A little late in posting, but I finally got some photos from the evening processed so now I can do a full report.

Wed Aug 11 was our annual Public Perseid Meteor Shower Night at Binbrook. Thanks to our Publicity Director Mario Carr, and various people for the interviews they provided, we had a great turn out. More than 250 people mad the journey to Binbrook despite a sky full of clouds, in hopes for clearings that would reveal the much anticipated meteor shower.

Some of the many people patiently waiting for the skies to clear. This and subsequent photos are long exposure (25sec) shots and then brightened.

HAA members started arriving by 7:30pm and already found several people waiting inside the park. The gate saw a steady flow of cars coming in with at least 2 or 3 per vehicle. By 9pm, the main parking area was full and people were starting to fill the overflow section.

The event was so popular that we more than filled the main parking area at Binbrook.

While waiting for darkness and clearing, John Gauvreau provided several interesting presentations for the crowds including a participatory demonstration with some of the many children in attendance. He also enhanced the anticipation by showing a piece of meteorite.

Never giving up, Jim and others continue to provide interesting info to everyone who came out.

We did get a small break in the clouds to provide a brief viewing of Venus, Arcturus, and the Summer Triangle. But sadly it didn’t last nor spread enough to permit the sighting of any meteors. The crowds were excitedly patient, but eventually young children became antsy and bored, and when the realization that the skies weren’t going to clear, people started to leave.

Binbrook Perseids Night

This ended up being one of our very best attended public events. We can only imagine what the turnout might have been if the skies were clear. Due to the location, every person who attended made the deliberate effort to be there – no “walk-by” traffic as we often get when holding events in town.

A 15 sec exposure overlooking Lake Niapenco with special effects (someone waving their flashlight while I was trying to take the shot).

I’d like to thank the many HAA’rs who came out to help with traffic control, setting up scopes, and entertaining the interested public. While some of the public were disappointed by the lack of meteors, I didn’t hear anyone complain which is a testament to how much they enjoyed the night, and the effort HAA members made to make people feel welcome and hold their interest. I’d also like to thank Binbrook Conservation Area and NPCA for allowing us to make the park available for this evening. And lastly I want to say thank you to everyone who came out to Binbrook. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and learned something while there. We’re sorry the weather didn’t cooperate, but next year the skies will be better (always the optimist). Remember that there are still a few nights remaining – just find a dark location and look up.

Happy campers at Starfest 2010

Two clear nights at Starfest at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. Life for a Canadian amateur astronomer doesn’t get any better than that. Well, except for Kevin Salwach. He won a telescope at his very first Starfest!! I’m thinking he may be back next year…

Last year’s near miss by a tornado was almost repeated at this year’s Starfest. The organizers had a trained Canwarn volunteer on hand and just as the Saturday night door prizes were to be given away, Malcolm Park (president of Starfest’s host astronomy club, the NYAA, and the resident trained Canwarn volunteer) announced that a tornado warning had just been issued for the area. He asked the crowd for a decision on whether to go ahead with the evening’s planned events or not. With a thunderous roar from the crowd and nearly unanimous show of hands, the night’s activities carried on. (Nothing stands between amateur astronomers and a table full of amazing door prizes – not even Mother Nature!)

Door prizes at this year’s Starfest ranged from gift certificates to a Meade 6″ Lightswitch telescope. The only prize won by an HAA-er was a beautiful Maksutov-Newtonian telescope and that was the prize that Kevin won.

We met many of our old friends and made many new ones at this year’s Starfest. There were a lot of new faces at Starfest this year. It’s great to see such a big influx of newcomers to astronomy! The campground has put in a new, larger pool. (Much appreciated!) This summer’s constant heat and humidity accompanied us to Starfest and made it uncomfortable (for me,anyway) to stay in the big tents for many of the talks. One of the campground’s seasonal tenants made the mistake of putting their sprinkler out on their front garden and a few of us spent more than a few minutes standing under it with the pretense of admiring that garden. One of the park’s more entrepreneurial residents operated a tractor ride/tour of the park that many of the younger kids were enjoying.

This year’s list of speakers was as impressive as always with the highlight being David Levy. “Crazy” Bob Summerfield’s ‘Physics of Rainbows’ talk was amazing, too.

Although my mount was giving me grief, I managed to get a couple of astrophotos:

Lagoon Nebula (M8) taken through 80 mm refractor.

Trifid Nebula (M20) taken with 80 mm refractor.

All in all, it was a memorable and fun Starfest and I’m already looking forward to next year!!

There has been much talk about the most recent coronal mass ejection from the sun, and the possibility that it might spark some aurora borealis, even this far south.

Encouraged by even this slim possibility of northern lights, Jackie and I set off heading north, leaving the lights of the city to the south of us. Sadly, (although not unexpectedly) we encountered light cloud and heavy haze that spoiled our chances.

Being intrepid members of the HAA though, means never returning home empty handed, or without a great tale to tell and a smile on your face. So, although we didn’t see the aurora borealis, we did, at least, see half…

Not the aurora borealis, but close, photographed just south of Guelph.

After many postponements because of poor weather, we were finally able to run the members Sky This Season – Live from Binbrook. And it was just a narrow success too since thunderstorms had passed through the area just a few hours earlier and the skies had just barely cleared before we began. But whatever the earlier issues, we finally had a success. As they say, “the 5th or 6th time’s the charm” – or is it “persistence pays off”??

19 members and guests showed up and our Observing Director, John Gauvreau conducted a 20 minute tour of the night sky, pointing out various constellations, finder stars and providing some historical context to why some things are named they way they are. Always entertaining and informative when John gets going and he didn’t disappoint. Thanks John!

Outside of the tour, several members had scopes and binos set up for observing, and others were trying out new cameras. The seeing conditions weren’t ideal (lots of persistent moisture in the air), but it was still an enjoyable evening of observing and camaraderie. Around 1am (just when Jupiter was high enough to become interesting – to be tackled on another night), we packed it in and headed off to a local Tim’s for more laughter and socializing.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the evening so much fun. Hopefully some others will chime in with their experiences and thoughts on the evening, or share some photos.

The conditions look good for a night of side-walk astronomy. I will setup my scope at the usual spot by the parking area about 8:30 pm tonight.
I hope club members and others will bring their scopes and join me in showing the public the moon and planets as well as other bright objects as light conditions allow. I hope to see you there.

Last night a few HAA members gathered at Binrook for a night of observing. Clouds refused to go away completely, and so only the brightest objects could be spotted through the high haze. Even so, Jim, Joe, Gord and I enjoyed the line-up of Moon and planets in the west. One of the BCA park workers, his friend and his brother all joined us for some telescopic views, and Jim did what he does so well, and made an excellent host by giving a good sky tour and providing them with many fine views through his telescope. After these visitors left, the four of us compared views through our four ‘scopes, and enjoyed views from the most common of objects, like Mizar, to our best shot at some nebulae. There was both a large and a small catadioptric (Jim’s 8″ Schmidt-Cass, and Joe’s 5″ Mak), and a large and a small refractor there (Gord’s 6″ refractor (Big, wow!) and my small but mighty 90mm refractor). Seems we needed a couple of Dob owners to round things out!

Below, you can see the view of the Moon and Venus doing their best to shine through the cloud, although you can also see that they took on quite a yellowish cast due to the heavy atmosphere. Contrast was very low, and no earthshine could be seen at all.

Even under these less than stellar conditions (sorry for the pun) we all had a great time. Next time you get an email saying that there will be oberving in the park, why not join us?

The Moon and Venus are reflected in the lake in this wide angle view.

Yellow moon and Venus

As a service to our members and those interested in astronomy, we’re providing a list of upcoming star parties that will be occurring in our general area over the next couple of months.

If you love astronomy and want to observe with lots of other like-minded people in reasonably dark skies, then you’ll want get to at least one of these star parties. They are always a lot of fun and usually have interesting programs during the day. Also many of these have vendors present who offer good deals to help upgrade your equipment. You’ll meet many astronomers from other clubs and pick up some observing tips. And don’t miss the chance to look through the wide variety of equipment that observers will have set up. You may end up with aperture fever and eyepiece envy, but it’s worth the “suffering” for the all the benefits you’ll gain.

The darkness of the skies, camping facilities and programs vary significantly between each of these events. Be sure to check the websites for more details and see what is being offered. All of these star parties have been attended by at least 1 or more members of the HAA over the years and each of them can be recommended.

Star party # 1:

Stellafane – Aug 5 – 8
If you like to make scopes or see how they are made, this is the event for you.
Springfield, Vermont
Registration and website: http://stellafane.org/convention/2010/index.html

Star Party # 2:

Manitoulin Star Party – August 6 – 9
Very dark skies, fairly rustic camping and facilities.
Gordon’s Park Eco Resort, Manitoulin Island, Ontario
Program: http://www.gordonspark.com/man_StarParty.pdf
Website: www.gordonspark.com

Star Party # 3:

Starfest – Aug 12 – 15
The granddaddy of them all for Canada.
Mount Forest, Ontario
Registration and website: http://www.nyaa.ca/index.php?page=/sf10/sf.home10

Star Party # 4:

Huronia Star Party – Sept 8 – 12
Duntroon, Ontario (near Collingwood)
Registration and website: http://www.hsp-ssaa.ca/HSP_Site.html

Star Party # 5:

Black Forest Star Party – Sept 10 – 12
Darkest skies in Eastern USA.
Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania
Registration and website: http://www.bfsp.org

If you get out tonight or the next couple of nights and look West at Sunset, you will see 5 planets in a relatively close alignment. Mercury will be low and close to the horizon. Next and higher up will be Venus, Mars and Saturn. Also the Moon will be passing below the planets each night.

To best appreciate this, you’ll need to find yourself a high location with a clear view to the West. Our alternate observing location on Tyneside Rd is a good candidate location since the farm across the road has few obstructions. You won’t need any gear to see these.

These planets are not really close enough to be considered a conjunction, but they do make a nice alignment and wide field view.

Here’s a chart from SpaceWeather.com showing the position of the planets and the Moon for the 15th (except for the Moon, it’s valid for nights before and after the 15th).

The 5th planet? Your standing on it of course!

I have in the past, like many of you, observed Venus in the daytime. It is certainly bright enough to shine through the twilight, and even the bright blue sky of day, if you know where to look. On one occasion, during the great Mars opposition of 2003, I followed the planet from darkness through dawn and after sunrise in my telescope. Mars showed excellent detail through the scope, even after the sun had come up.

This morning, Jupiter is 10 degrees from the Moon, and at this time of day (9:00am) it appears almost directly below the Moon. I though I would try to spot it with my binoculars, thinking that I could use the Moon as a guide. Starting at the Moon, I lowered my binoculars down, sweeping vertically, hoping to spot Jupiter. On the fourth attempt I was successful. It was very difficult to spot, but once I saw it, it stood out clearly, showing a pale white against the blue sky. Through the binoculars I could clearly make out the small disk of the planet. At this time, the Sun was a full 30 degrees above the horizon!

It’s an odd, but interesting observation. Try the unusual, and look for a daytime pairing like this. One will happen again the next time the Moon slides past Jupiter (July 31st, 7 degrees separation), or try to spot Venus in the daytime. Remember, when observing during the day, always be very careful to not look anywhere near the Sun.

John G and I arrived early to open the park. The gates were still open when we got there, so we checked in with the park staff, to let them know we where there. We then went to the hill, set up our scopes and took a few photos of the sunset. We went back to the gate at 9:20 to unlock the gate and put on the combination lock. Joe M. and Vince where there waiting to get in. We all returned to the hill to get ready for the night. In all 9 members turned out to the park to observe and compare views. Kevin kept us all hopping, keeping up to him, star hopping from Messier to NGC. and back to Messier. Well done Kevin. The moon was starting to rise above the trees by 1:00am when we decided to pack up for the night. We where all tired and didn’t even go to Tim’s for the usual coffee and conversation. All in all a great night.

From John G.

Sure was a great night, and I was so glad to see so many club members out there. Jim described the evening well, and even though the sky conditions weren’t the best, I still had great views through everyone’s scopes. Globular clusters were popular, and seeing so many in such a short period of time gave us an interesting opportunity to compare them. Each one is unique and has its own character. Kevin’s new dob is a great scope, and he was swinging it around the sky with the skill of a master starhopper. One of the best views of the night came through Vince’s binoviewer. It was so comfortable to use, and the view was 3-D like (yes, I know it’s only an illusion!) Thanks to Jim, Kevin, Ed, Matthew, Gordon, Joe and Vince for the views! Now, I didn’t get any astrophotos, but here’s that sunset that Jim mentioned.

Canada Day indeed!