We are once again participating in International Observe the Moon Night on the evening of Saturday, September 19. And this year we hope that the weather actually permits us to see the Moon!

The Moon will be in its waxing crescent phase and will be too low in the sky for our observatory telescope to view. So we’ll be setting up some telescopes on the campus grounds, with local amateur astronomers helping out by bringing their telescopes too. Saturn will also be visible nearby in the sky, so we’ll point some telescopes at it too.

The viewings will take place from 8:00-9:30pm on a service road that is next to the artificial turf field and across the perimeter road from parking lot D (as indicated on the campus map below).

Viewing may potentially start as early as 7:45pm, but that is conditional on the soccer game at the adjacent field not going into overtime.

This event is weather dependent. If it’s too cloudy to see the Moon, we will have to cancel. This blog post will be updated in the event of a cancellation.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1056878860996913/

Have you ever looked at the night sky and wondered if we’re alone in the universe? If so, our new web course is for you! Physics 151: Life in the Universe is debuting at UPEI for Fall 2015.

In this course, your lessons are provided through the Habitable Worlds courseware – a textbook, movie, video game, lectures, and tutorials all combined in one package. You’ll use simulations to destroy stars, create planets, and explore the ancient Earth, all the while learning about the latest research on worlds within and outside of our solar system. You’ll discuss what you’re learning with your classmates through our forums and help each other learn how to identify which worlds are possible for life (as we know it) to exist on.

There’s no prerequisites necessary for this course and it’s open to students from all programs and faculties. Check out the syllabus and try a demo lesson and if you like what you see, it’s not too late to register as there’s spaces available.

We will be bringing one of our telescopes for some Moon observation at an official book launch in Charlottetown tonight. The book is “Wereduck” by Dave Atkinson and the launch takes place at the Haviland Club starting at 6pm.

The skies are looking like they might be cloudy tonight which will prevent us from seeing the Moon, but we will have some Moon maps that you can take home for your own Moon observations on clearer nights.

The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) can be difficult to predict exactly, but when the Sun has had recent flare activity, seeing the Northern Lights is more likely.

On a night when the forecast is good for Northern Lights, the best viewing locations will be dark (i.e. little light pollution) and have a clear view of the northern horizon. If the aurora are active all night long, then viewing at midnight can be better than at other times, but going out when activity is high is the most important factor.

Auroral forecasts are given in Kp numbers, on a scale from 0 to 9. To have a chance of seeing the lights in PEI, the Kp level needs to be about 6 or above. These maps show where the lights will be visible for different Kp levels (the location must fall within the green band plotted on the map).

Various websites offer aurora forecasts (here’s one) or display the current “aurora oval”. There are also Twitter accounts like Aurora Alerts that tweet when the Aurora Borealis will be active and at what Kp level.