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Just wanted to know ... WAS: more sidewalk this summer?
--- In OAFs@y..., attilla.danko@s... wrote:
I have no idea how to do any of this. Organizing people is not oneBefore we lure hoardes of scouts and students to come stampeding into the night... Jan and I put together a quick poll just to get a feel for the potential level of interest in doing public sessions together, over the next few months. This is just an informal poll and not a vote. Here's a link to it... Your Fellow WOWsers, Janice & Roland Spealing of poles... "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK..." |
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New poll for OAFs
Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the
OAFs group: Are you interested in participating in sidewalk/scout/school observing sessions and if so, on average, how many times per month? o Not interested or rarely o 1/month o 2/month o 3/month o 4 or 5+/month (Bring 'em on!) To vote, please visit the following web page: Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups web site listed above. Thanks! |
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Re: Almonte Sidewalk Report (April 10th)
--- In OAFs@y..., Al Seaman <alseaman@a...> wrote:
And on behalf of Almonte, my thanks to the rest of you who cameout - your knowledge, experience and equipment contributed to a veryThanks Al. I think Almonte side walk sessions is a very good idea. All users of FLO have a interest in keeping the skies dark there. Some of the light pollution problem at FLO is from Almonte. Sidewalk seesions is are good way to get people to be aware that there is such a thing as light pollution. It can only help when someone tries to address the Almonte city council. (I understand that Hilderic may have had plans to do so.) I'm disinclined to get involved in municipal politcs myself. But I'm happy to support other peoples sidewalk astronomy sessions. -ad |
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favorite public-astronomy quotes
--- In OAFs@y..., r.prevost@h... wrote:
> I'd like to compile a collection of "favourite quotes", one from each sessionThat's an excellent idea. Here are my two favorites: "You mean to get to do this every night!" "F**K!" I'm not making this up. They're both from 1999 Carp Library session. Looking forward to pinhey's point, -ad |
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Re: Great Manitou Star Party
--- In OAFs@y..., Rob Robotham <rob.robotham@a...> wrote:
Question for the people who have been there before: what is theapproximate driving timeIt was about 9.5 hours for me. One thing you can do to break up the time is stop at Science North in Sudbury. It's an excellent science museum for kids. Every exhibit encourages kids to touch and play with things. And its roughtly halfway between ottawa and Manitoulin. However, it would add a couple of hours to the trip. -ad |
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Re: Almonte Sidewalk Report (April 10th)
Al Seaman
r.prevost@... wrote:
I thought it was a great session, and as always, Rolland, a great report on the evening. So thanks, Almonte, for having us over!And on behalf of Almonte, my thanks to the rest of you who came out - your knowledge, experience and equipment contributed to a very successful event. As for setting it up, it is always a pleasure to set up something that turns out so well. Thanks again to all. Cheers - Al |
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more sidewalk this summer? was: Re: Almonte Sidewalk Report (April 10th)
--- In OAFs@y..., attilla.danko@s... wrote:
Given that some of us are addicted to hearing those "wow"s,Yeah, now I remember how long it too me to learn to "see" some of the details on Mars. A red filter helps alot. Some people were just able to notice Syrtis Major and the polar cap, last time round, but it wasn't an easy target. I suppose we could have lunar observing nights were we set upI've found that Polaris has repeatedly been a kik for people. I guess that for them to see that the well know north star is actually a double makes them pay attention. The other thing we could do is seek out observing sites withAre there any places where it's both relatively dark, and there are lots of people? Drive-ins? Campgrounds? Trailer Parks? Naturalist meetings? What!? Ingrid thinks we should be approaching scout camps. TheThe only person I know is that one fellow who'd called me for the Conroy Pit session that got clouded out. Maybe if we decide to go for this, I could call him for some advice, as I have never "been a timbit" either. Another thing that might work is to try to get contact withAnyone got a particular school and a particular science teacher in mind? I have no idea how to do any of this. Organizing people is not oneMy first point of interest would be related to scout camps and campgrounds. It seems like a natural enough fit, and usually would come with potential dark site opportunities. Richard keeps mentionning a place involving scouts up the road near Mike's place somewhere. What's that all about? What would be involved in contacting the right person(s) to see if something could be made to happen? I don't even have the name of the place nor the scout group. attilla "need more wows" dankoEventually, once enough reports have been filed for sidewalk sessions, I'd like to compile a collection of "favourite quotes", one from each session. That should be enough to give you a temporary fix for your "wows". Woo Hoo! Rol |
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Re: Great Manitou Star Party
Rob Robotham
OK, there is a possibility of everyone (ummmm, in my family - I can't speak
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for the rest of you) going - but we wouldn't leave until Wednesday (and we'd still want to head back Sunday), which would cut severely into observing time. Adding in the fact that it is a long drive (especially for a kid that gets car sick...) and I'm not so sure its a good idea(If it was just me, I could probably head out Monday). Question for the people who have been there before: what is the approximate driving time? My guess is about 10 hours, but that's just based on drives to Tobermory a number of years ago which I think took about 8 hours(which may have involved shameless disregard of speed limits - I can't remember...). Rob I wrote: Chris and I will discuss this tonight. The Tuesday of the week before |
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more sidewalk this summer? was: Re: Almonte Sidewalk Report (April 10th)
Nice report, Roland.
Given that some of us are addicted to hearing those "wow"s, we should think about how we might do public astronomy this summer in the absence of bright planets. I'm not sure that Mars will be a good public astronomy target. It's awfully small and has no cool features like visible moons or rings. The surface features are very low contrast. Consider how exciting a view of saturn would be without the rings. I suppose we could have lunar observing nights were we set up four telescopes showing different high-power portions of the moon. We could make that entertaining if we could find four different sections of the moon that we could hold a converstaion about for more than 30 seconds. I think I could yak for 15 seconds on each of plato, tycho, mare tranquilatus, Messier crater and the straight wall. But given that not all of those will be visible on one night, I'd probably have to do a lot more reading on the moon to make a moon-only observing session interesting. The other thing we could do is seek out observing sites with a mag 5.5 sky or better. There we could show clusters and planetary nebulae. The problem is getting people to come to them. Sidewalk astronomy is unique in that one can get passerby traffic to look through scopes. That wont happen for darker sky sites. Ingrid thinks we should be approaching scout camps. The tend to have their own dark sky sites sometimes under very good skies. Plus there are already people there. In my searches for dark- sky lands, I came across at least one camp under what is very likely to be better than mag 6.5. But I dont recall which denomination they were. I myself was never a member of cubs, scouts, beavers, guides, brownies, timbits or whatever. So I have no contacts with any of those orgs. Are any oafs leaders in such orgs or know leaders? Another thing that might work is to try to get contact with highschool science teachers -- especially if the scouting groups feel like inviting highschool groups out to their camps. I have no idea how to do any of this. Organizing people is not one of my skills. However, if one of you feel like setting setting public astronomy seesion this summer, I'd be happy to bring a scope. Any takers? attilla "need more wows" danko |
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Almonte Sidewalk Report (April 10th)
Sess.#287 7:30-10:00pm Almonte Public Library s=7/10 lm=4.5
A very satisfying sidewalk observing session. Al Seaman set things up for this session by checking out the site for viewing angles for the gas planets, and posting notices at various places in Almonte. Richard Harding, Mike Wirths, Attilla Danko, Janice and myself joined Al and set up our scopes in the public library's parking lot just after sunset. The scopes were, in ascending order of apeture/complexity: a Traveller refractor( 4" ?), an 8" Dob, a SCT 8", a SCT 10", and a 18" truss-tube (with GoTo and tracking). A good cross-section of scopes of different types, apetures, prices, capabilities, etc. Somewhere between 30 - 35 persons of all ages looked through these scopes. The average stay of each individual was about 30 minutes, with some staying much less, but many staying with us for most of the evening, trying out all the different scopes in turn and asking many interesting questions. One feature that made this session more fun than the usual sidewalk session in an Ottawa shopping mall was that the sky showed stars down to magnitude 4.5, even from the parking lot. This permitted us to find and show more targets than usual. Also, the seeing wasn't too bad, coming in at around 7/10. We showed: Jupiter, Saturn, M42, M3, the Pleiades, the Beehive, Eskimo Neb., M82, as well as the following binary stars Castor, Gamma Leonis, and Polaris (very popular target!). I may have missed some, because I wasn't at each scope, but you get the general idea. The people who came to catch a peek were friendly and on average much more informed about astronomy than a typical mall crowd. At one point, Attilla suggested I make use of his laser pointer to "point out" a few things in the sky. A very useful tool, that. Richard even assisted one woman, who had stayed for maybe an hour, to find Jupiter for herself using his 8" dob. With a bit of coaching by him, she was able to find it repeatedly, much to her delight. Mike's scope was a big hit with the GOTO capability. It made finding things alot easier. Janice answered questions, showed photos and maps, and ran the scopes when we were busy. All of us had a good, quality time. My favourite quote of the night? One young girl got her first look at the rings of Saturn. Whilst still keeping her eye on the target, she stood on the tips of her toes, raised her arms to either side (like Saturn's anses, I guess), and then performed a little hopping dance of pure excitement while saying: "That is so-o-o-o COOL!" I think maybe we should call it the Saturn dance!... So thanks, Almonte, for having us over! and thanks Al for setting it up! Roland |
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Big Mars?
Just sorting out the information...
I was just stepping through the next couple of months with my SkyMap Pro software, to see when Mars would be largest. It looks like on the evenings around June 21st, Mars would be widest at 20.79". That happens to be the night of a new moon, so some dark sky observing would be extra rewarding at that time, with Mars being so big. Dates of the first quarter Moon, on either side of that June 21st date, are May 27th and June 28th. These times might offer a potential for Moon-Mars sidewalk or other public sessions. Red Photons Rising... Rol |
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Re: Cadets on Saturday night.....
Mike Wirths
Jean,
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Sounds like a good game plan! Keep all appendages crossed for good weather! seeya Saturday Mike -----Original Message-----
From: jean_dorais@... <jean_dorais@...> To: OAFs@... <OAFs@...> Date: Monday, April 09, 2001 8:13 AM Subject: [OAFs] Cadets on Saturday night..... Mike, |
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Re: A Go for Almonte
--- In OAFs@y..., Al Seaman <alseaman@a...> wrote:
The sky is looking great at the moment, and forecast is stillsounding good, so I think it is fair to consider it a firm plan now. See you there. Roland and I plan to arrive around 7:30 with our SCT-8" - looking forward to seeing you all then! Janice |
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Re: A Go for Almonte
Al Seaman
Mike Wirths wrote:
The sky is looking great at the moment, and forecast is still sounding good, so I think it is fair to consider it a firm plan now. See you there. Posting it to the whole Ottawa Centre might be a bit of overkill, but I have sent a separate note to Hilderic and Pat (who live just outside Almonte) inviting them to join the party. Cheers - Al |
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Re: Tentative Go for Almonte
Mike Wirths
Great Al!
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Looks good for tonight! I'll be there around 7:00-7:30 with my 18" Starmaster, do you think it might be an idea to post this event to the Ottawa centre? I think Hilderic and Pat live nearby don't they? see you all later! Mike W -----Original Message-----
From: Al Seaman <alseaman@...> To: OAFs@... <OAFs@...> Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 12:43 PM Subject: [OAFs] Tentative Go for Almonte The 11 AM Envir Canada forecast still says clear for tonight, and the |
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Tentative Go for Almonte
Al Seaman
The 11 AM Envir Canada forecast still says clear for tonight, and the
satellite view shows a fairly large clear hole around the Ottawa area, that hopefully will not move too much before evening. Unless things change, will go ahead with the plan for parking lot astronomy at the Almonte libarary. Have checked out the sight lines and we should be OK. ECU provides the following forecasts in Az/Elev: Time - 8:00PM 9:00PM 10:00PM Jupiter 261/39 272/28 282/18 Saturn 266/29 277/18 287/08 M42 226/28 240/20 251/10 The significant obstructions (depending on where you set up) are the former Almonte Hotel and the Beer Store. They run from about 270 Az to 300 Az with a max elevation of about 10 degrees. We should be OK till about 10PM. Library hours are 6:30 to 9:00, so should have no visibility problems during the prime traffic hours. Other things will of course be visible in various other directions, and there are some other minor obstructions which may or may not affect them. Directions for getting there: a) From Ottawa: Come in on the Queensway and regional road 49 as for going to FLO. Go straight through the first traffic lights at the shopping mall at the entrance to Almonte. At the second traffic lights (Martin St) turn left, then immediately jog to the right onto Queen Street. Continue for a block, straight over the bridge, (the street changes its name to Bridge Street here) pass the town hall on the right, over the tracks to the next traffic lights (intersection of Bridge St and Mill St). Turn left at these light, go past the Beer Store, and you are at the Library parking lot. b) From Carleton Place, Perth and points south: Go through Carleton Place and get on County Road 15 going north. At Almonte, turn right the first entrance to town (Perth Street). Go one block and turn left onto Bridge Street. Continue to the first traffic lights (Bridge and Mill), then turn right at these lights, go past the Beer Store, and you are at the Library parking lot. Alternately, if you overshoot the Perth St entrance, continue on #15 to the traffic lights. Turn right here and go down Almonte street to the bottom of the hill and part way up the other side to Mill Street (there is a large stone building on the corner) and turn right. Go straight up Mill street, through the traffic lights at Bridge St, past the Beer store, and you are in the Library parking lot. I hope that covers all the eventualities. I plan to put a sign in the library this afternoon inviting people, and also plan to be in the parking lot before 7:30. I hope it all comes off, and that some of you will be able to make it. Cheers - Al |
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Re: Great Manitou Star Party
Rob Robotham
Chris and I will discuss this tonight. The Tuesday of the week before
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is her mother's birthday, so we'll be out on Vancouver island but we'll see if we can all go or if I would be going alone. Or rather me and the dog (a quick look at the web site indicates to me that as long as she's on a leash - which is always a good idea - she should be welcome). I'll post any conclusions, Rob r.prevost@... wrote: Janice and I are going to be looking into this over the next few days. |
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Great Manitou Star Party
Janice and I are going to be looking into this over the next few days.
We certainly had a wonderful time there last year... My first general impression is that, assuming we decide to go, we might look into the availability of the same kind of arrangements she and I had last year, renting a one-bedroom cabin by the lakeside for the week, thereby piggybacking one of our "vacations together", with the Manitoulin Star Party. That way, if things turned out to be very cloudy or rainy, we'd still end up with a week reading, writing, relaxing, etc., at the cabin for our efforts. Also that way, we could invite you guys to come over for supper, and on cloudy nights maybe share a campfire and your good company. We'll keep you posted, Janice & Roland |
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Great Manitou Stary party, some early info.
Attilla Danko
You may have heard a few oafs ranting about how incredible the skies were
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last year at the Great Mantiou Star Party. Transparency was well into the triple-x rated adjectives on the expletive scale. GMST has updated their website for 2001: <> Gordon's Park, who host the starparty, have added bed&breakfast rooms for 2001. Out of curiosity, I asked Gordon's for their B&B rates. Their reply is attached. I say "on site", because the Gordon's house is a 15 to 20 minute walk from the observing field. Still, that may be more comfortable than camping on the obsreving field. -ad -----Original Message-----
From: Gordon's Park [mailto:gordons@...] Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 8:54 PM To: Danko, Attilla [SKY:TD26:EXCH] Subject: B & B Hello Attilla, We are charging $65.00 & Gst for our bed and breakfast rooms. The B & B rooms can be accessed via private entrance to the house at the ground floor level. Both have double beds, share a common room with a bar size fridge, microwave, coffee pot and washroom with a shower. The units are very clean and private. If you would like to reserve a room we require a 50% non refundable deposit sent in advance. This will also qualify you for a 10% discount on the ferry applicable to reserved sailings only. Once I receive the deposit I can give you this code. I anticipate the rooms will go pretty fast, please let me know what you decide. Thanks! Rita P.S. Did you like the website? |
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