DId I miss the latest Zoom meeting? Or is it on tonight?

--
Dwight Williams

Let's pick a Timmies where we can be outside, with lawn chairs if possible. ?It should be nice after the storms tomorrow evening.

开云体育

This would be a great idea. Not sure exactly where, though.

Ed

Now that we are into better weather, and COVID cases are low, is there an interest amongst the group to start meeting at Timmies again?? We may need to confirm a Timmies location that is open late as many are still closing early.? What does everyone think?

Cheers,

Jim T.

Reminder: OAOG Gabfest

When:
06/16/2022
7:30pm to 10:00pm
(UTC-04:00) America/New York

Where:
ZOOM

View Event

Description:
Until further notice, our monthly meetings will return to the ZOOM platform.? Please use the link below to join the meeting on the appropriate time and date.

Hello All,

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I will be giving a presentation on astronomical filters next Friday.? It will be an online presentation made to the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society.? I don't have the ZOOM link yet to share, but as soon as I get it I will post it here.? Note that because they are on the West Coast, the meeting will be scheduled fairly late for us Easterners:? 8 to 10pm PDT.

Cheers,

Jim T.

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,

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:



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:



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!




Clear skies!
- Pierre

Here’s a report on my recent outing to Bootland Farm (near Stewartville, ON, about 75 km west of Ottawa). I observed meteors for a few hours until the morning twilight. The sky was clear with below-average transparency, and the low +7C (44F) was cool enough to keep the bugs away. It was very humid and damp; I was glad that I had my boots.

In the three hours that I observed, I saw 21 meteors (including 2 anthelions, one eta Aquariid, one possible Tau Herculid and 17 sporadics). The brightest meteor was a +1 yellow-orange sporadic. The possible Tau Herculid seen was a +4 slow meteor that seemed to become nebulous or fragment.

The crescent Moon rising in the east in the morning dawn, along with the Jupiter, Mars and Venus grouping was quite pretty.

The weather is looking fairly promising for tomorrow night’s potential Tau Herculids outburst, but scattered thin clouds and cirrus might mean a road trip to hunt for the clearest dark skies.


May 24/25 2022, 05:05-08:15 UT (01:05-04:15 EDT)
Location: Bootland Farm, Ontario, Canada
(Long: -76 deg 29’ West; Lat: 45 deg 23' North)
IMO session:

Observed showers:
Anthelion (ANT) - 16:56 (254) -23
eta Aquariids (ETA) - 23:13 (348) +04
May Camelopardalids (CAM) - 08:08 (122) +79
Tau Herculids (TAH) - 13:56 (209) +28


05:05-06:05 UT (01:05-02:05 EDT); 2/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.15; facing N55 deg; teff 1.00 hr
ANT: one: +4
Sporadics: five: +2; +4(2); +5(2)
Total meteors: Six

06:05-07:05 UT (02:05-03:05 EDT); 2/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.20; facing N55 deg; teff 1.00 hr
ANT: one: +2
ETA: one: +2
Sporadics: eight: +1; +2; +3; +4(3); +5(2)
Total meteors: Ten

07:05-08:15 UT (03:05-04:15 EDT); 2/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 5.64; facing N55 deg; teff 1.16 hr
TAH: one: +4
Sporadics: four: +2; +3(2); +4
Total meteors: Five


Total meteors for this session: 21


Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario

Hello all,

I joined Raymond Dubois and Shane Finnigan (near Renfrew, ON) to observe and photograph the total lunar eclipse of May 15/16 2022. It was a beautiful eclipse even though the clouds interfered for a good part of the totality. Here’s my images using a Canon 6D DSLR with a William Optics 80mm f/5.6 refractor:



(please scroll down the web page to see all the images)

Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario

Hello all!

I just wanted to share my sentiments on a highly successful International Astronomy Day event on May 7th! ?

The weather cooperated perfectly, and the event really came up together well!!! ?This was our first in-person event since before the pandemic, so we weren't too sure how well it would be attended. ?When I arrived early in the morning at about 9am, only Jim Thompson was there, and I wondered if we would get a lower-than-usual number of setups. ?But as the morning went on, more and more volunteers arrived with their setups until we eventually had 20-25 telescopes on site! ?This was much better than I expected! ?It was especially great to see familiar faces from the OAOG, as well as new ones. ?Members of the RASC also joined in, to lend a hand and assist.

The public was enthusiastic and we had a steady stream of visitors throughout the afternoon to visit us and to check out the solar activity through several telescopes. ?Many said they would return in the evening to view the Moon.

Indeed, the site became VERY busy in the evening! ?When I started viewing the Moon with my 12.5" inch PortaBall, the line up at my scope did not stop until well after 10pm! ?There were times when the line up was 30-40 people at once. ?Overall, it is difficult to estimate the total attendance, but it was easily several hundreds! ?This was the busiest Astro Day at Chapters that we had in a few years! ?Lots of enthusiasm, sunburns, and a long day but fun was had by all present!

The highlight for me was seeing all the smiles, the interaction, the friendly greetings, sharing and discussions... the things we missed so much doing during the past two years.

A big THANK YOU to all the participants for making this a success ... especially Jim Thompson who coordinated many aspects, and Andrea Girones for her assistance with the info handouts tables. ?A special thanks to Todd Weeks and Raymond Dubois for looking after my telescope when I needed to move away or take a few breaks.

Here's a collection of snapshots that I took:



Clear skies!
- Pierre

I enjoyed a pleasant night of observing at Shane Finnigan’s property, near Renfrew (about 80 km west of Ottawa), with the company of Raymond Dubois and Shane to view the post-maximum Lyrids. (Unfortunately, the previous night was overcast for the peak rates). Hearing the sounds of the frogs, owls, birds and the country fresh air is always good. While chatting with Shane and Raymond, while the radiant was still very low, I casually saw a 30 degrees long Lyrids earthgrazer! Not too long after, a very slow +3 meteor came about and appeared to have radiated from the h-Virginid radiant.

I watched meteors for two and a half hours, from 11:25pm to 1:55am (local time). The sky had some passing cloudiness that delayed the start of my session, but after that, the clouds were thin and scattered, and were only a minor nuisance. I counted 12 meteors (6 Lyrids, one anthelion and 5 sporadics). The brightest Lyrid was a blue -2 meteor with a one second train. It appeared that the Lyrids activity tapered off even as the radiant climbed. Unfortunately, my session was cut short when the sky became overcast just before 2am EDT.


April 22/23 2022, 03:25-05:55 UT (23:25-01:55 EDT)
Location: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
(45°25’48"N 76°38’24"W)
IMO session:

Observed showers:
h Virginids (HVI) - 13:28 (202) -10
Alpha Virginids (AVB) - 13:39 (205) +04
Anthelions (ANT) - 15:04 (226) -17
Lyrids (LYR) - 18:17 (274) +33
eta Aquariids (ETA) - 22:00 (330) -05


03:25-04:25 UT (23:25-00:25 EDT); 2/5 trans; F 1.09; LM 6.10; facing E60 deg; teff 1.00 hr
LYR: four: -2; -1; +3; +5
ANT: one: +2
Sporadics: one: +2
Total meteors: Six

04:25-05:25 UT (00:25-01:25 EDT); 2.5/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.20; facing E60 deg; teff 1.00 hr
LYR: one: +2
Sporadics: two: +3; +4
Total meteors: Three

05:25-05:55 UT (01:25-01:55 EDT); 2.5/5 trans; F 1.07; LM 6.20; facing E60 deg; teff 0.50 hr
LYR: one: +3
Sporadics: two: +3; +5
Total meteors: Three


Total meteors for this session: 12


Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario

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:


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:



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:



I thought that was pretty neat to see, even with my frozen fingers! :)

Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario

On the following night, I went out again for the Quadrantids. The timing for the maximum activity was not well positioned for North America this year (predicted during the late afternoon hours with a low radiant). Nonetheless, I saw this as an opportunity to hunt for earthgrazers. The weather was marginal but the Lennox & Addington Dark Sky Viewing Area (about 170 km south-west of Ottawa) seemed more or less favourable. I decided to take a chance and head out in the mid afternoon, for an early observing start.

Once at the site, I quickly setup and started observing just after 6:00pm (local time) in deep twilight. The temperature was milder than the previous night at -12C (10F) but with a -22C windchill. The sky transparency was good at the beginning, but the traffic on nearby highway 41 caused a lot of flashes of lights in my eyes. I moved my chair in a different position and that helped.

My first QUA was seen 12 minutes into the session; a 45 degrees long earthgrazer that travelled from Draco to Cepheus, and flared in and out three times! Four more earthgrazers were seen during the first hour. The radiant was less than 10 degrees high in the NNW. The brightest meteor of that hour was actually a -1 yellow-orange anthelion that travelled 40 degrees!

During the second hour, I saw 10 QUAs, and nearly all of them were earthgrazers! The most impressive was a 70 degrees long QUA at 8:09pm (local time) seen going from Ursa Major all the way to Orion! It wasn’t the brightest meteor at +3 but the path length made it very impressive. Just 30 seconds later, another QUA earthgrazer appeared, this time a +5 that shot 30 degrees! Seeing all these earthgrazers was impressive considering that the radiant was at its lowest point in the sky, near the northern horizon (less than 5 degrees high). Surely, the QUAs must have still been somewhere near full tilt at that time.

Unfortunately, my session was cut short just after 9pm (local time) when a wall of clouds/haze quickly rose up from the west and obscured the entire sky. I checked the weather satellite map and it didn’t look good. There was more clouds than expected coming. I decided to pack it in and go to sleep in the car. I was a long way from home, and not too keen on driving back home fatigued at night.

I woke up just after 4am (local time), and immediately noticed the sky overhead was quite clear! I decided to head back out and attempt another sign-on. The sky was now very different with the QUA radiant situated almost overhead. I was curious to see what the QUAs would be up to, now several hours past the expected maximum. Not surprisingly, the QUAs rates were very low with only 6 meteors seen in a little over one hour. The brightest meteor was actually a sporadic that reached -3 seen shortly after I signed-on. At 5:31am (local time), the sky clouded over again and I sign-off.

In all, I saw 39 meteors (including 20 Quadrantids, 2 December Leonis Minorids, 2 December chi Virginids, one anthelion, one January Leonid, one December sigma Virginid and 12 sporadics).


January 3/4 2022, 23:05-10:31 UT (18:05-05:31 EST)
Location: L&A County Public Dark Site, Ontario, Canada
(Long: -77.116 West; Lat: 44.559 North)
IMO session:

Observed showers:
Anthelions (ANT) - 07:32 (113) +22
alpha Hydrids (AHY) - 08:24 (126) -08
Omicron Leonids (OLE) - 08:44 (131) +11
sigma Hydrids (HYD) - 09:45 (146) -04
January Leonids (JLE) - 09:50 (148) +24
theta Pyxidids (TPY) - 11:19 (170) -28`
December Leonis Minorids (DLM) - 11:35 (174) +25
December chi Virginids (XVI) - 13:18 (199) -15
December sigma Virginids (DSV) - 14:28 (217) +02
Quadrantids (QUA) - 15:16 (229) +50


23:05-00:15 UT (18:05-19:15 EST); 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.38; facing N55 deg; teff 1.17 hr
QUA: four: +3(2); +4(2)
ANT: one: -1
Sporadics: four: +2; +5(3)
Total meteors: Nine

00:39-02:03 UT (19:39-21:03 EST); 3/5 trans; F 1.03; LM 6.47; facing N55 deg; teff 1.20 hr
QUA: ten: 0(2); +2; +3; +4(2); +5(4)
Sporadics: two: +2; +3
Total meteors: Twelve

09:15-10:31 UT (04:15-05:31 EST); 3/5 trans; F 1.04; LM 6.55; facing N55 deg; teff 1.26 hr
QUA: six: 0; +1; +2(3); +5
DLM: two: +3; +4
XVI: two: +5(2)
JLE: one: +2
DSV: one: +3
Sporadics: six: -3; +4; +5(3); +6
Total meteors: Eighteen


Total meteors for this session: 39


Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario

I decided to head out despite the cold (-26C, -15F) for a late night session to catch the Quadrantids several hours before their predicted peak. The sky was very clear but windy, so I drove to Johnston road, near the town of Bourget, about 50 km east of Ottawa. The trees on one side of the road create a good wind protection - reducing the windchill factor. Without that, the wind would have made the session unbearably cold. I was well prepared with my winter sleeping bag, insulated mat, heaters, down parka, and multiple layers of clothes. The site was quiet, with not a single car going by.

I observed exactly two hours, from 3:15am to 5:15am (local time). I saw 35 meteors (19 Quadrantids, 3 January Leonids, 2 December sigma Virginids, one anthelion, one December Leonis Minorid, one sigma Hydrid and 8 sporadics).

The QUAs hourly visual rates were 9 and 10. These low rates were well expected so far ahead of the maximum; one that is usually a sharp, narrow peak. Many of the QUAs were on the faint side. The brightest were two QUAs reaching +1.


January 2/3 2022, 08:15-10:15 UT (03:15-05:15 EST)
Location: Bourget, Ontario, Canada
(Long: -75.104° W; Lat: 45.434° N)

Observed showers:
Anthelions (ANT) - 07:32 (113) +22
alpha Hydrids (AHY) - 08:24 (126) -08
Omicron Leonids (OLE) - 08:44 (131) +11
sigma Hydrids (HYD) - 09:45 (146) -04
January Leonids (JLE) - 09:50 (148) +24
theta Pyxidids (TPY) - 11:19 (170) -28`
December Leonis Minorids (DLM) - 11:10 (168) +28
December sigma Virginids (DSV) - 14:28 (217) +02
Quadrantids (QUA) - 15:16 (229) +50


08:15-09:15 UT (03:15-04:15 EST); 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.10; facing NE55 deg; teff 1.00 hr
QUA: nine: +1; +2; +3(3); +4; +5(3)
JLE: two: +3; +5
ANT: one: +1
DLM: one: +5
HYD: one: +3
DSV: one: +5
Sporadics: seven: +2; +3(3); +4(2); +5
Total meteors: Twenty-two

09:15-10:15 UT (04:15-05:15 EST); 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.10; facing NE55 deg; teff 1.00 hr
QUA: ten: +1; +2; +4(4); +5(4)
JLE: one: +5
DSV: one: +5
Sporadics: one: +5
Total meteors: Thirteen


Total meteors for this session: 35


Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario