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Although the conditions are iffy, I will be taking my scope over to
the Kanata Chapters for 7:30. Roland and Janice will be joining me,
for at least a Latte at Chapters (however, Roland will bring his
scope - ever hopeful!!).
Richard

The skies seem fairly covered at this point in time. Janice and I
called the weather guy who stated that Kanata would not be clear at
8pm but that things will probably clear by 11 or 12pm. There's a band
of clouds moving southwards that should keep clouds over Kanata.

Bottom Line - Richard will call me at 7pm for a finaly determination,
but it looks fairly uncertain at this point. I will post again at
around 7pm.

Still Later ;-)
Roland

Given that Chris has a french class tonight (you'd think with a last
name of Vadeboncoeur she wouldn't need those, but she grew up in B.C.)
so I get to practice my solo parenting skills (tonight we have pizza!) -
I forcast a wonderfully clear night with perfect seeing.

That I will only be able to enjoy vicariously. Please enjoy it.

Rob "Life, don't talk to me about life" (which, while not Python, is
acceptable, yes?)

r.prevost@... wrote:

Orleans: 100% cloud cover for the last hour and then a bit of a
clearing. Not sure how it'll turn out for tonite. Janice expressed
an interest in sidewalk, if it were to be clear. Some OAF should
issue a final decision around or just before 6:30pm, after weather
reports and updates. At that time, one of us should post a GO or NOGO
for tonite (Tuesday) at Kanata Chapters.

Stay Tuned!
Roland

Great, I'm going to try to attend this one too.

Since passers-by have been asking about seeing statellites,
i have posted a few satellite events for this evening.
Have a look at:

In response to the call for a session tonight (April 3rd). Count me
in, assuming the weather co-operates. So far, the weather's looking
good for a potential repeat sidewalk session at Kanata Chapters'
tonight. Since we're on Daylight Saving Time, it doesn't make sense
to set up the scopes much before 7:30pm as there's too much light.

Location:
- Go west on queensway
- Take the Terry Fox exit
- Turn right (go northwards)
- You can immediately see the very large shopping mall and Chapters
- We set up just in front of Chapters

You might let us know if you're coming, or just show up assuming we've
called it a "GO" on this Yahoo Group. In either case, we'll be glad
to see you! Plus, Jupiter and Saturn are sinking fast -- this month
is probably your last chance to share them until next winter. ;-)

Later,
Roland

Nice report. It was alot of fun. We should try to get a few
more in before Jupiter and Saturn become daytime objects and
all we have to offer is the the moon.

If would be nice if we could find an alternative. Perhaps
get invited to more club/scout/cadet events in dark sky
sites?

Other than that, I am looking forward to Pinhey's point.
It usually provieds a pretty good 'wow' fix.

-ad

Hi Attilla (et al):

I will be approaching the local (Kanata) Boy Scout / Girl Guide troops, and the Air Cadets that meet at A. Y. Jackson High School, to outline what we do. I believe that all of these groups have outdoor sites that could be used as you mentioned.
Hope to see you tonight!

Richard

Attilla Danko, Roland Prevost and myself met under the wonderful
sodium glow of the sidewalk in front of the Kanata "Chapters" for a
spot of sidewalk astronomy. Despite dire predictions of cloud and
wet snow showers for last night, the sky was only cloudy for about 20
minutes of the 2 1/4 hours we observed.

I had the pleasure of giving "first light" to a new scope that I
picked up yesterday. It is a Skywatcher 8" Dob, 1200 mm. F6. It
came out of the box, was assembled in 20 minutes, and 1/2 hour later,
it was on the sidewalk ready to go. Let's say that I did not have
high expectations for this Synta product (it was really purchased as
a scope for my daughter, and for "quick peaks"). I was pleasantly
surprised by the level of finish, 2" metal focuser, super-plossel
eyepieces and etched for collimation primary mirror. I was even more
surprised at the quality of the images displayed last night. I
believe the optics beat my C-8 Deluxe (collimation time!!). On the
down side, I found the base "bearings" to be overly stiff, and a bit
of a struggle at times. This will definately have to be corrected.

We had about 85 observers at our little get-together. Many oohs and
ahhhs were to be had. I found the level of enthusiasm better than
average compared to our other sessions. I chalk this up to the
warmer weather. Jupiter was particularly interesting as the 4 G.
moons were in an unusual alignment on one side of the Planet. One of
the moons disappeared onto the disc and this brought a lot of
excitement from the people lucky enough to observe this.

The combination of scopes worked well, Attilla's excellent 4"
refractor on the moon, Roland's C-8 Deluxe on Saturn, and my humble
scope on Jupiter. The inclusion of the inexpensive Dob, helped with
the perenial question "how much do these cost"?? I was able to
answer that costs range "from this Dob at $500 to expensive
refractors above $5000". This led to many comments about the
accessibility of the hobby etc.

We packed up at 9:45. I had a great time!!! We are planning to be
back out at Chapters Kanata this evening...weather permitting. We
had MANY requests to be there so that "we can bring our spouses
and/or children to see the telescope!!" I hope some of you can make
it out with the three of us!!

Richard "slightly less photonically deprived" Harding

This evening there will be a short double shadow transit on Jupiter.
The OAFs home page has the following information (extracted from the
calendar, I guess):

The double shadow portion of the event(21:48 to 21:58) will be a
challenging observation since Jupiter will only be 13 degrees up.

19:25 Europa's shadow appear
21:48 Ganymede's shadow appears
21:58 Europa's shadow dissapears
23:17 Jupiter Sets

If you have acess or can get access to a low western view, you might
want to try for it. See the OAFs home page, under Tuesday April 3rd,
for other interesting details about this double transit.

Good Luck!

Photon Man

The brew pub works for me....I may be easy, but I'm not cheap! :o)

It's not much of a cheese shop really, is it?
Finest in the district Sir!!
And what leads you to that conclusion?
Well its so clean!!
Well its certainly uncontaminated by cheese!!!

Sess.# 281 7:30-10:30 Kanata Chapter's Variable Clouds

Sidewalk astronomy session this evening at Kanata Chapter's. Skies
cleared unexpectedly, and so Richard Harding and myself decided to
meet at Chapter's just after 7:30pm.

Richard had just picked up his new 8" Skywatcher Dob after work, had
assembled it and brought it to the sidewalk session where it saw first
light. Very crisp views of Saturn and Jupiter. Richard might write
more about it soon, hopefully.

Attilla Danko joined us not too much later with his excellent
refractor. We were glad to see him. We eventually had one scope on
the Moon, one on Jupiter, and one on Saturn. Good views. The two gas
giants will be gone fairly soon, so this month is probably our last
chance to show these planets to people for quite a few months.

85 to 90 persons stopped by our scopes over the next three hours.
There was one period around 9:30 where everything clouded up so I
ended up tearing down just in time to see the skies clear. Luckily
Richard and Attilla had left their scopes up. One man, facinated with
astronomy, spoke with Attilla for maybe an hour.

Many oohs and ahhs! The quote of the evening, for me, came from a
woman who looked through the scopes and then said, just as she was
leaving:

"Thanks very much, you've just made my week!"

Packed up at around 10:30pm after a very enjoyable session.

Roland Prevost ( aka Photon Man )

I just got back from Ottawa Little Theatre. When I got out, I looked
up and everything was clear (grumble). And my brother (who also goes
to OLT) was in agreement (I gave his family a Stargazer Steve dob for
Xmas).

I am extremely glad that SOMEONE got to enjoy the clear skies.
Someone successfully wished you luck I guess...

Rob

Just got off the phone with Richard and things look fairly clear after
all in Kanata. I will be joining him in Kanata at the Chapter's
there (off the Terry Fox exit) for some sidewalk astronomy around
7:30pm. We'll give it a shot for as long as it lasts. Anyone else
who wants to can join us there as well.

Wish us luck!
Roland

--- In OAFs@y..., "Richard Harding" <rharding@i...> wrote:

It is 15:00. Outside my office window it is BEAUTIFUL!! 75% clear.
Is there any chance that a session this evening at the Kanata
Chapters would be possible, or are the clouds scheduled to arrive
with the sunset? Hint hint....any takers!!
Richard

Hi Richard!

Unsure conditions, eh? If the weather at 6:30pm looks at all hopeful,
I'd be game for a sidewalk session in Kanata at 7:00 or so. Here is
Orleans, it looks 90% covered at this point in time ( 4:50pm ), so I
probably won't go unless it clears up to 50% clear or better, over the
next hour and a half. Better check the weather maps! Any other
takers?

Share the Photons...
Roland

Unfortunately it is now cloudy here and the prognosis for tonight is poor...Crap!! Oh well, maybe tomorrow night? The forcast is not too bad.
Richard

Richard Harding wrote:

There is a Chinese buffet at the corner of Hunt Club and Bank.
Personally I like the idea of Kelsey's.
Richard

One last comment (again a bit farther from the museum), there is a brew
pub (i.e. they brew 3 types of beer on the premises) on Bank about
midway between the river and the canal that we quite like. (plus free
samples to figure out which you want to order - and it really blows
their minds when you say, "I've been here before, I don't need the
samples").

Oh yeah, I do have to say that Kelsey's is certainly convenient to the
meeting. OK, two last comments...

Brew pub on Bank, and Kelsey's is close to the meeting. Oh, and
Kelsey's does have pretty good food. OK, three last comments...

Rob ("bring out the comfy chair!")

It is 15:00. Outside my office window it is BEAUTIFUL!! 75% clear.
Is there any chance that a session this evening at the Kanata
Chapters would be possible, or are the clouds scheduled to arrive
with the sunset? Hint hint....any takers!!
Richard

There is a Chinese buffet at the corner of Hunt Club and Bank. Personally I like the idea of Kelsey's.
Richard

I have a big NC on where we go just want clear instructions on how to
get there from here, or over there, or something like that. A beer,
not a bear, would be a bonus.

Mike Z