thursday July 13 – 2:30pm – Terryberry Library.  Kids show.
• Friday July 28 – 2:30pm – Red Hill Library.  Kids show.
• Wednesday August 9 – 2:30pm – Barton Library.  Kids show.
• Monday September 18 – 6pm – Saltfleet Library.  General audience.  ‘The Past, Present and Future of Planet 9’
• Tuesday September 19 – 7pm – Grimsby Library.  General audience.  ‘Tour of the Universe’
• Thursday September 21 – 7pm – Terryberry Library.  TBA (I’m not doing this talk, Bernie is)
• Thursday September 28 – 7pm – Turner Park Library.  General audience.  ‘The Past, Present and Future of Planet 9’
• Thursday October 5 – 7pm – Westday Library. General audience.  ‘The Past, Present and Future of Planet 9’

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Public Solar Observing Event at Confederation Park, June 24^th

Join the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers at Confederation Park for an evening of solar viewing. Fun and educational for the whole family, club members will be on-hand to answer cosmic questions. Telescopes will be setup to view our closest star through.
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The Hamilton Amateur Astronomers will have solar eclipse glasses available at upcoming events between now and the August 21^st event. Please be sure to visit the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers at one of our stargazing events and grab yourself a pair. If you have questions about the upcoming solar eclipse, be sure to ask! Our club members are happy to share their experience and offer tips for great viewing.

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The latest issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!

In this issue you’ll find…

• The Sky For Summer 2017
• Letters From BASEF Winners
• May 2017 General Meeting Summary
• Upcoming Events & McCallion Planetarium Shows
• Eye Candy

Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.

Photo credit: Crescent Moon by John Gauvreau.

General Meeting for June 9^th 2017.

With space exploration making it’s way back to public interest with the recent flyby of Pluto, new Chinese space stations, talk of manned missions to Mars, top-secret US Air Force space planes and private companies like SpaceX making leaps and bounds in rocket technology, we often overlook the men and women behind​ the shiny rockets and high tech space probes. Join Kevin as he counts down his list of the 10 Most Influential People in space history – the scientists, engineers, politicians, and of course the astronauts themselves, who’s efforts have resulted in the success of humanity’s journey from home to explore the cosmos.
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The May issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!

In this issue you’ll find…

• The Sky This Month
• A Quebec Star: The Ball House
• April 2017 General Meeting Summary
• Upcoming Events
• Cartoon Corner

Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.

Photo credit: Orion by Everett Cairns

General Meeting for May 12^th 2017.

This Spring SkyShed is launching POD MAX, a “mid sized” observatory at 12.5′ in diameter, and the POD MAX funding program – The Starships Project. Wayne will be focusing on these endeavors and how they will further aid the astro community, and STEM education.
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The April issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!

In this issue you’ll find…

• Easter and Astronomy
• Snippets from April Fools’ Day
• The Sky This Month
• March 2017 General Meeting Summary
• Upcoming Events & McCallion Planetarium Shows
• Cartoon Corner

Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.

Photo credit: Open Clusters M44 and M67, by Bob Christmas

General Meeting for April 7^th 2017.

This talk will focus on the past, present, and future of big data in astronomy. “Big data” is the hot new thing in finance, health care, advertising and more. But as one of the first observational sciences, astronomy has been dealing with big data for thousands of years. New and imminent facilities for capturing and storing astronomical observations will lead to what some call the “tsunami of data” in astronomy. Techniques like machine learning and citizen science are needed to get the most science out of these enormous datasets. I’ll tell you about how big our big data in astronomy really is, and about some of the discoveries that it has enabled.

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