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   Montreal Centre Volunteers + Participants    

                                                                                                                              Klingons visit our Centres Info Table

On Saturday Oct 03 2009 the Montreal Centre was invited to participate in the Con*Cept 2009 Science Fiction Convention.

In order to show everyone what celestial objects look like when viewed through a telescope, we posted images of Jupiter, Saturn and the Andromeda Galaxy at the far end of the Exhibits room and pointed a telescope at these images.  For the many dozens of conventioneers who stopped by our Centres Information Table this was their first ever view through a telescope.  Many were amazed at what can be seen with even the smallest of Astronomical Instruments.

We also displayed a replica of the original “Galileoscope” and this was of great interest to our visitors.  

Bruno Paul Stenson brought his Meteorite collection and everyone marvelled at these magnificent “Rocks from Outer Space”.  

David Shuman and Paul Simard presented their amazing Mars 3D and Palomar 3D movies while Bettina Forget and Sandiago Lopez distributed Star finders, magazines and other IYA materials.

It was indeed a lot of fun and I am sure we will be invited back next year at Con*Cept 2010.

A big “Thank You” to everyone who participated.

Bill + Kevin Setting up Refractor

 

15in F5 Reflector waiting for Sunset

On Saturday September 19 2009 the Montreal Centre hosted a Members Only Starparty at our Centres Dark Observing Site ”Wooly Woods”.  Located near St.Crysostome Quebec Wooly Woods is the Montreal Centres darkest observing site (mag 6.1 skies) that is within a 45minute drive from Montreal. 

Many of our Centres Messier graduates will tell you, this is one of their favorite sites, as all of the Messier Objects can be observed from Wooly Woods.  This site has also proven to be good for Astro Photography.     

The 15 or so members that were present were treated to clear and transparent skies all night.  Nearly impossible to see from Montreal, many of our newer members marvelled at the Milky Way as it stretched from Cassiopea across the Summer Triangle then all the way down to Saggitarius .

Using the 15in f5 Reflector we were treated to spectacular views of both the Veil Nebula (East) and (West) the Saturn Nebula, M13 and the smaller NGC6207 Galaxy nearby,  and dozens of faint galaxies, globular clusters and extended objects. 

As usual Jupiters moons put on a great show and many of Jupiters Temperate Belts were visible in even the smallest of telescopes.

Bill Strople brought an older Edmond Scientific 4in f16 Refractor which had surprisingly good optics.  

For some of our members perhaps the icing on the cake was their first ever view of our Solar Systems 8th Planet, Neptune.

It was wondeful to see the weather co-operate on this particular night and everyone present was well rewarded with exceptionally clear and steady skies. 

A memorable observing session!!

Canadian astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk, who is presently aboard the International Space Station, has recorded a “get involved in IYA2009″ message which can be viewed in French or English from the CSA web site

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/images/recherche/photo.aspx?id=1700&format=&search=&l=eng
or on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiJfyevRjj8).

While his broadcast is directed primarily to encourage involvement by Canadians, its message is universal.

Robert Thirsk has brought both an English and a French copy of Mary Lou’s New Telescope and Le nouveau téléscope à Chloé on board the Station with him. The copies will be returned to Earth in late November when Bob completes his historic mission.

As we approach the last week of August, over 640,000 Galileo Moments have been recorded across Canada. The Montreal RASC Center is proud to have produced over 2400 of these Wow Moments and we are confidant that Canada will soon surpass their goal of one million Galileo Moments.

Rain or shine, the RASC Montreal Centre meets once a week during the summer months at the Morgan Arboretum in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. We present a free public lecture (even if the skies are cloudy), followed by some stargazing (weather permitting). This month, RASC Montreal Centre member and VP Bettina Forget will lead a presentation and workshop to get you started in astronomical drawing.

Abstract:
Everyone I know is a much better artists than they think they are. There is something uniquely absorbing about sketching an astronomical object. You become much more familiar with every nook and cranny of a lunar crater, and the exact positions of every star in an open cluster will be etched into your brain forever once you put pencil to paper. Sure, it takes a bit of practice, but not as much artistic talent as you think it does. Everyone - everyone! - can learn how to produce a decent sketch.

Bettina will show you some drawings rendered by well-known astronomers (Galileo Galilei among them!), and then give you a set of useful drawing tips. Following the presentation you will be given drawing supplies and put theory into practice. If you’re inspired you can even take your sketching paper outside and try your skills right at the eyepiece during our stargazing session (here’s hoping for clear skies!).

About the Speaker:
Bettina Forget is a full-time visual artist living in Montreal. Her work focuses on astronomical subjects, and her work has been exhibited internationally in group and solo shows. Bettina is the Director of Exhibitions of the International Association of Astronomical Artists, the Vice President of the RASC Montreal Centre, and the organizer of Yuri’s Night Montreal. She also owns and runs the Visual Voice Art Gallery in Montreal’s Belgo building.

Saturday, July 18. 2009
Draw Like Galileo - Astronomical Drawing Workshop
presented by Bettina Forget
Morgan Arboretum
Visitor’s Centre
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
starting at 8:00 p.m.

Note: drawing materials will be provided. This is a free event.

photo: Steve Whitehouse

Shortly after the first of July, the IYA Galileo Moment total for Canada passed the half way mark of over 500,000 Moments. The IYA 2009 goal of one million Galileo Moments in Canada is now very much in reach. The summer and autumn months have always provided the best observing weather and a momentum and increased interest in astronomy will enable us to surpass our goal. This has turned out to be an amazing year in Amateur Astronomy. Congrats everyone.

On Tuesday June 23 2009 the Montreal Centre hosted the Starparty at Coopers Aviation in St-Lazare Quebec. The skies remained clear all night and the dozen or so members present were treated to particularly good seeing conditions.

At 10:00 pm we were also treated to a spectacular fireworks display put on by the town of St-Lazare in celebration of St. Jean Baptiste.

On his way to the RASC Messier certificate Ron Baran bagged yet another 8 Messier Objects while David Shuman  and Paul Simard setup for a night of Astrophotography.  Earlier in the evening one of the Pilots that had just landed his plane at Coopers came over to see what we were doing and he was well rewarded with his first ever look at the planet Saturn.  The WoW planet surely did not disappoint him.

An excellent observing outing indeed !!

At a recent “Saturday Under The Stars” IYA 2009 event held at the Morgan Arboretum, Kevin Kimball, a member of the board of Directors of the RASC Montreal Centre gave an out of this world learning experience to everyone present.. Kevin took visitors and RASC members outside to do a “Walk of the Solar System”. Starting in the Parking Lot of the Arboretum with a basketball to represent the sun Kevin started the walk. After walking the proportionate distance in relation to the sun’s size and distance to the planets, Kevin then stopped and explained Mercury’s relationship (in size, distance, speed etc.) to the other bodies in the solar system. Kevin continued this “Walk of the Solar System” (always using the proportionate sizes of the planets and their distances). When we arrived at Neptune’s appropriate distance from the sun we found ourselves’ past the main gate of the Arboretum’s entrance, in front of the Doppler radar. At this point everybody opted not to continue on to the edge of the Kuiper Belt which Kevin calculated to be by proportion, somewhere near Florida.

It was acclaimed by all present to have been a fantastic lesson that would never be forgotten. The relative size and distances in out solar system will now rest thoroughly implanted in our senses and will be better appreciated due to Kevin’s unique teaching approach.

A second treat was offered later that night when we were given a brief and impromptu presentation by one of our visitors. Deborah Hambly of the Northland, New Zealand “Skydome Observatory” exclaimed the sights and wonders which she and the visitors to her observatory enjoy under the clear skys . She charmed us with vivid descriptions of the Magellanic Clouds and some of the lore concerning the Southern skys over New Zealand. This was truly a wonderful and unexpected treat.

After theses two great presentations, several members and visitors headed to the meadow where between cloudy skys they managed to enjoy several telescope views.

A good time was had by all, a special thanks to Kevin and to Deborah Hambly.

Skywatchers in Quebec and eastward get a chance to see the waxing gibbous Moon glide extremely close to the Red Giant star Antares Saturday night. The show starts after 10 and ends before midnight. In montreal area Antares, the lead star in the constellation Scorpius, will be les than 12 arcminutes away from the Moon at its closest encounter around 10:44  pm. Try using bincoulars to see the star better through the lunar glare. Enjoy the show. 

More info at my website www.TheNightSkyGuy.com .