By Adam Prudhomme
Staff Reporter
Stargazers will have the chance to explore the early autumn sky this weekend as Lennox and Addington County hosts its final events of the season at the Dark Sky Viewing Area.
Once again led by dark sky photographer Joe Gilker, the viewings will run Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m., weather permitting.
“The laser tour will be pretty standard, constellations of the zodiac and looking at the early autumn constellations which is Pegasus, Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia and then just a general sky tour,” said Gilker. “There’s generally a lot of overlap between the constellations. They move a little bit so we add a few more (to the guided tour) every month.”
As always, guests are encouraged to bring their own telescope or binoculars but for those without, Gilker will be offering views through his own scope.
“For the telescope portion we’ll be viewing again the Hercules Cluster because it’s a nice, easy-to-see cluster,” said Gilker. “It’ll be fairly high in the sky. We’ll be viewing the Ring Nebula which is a really nice sight. It’s a small planetary nebula. It’s going to be the fate of our sun when it dies in several billion years so it shows you what our future looks like. The highlight of the tour will be the Andromeda galaxy. This one’s a great sight because it’s so large, so bright and in this relative term it’s our nearest (galactic) neighbour at 2.5 million light years away.”
This weekend’s event will close out what has been a successful albeit somewhat challenging season for the county’s DSVA tours. Cloudy or wet weather has forced organizers to cancel at least one night every month throughout the summer. Despite the trying times, on clear nights they were able to draw over 100 people to each event coming from all corners of the province in search of a night sky uninhibited by light pollution.
For children there will be a special ‘space age’ story time held at the DSVA, starting on Saturday at 7 p.m. Held as part of science literacy week, the event will feature a story read aloud followed by viewings through the County of Lennox and Addington Libraries telescopes, which are available on loan to the public throughout the year.
Both days events are weather permitting, which looks promising so far.
“It looks like it’s going to be great weather,” said Gilker. “The forecast is calling for clear skies this weekend with temperature of 28-30 degrees.”
That bodes well for stargazers who have been left disappointed several times this summer. The warmer weather could also make for a nice bonus, as chilly weather can sometimes discourage people from venturing out at night this time of year.
Guests are still encouraged to dress warmly for the event and bring bug spray. Both events are free of charge.