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I noticed on the RASC's website that the night of August 27th was a member's star party night at FLO. So, at the last minute, I decided that it would be a great night to get reacquainted with the site. I'm glad I did, as it turned out to be a night of very good seeing and transparency (but very heavy dew). Very fine views of Jupiter and Saturn were had. Although I only planned to stay until 1:00 am or so, I ended up staying until sunrise. There were at least 15 people on site at one point in time. I met a handful of new people, most of whom were doing astrophotography. It felt a little odd being the only one without a camera/laptop etc...but I was welcomed warmly. The Mike Worth's 18inch was in action, but I didn't get a chance to have a look though it as most of the time cameras were being attached and images taken. I enjoyed some old fashioned visual observing with my ancient C-8 for the night, a few views shared with others when they weren't busy with their endeavors. I was certainly a lot "rustier" than I expected. The first thing I noticed was that I've lost a bit of my sky knowledge, specifically which constellations were where. Of course, the common bright ones came quickly to mind and were easily found, but compared to my past self, who instinctively knew where most constellations were and could find them easily, I struggled to even know what was up and well placed for viewing. Then, when I figured out which constellations to look for, I had a hard time finding them. I think this has a lot to do with now having to balance using one set of glasses to read star charts and another to look up, so there was no easy looking back and forth from a map to the sky as I tried to get my bearings again. I'm sure this can be improved with a proper pair of eye glasses and a few more nights under the stars to help dredge up all that past knowledge. I tried my hand at some astro-sketching, which I'm hoping to make part of my routine observing going forward. I've never seriously tried sketching at the eyepiece before, and I hope taking the time to sketch will bring enough of a sense of 'newness' that I won't miss my C-11 too much. Before going out, I found a few online resources to give me a basic process to follow, and for the most part they were very helpful. Reviewing my first attempt (of M27) the next day, I was pleasantly surprised not to hate it right away and found that the urge to crumple it up in disgust was only mildly present. Comparing it to a view in cartes du ciel, I did an ok job. And although not a perfect representation, it adequately conveys what I saw with stars placed fairly accurately (both position and magnitude) and the nebula softness/brightness was representative of the view in the eyepiece. All in all, a good first step back into the hobby, I think. Cheers! Matt

Well, well, well. Its been at least 10 (15!?) years since I've poked my nose in around here, glad to see most of the riff raff are still active (and alive!). I was recently lamenting the fact that I used to be an "amateur astronomer" and was wishing I could return to a once loved hobby when it occurred to me that I might actually be able to. The "reasons" that made it near impossible to be an active observer have now grown up a bit and I think I can actually take some time for myself!! Though I sold off most of my gear many years ago, including my workhorse C-11, I had the foresight to at least hang on to my old reliable C-8, so I dragged it out of storage from deep under my basement stairs and started to examine it for damage. Luckily, I had stored it with desiccant packs so the optics look like they did a decade ago. I did, however, discover my first problem. No eyepieces. I was smart enough to keep the scope but had lacked the wisdom to keep at least one eyepiece. This is when I sadly learned that Focus Scientific had gone out of business and I would need to navigate online telescope stores that were mostly new to me. Long story short, I picked up a new eyepiece online, which arrived in two days. A good start, as far as I was concerned. I was expecting the skies to cloud over for at least a month with such a purchase, but, to my great delight they did not. In fact, the first light on the new eyepiece occurred that same day under a night a excellent seeing. The moon was fantastic, and I managed find a few Messiers from memory. However, I did run into my second problem. Age. My eyesight is not what it was years ago and although the views through my new eyepiece and old scope were as good as I recall them ever being, I could not read a star chart under red light to save my life! I have been putting off a visit to the optometrist for far too many years because my arms are still long enough to allow me to read most fine print, but it'll be a return to astronomy that finally gets me in there to get it all sorted out. So, all that to say "Hello"! I plan to sink my teeth back into observing. I've renewed my Ottawa RASC membership and plan to contact the FLO administrator to ask for access to the site again (which seems to have grown since I last looked: two observing mounds!, Mike's old beat up 18in Starmaster??). I'm hoping to pick up where I left off, chasing down the last half of the H400 and hopefully finding some opportunities to observe with other OAFs, including sidewalk events, sometime soon. Hope to hear from some of you!! Matt

check out North Frontanac Dark sky Facebook page for details Sept 23rd weekend

I have one but it doesn't do well in the cold. Any recommendations? Is it possible to find one locally now that Focus Scientific is no longer? Cheers, Albert

I'm sadly reporting I only saw 2 at 10pm then nada at 11. Currently at a cottage on the Ottawa River across from Cobden so an ok dark site except for the damned Moon! Anyone else have any luck? Cheers, Albert.

Howdy OAFs, I took an overnight trip to Nirvana on July 30th and I'm happy to report that the road is passable. There are a few trees down from the storm, but they have been trimmed so only half the road is blocked. It looks like they're doing some logging, so watch out for that. The road onto the airstrip has also been re-graded, and a second entrance has been added, so there shouldn't be any more issues there. The mosquitos were absolutely horrible though, and my Thermacell only seemed to attract more. Thankfully no more blackflies due to the time of year. Despite some folks at the other end of the airstrip shooting off fireworks, I managed to squeeze out a few hours of imaging on the Veil Nebula: https://photos.app.goo.gl/e5wo4hp27vVhe9xC7 Clear Skies, Richard

looking for a losmandy dovetail plates 7" or 14" if anyone has one for sale.

anyone observing?

Low to the north is aurora. Seen from Constance bay. You may have a better view if you're further from ottawa. The noaa forecast says is might get brighter: <https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/aurora-forecast-northern-hemisphere.jpg> attilla danko, https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk, danko@..., attilladanko@...

Check out this site which compares image resolution and detail between Hubble and Webb Southern Ring Nebula Southern Ring Nebula Jim

see title

Weather looks like it may be Ok for July 2. I somehow missed the last star party. For people who went, what, if anything, did people do about sanitizing scopes? I'm thinking about either having a little alcohol spritzer with me, or blasting the scope and guests with high-intensity ultraviolet light. Or maybe gamma rays.

Tristan Young, who worked at Focus Scientific serving the astronomical community here in Ottawa for many years, is currently doing an apprenticeship as an electrician. He will now be supplementing his income by providing the local community with technical work and repairs pertaining to astronomical equipment such as telescope collimation, gear adjustments, bearing service, soldering of replacement power jacks, taking apart and cleaning the optics, etc. This service will be on a trial basis to insure compatibility with his current schedule. If interested, contact Tristan at: tryoung@... Jim

<https://www.nyaa.ca/index.php?page=sf.sfregistration> If you don't know, it's canada's largest starparty and going their every year is a pilgrimage for some of us. (In particular one Starry Knight.) See you guys there. -ad

I missed the notice for this latest star party. Perhaps I missed the email? Am I still connected? Thanks Garry Fancy cherokee1970@... Get Outlook for Android

How was it?

Hello all, I had a successful observation night (May 30/31) at Balsam Provincial Park in the south-central area of Ontario! Accompanied by Shane Finnigan and Raymond Dubois. Skies about 6.1-6.3 mag overhead, but hazy horizons due to forest fire smoke. Saw several Tau Herculids, and a moderate outburst (in the ZHR 50-60 range I think) between 3-6 UT (23h-2am EDT) with a noticeable uptick in TAH activity around 4-5UT (which is close to the predicted time of outburst). All the Tau Herculids radiated from the expected radiant. But no major outburst or meteor storm. Number of bright meteors early in the night, mostly fainter ones later on. As the night went on, the shower subsided but remained more weakly active. The Tau Herculids seemed to be very fragile, delicate meteoroids — many extremely short paths. The brighter ones often had multiple flares and terminal flashes. The brightest Tau Herculids reached -3 and displayed thick wakes that seemed “sparkly” (fragmentation). Going through the observing data and images. Full report soon… Clear skies! - Pierre

Hello all, As many of you are aware , there is a possibility of a meteor ouburst from shattered comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3 tomorrow night! Earth may encounter the 1995 dust trail from 73P at a miss-distance of only 0.0004 AU near 5UT! It it widely believed that the 1995 trail is richly populated in dust due to 73’s catastrophic break up. The outburst could be anywhere from a weak 12 meteors per hour (ZHR) to a staggering 1,000+ per hour meteor storm! The level of the outburst is unknown - this will be Earth’s first encounter with the 1995 dust trail. The caveat is that a strong outburst can only occur if the dust particles were ejected from 73P at a sufficiently high velocity, and ALSO ahead of the comet. Meteor dynamicists cannot confirm this, but this appears to be realistic/possible. The most likely time of outburst, if one is to occur, is *May 30/31 at around 0500 UT (1 a.m. EDT on the 31st, or 10 p.m. PDT on the 30th)*. Here’s are the main points to keep in mind: - On the night of May 30 into the early morning of May 31, Earth will pass through the debris trails of a broken comet called 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, or SW3. - The comet, which broke into large fragments back in 1995, won’t reach this point in its orbit until August. - If the fragments from were ejected with speeds greater than twice the normal speeds—fast enough to reach Earth—we might get a meteor shower. - Spitzer observations published in 2009 indicate that at least some fragments are moving fast enough. This is one reason why astronomers are excited. - If a meteor shower does occur, the tau Herculids move slowly by meteor standards – they will be faint. Some meteor dynamicists predict that the opposite will occur and that the meteors will be on the bright side. So who knows??? Here’s a talk that I did at a recent RASC Ottawa meeting, about the Tau Herculids that I invite you to watch. I talk about 73P’s disintegration, the discovery of the Tau Herculids, the predictions from the meteor dynamicists, and the observing details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC2MXnbP5jM&t=2719s Here are links to read more, or to watch live online if it gets too cloudy: https://www.imo.net/possible-meteor-outburst-on-may-3031/ https://www.space.com/meteor-shower-outburst-tau-herculids-comet-possible-2022 https://www.space.com/meteor-storm-tau-herculids-shower-webcast https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2022/05/26/the-tau-herculid-meteor-shower-possible-outburst/ Let’s all hope for clear skies to view this potentially very interesting event!!! This potential meteor shower is one that I’ve been looking forward to for many years! This is a unique case where we can see what happens to the dust trail of fragmenting comet. The ingredients are there for a meteor storm — but will all the ingredients merge? Even though there is a good chance that it won’t materialize, and maybe very little or nothing will be seen, this is the best known chance at seeing a very significant display for the next several years. If you can, travel to the darkest possible sky site as the display might consist of faint meteors. Plan to be out and ready for anything to happen! This is what makes meteor showers so interesting! If nothing much happens, enjoy a nice night out observing or imaging. It is New Moon after all :) If something spectacular happens, well, it could be something truly memorable! Clear skies, Pierre Martin Ottawa, Ontario

Hello all, I just wanted to post an update / reminder on two dark observing sites that are available to amateur astronomers to use. The question may arise with people looking to find a place to observe tomorrow night’s possible Tau Herculids meteor outburst. Please ensure that you read, understand and follow the procedures that the property owners ask us: 1) Moosecreek observing site: This is a location on private farm land property, that is available from Spring to Fall. It is deep into a corn field, and is quiet, well away from road traffic and offers good horizons in all directions. The road leading into the field is ***IMPORTANT: The owner, Mr Thomas Ur as that we kindly let him know if we plan to go on his property, either by calling or texting him at 613-859-2635***. Here’s the files in the group’s “observing sites” folder where you can find the maps to get to the site. Please note that the field access has changed a bit. When you reach the “Y” junction is the field (approx 1.5 km going in from the main road), please take the LEFT. This will be a slightly coarser gravel road for another 300m until it reaches a dead end (with a wide circular space to turn-around. We usually setup in that turn-around space, with decent amount of room for a few cars/setups). /g/oaog/files/Maps/Moose%20Creek Clear Sky Chart: http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/CasslONkey.html?1 2) Bootland Farm observing site: This is a dark sky site, in a quiet open grassy field with a very nice view of the sky, and well isolated from all sources of lights and traffic. The owner, Mr. Bootland allows amateur astronomers to setup on the property anytime, from Spring to Fall. There is no need to ask permission; we can go when we want. Mr. Bootland only ask that we use the part of the field that is allocated for us, pick up all our belongings at the end and close the metal gate at the property entrance when we’re done. I personally have enjoyed the quietness and seclusion of this site for many years, located just an hour from Ottawa. Be prepared for a lot of dew (bring your boots and heaters for camera lens and scopes)! Please see the files area of our group for the detailed instructions, and guidelines in the link below. The observing field can be quite grassy but it is safe and flat enough for any vehicle to drive on. It is usually best to just back in and setup, this way, the field can accommodate 8-10 cars. /g/oaog/files/Maps/Bootland%20Farm Clear Sky Chart: http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/BtlndFrmONkey.html?1 We are fortunate to have access to private property sites. You are welcome to go, but please be respectful, ensure that your vehicle is in good working order, and be prepared with everything that you need. These sites do not offer any kind of amenities ; they are just open fields with good views of the sky :) There are certainly options for even darker sky sites to check out, such as the North Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve (NFDSP) near Plevna, and the Lennox & Addington Dark Sky Viewing Areas (along highway 41 south of Kaladar). These sites are a longer drive outside Ottawa, but offer pristine skies during moonless nights! http://cleardarksky.com/c/PlvnAdONkey.html http://cleardarksky.com/c/LnAStONkey.html?1 Clear skies! - Pierre

On January 21, 2022, satellite expert Kevin Fetter alerted the community that a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V launch would produce a luminous cloud in space, during the rocket fuel dump. The effect would look like a small “comet" dissipating and expanding in the sky. The event is described here: https://www.space.com/atlas-v-rocket-launch-fuel-dump-visible?fbclid=IwAR2X1AAAlrojF4zxGvzgCh7NEYbaJk7to91bEVeK-SCBz3R36mdTdjPmwIM I was able to find the satellite and view the event from near my home in Orleans (Ontario), despite all the light pollution and the -28C cold! I used a Canon 6D and a 70-200mm lens to create the following time lapses. The stars are moving because I wasn't tracking. But the satellite appears to be in a geosynchronous, as it pretty much stays in the same part of the sky. As such, it appears fixed on the images. The first time lapse is a short sequence of 15 two seconds exposures taken in 1 minute, with the lens set at 70mm. ISO3200. This was shortly after the dump occurred. The compact cloud is visible near the bottom right side, and Orion is on the left side: https://pmartin.smugmug.com/Astronomy/20220121/i-vdT6Mbh/A The second time lapse is a longer sequence of 78 two seconds exposures taken in about 25 minutes, with the lens set at 200mm. ISO3200. It shows the expanding cloud and the faint satellite moving away from it: https://pmartin.smugmug.com/Astronomy/20220121/i-qqtFwqZ/A I thought that was pretty neat to see, even with my frozen fingers! :) Clear skies, Pierre Martin Ottawa, Ontario