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!

I plan to go to McQueston Park tonight for a few hours and I was wondering if there was any interest. I plan to get there for about 9.

This was our second trip to Cherry Springs. Last year was pretty much a wash out. This year gave us two evenings of observing. I used thursday night to add to my list of M’s and Ngc’s and had a lot of success. The seeing was very good. The next night, the seeing was excellent, the best I’ve ever experienced with a scope at hand. Janice and I saw amazing detail in many objects. I think the whirlpool was my favourite with NGC 4565 a close second. We all stayed up till about 3:15 am finishing off with views of Jupiter and Uranus. It’s the first time I’ve seen Uranus as a blue disk. Actually, there were too many firsts for me to mention. I’d like to thank Ann and Steve for helping to collimate my scope to it’s best ever and the resolution after that was incredible. We had a great time and enjoyed the commeraderie of our fellow members and Jim’s hospitality. It was a blast!

A total of eleven HAA members travelled to Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania to attend the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg, PA’s annual star party. Because I had to come home early, I promised to post this quick note on the blog. I hope that others will add to it and post some photos.

Both Thursday and Friday nights were clear, but Friday night was spectacular! The best skies I’ve seen at CSSP. The dark lanes and star clouds of the Milky Way were crisp and extended all the way to the horizon. Familiar deep sky objects popped out of the eyepiece of even the smallest telescopes. John and I were amazed at what we could see with our little 80 mm refractors: the North America nebula and the Veil nebula.

I had the best view ever of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) through Matthew’s 12″ Skywatcher and his new 13mm Ethos eyepiece. The detail visible in this galaxy was astonishing.

The forecast for this evening at CSSP is not looking too good, but last night’s forecast was for “mainly cloudy” and we had fabulous clear skies, so I hope for a repeat performance tonight for everyone still enjoying the star party.

Cheers,

Ann Tekatch