UPDATE (10:15AM Feb 6): Our viewing went ahead on February 2 – the first successful night-time viewing we’ve had at the observatory since June of 2016! The viewing started out with partly cloudy skies, but the sky cleared as the temperatures dropped and we had pretty good viewing conditions by evening’s end. Over 30 people attended the viewing and all had an opportunity to view craters on the waxing crescent Moon and also see Venus in its waxing crescent phase (for many guests, it was the first time they’d heard of the phases of Venus). Venus was shining quite a bright yellow, so some of our younger guests said it looked like a “space banana”.

The phase of Venus on Feb. 2, as shown in this screenshot from the program Stellarium.

Towards the end of the evening, we had a look at the Orion Nebula, which can be found in the “sword” of the constellation Orion.

The location of the Orion Nebula is shown in the sword of Orion within the square (screenshot from Stellarium).

We couldn’t see all of the colours present in the simulation of the Orion Nebula shown below, but we were able to see the contrast between the denser (darker) bands of gas and the less dense ones, particularly in the upper left portion of the nebula.

Orion Nebula as simulated in Stellarium.

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UPDATE (10:45AM Jan. 26): Due to the cloudy weather, we are postponing public viewing originally scheduled for January 26. The viewing is now scheduled for Thursday, February 2 from 6:30-8:30PM. You can come to the viewing at any time in that 2-hour period, but we have a children’s group coming at 6:30PM so the first half-hour or so that group will be given priority access to the telescope.

Our observatory is on the rooftop of UPEI’s Memorial Hall, but we ask that you come first to room 417 to wait for your turn to go up to the telescope. Volunteers from local astronomy groups and UPEI Physics will be available to answer any astronomy questions for you while you wait.

It is necessary to climb a flight of stairs to reach the telescope, but the elevator can be taken up to the 4th floor waiting room.

In the evening hours, campus parking lots are free, with parking lots B and C being the nearest lots to Memorial Hall.

If the weather is cloudy and we cannot view the sky, the event will have to be cancelled. This post will be updated in the event of cancellation.

UPDATE (2:20PM, Dec. 6): Another cloudy day! Our viewing will again have to be cancelled.

Examinations start at the university tomorrow and then the holiday period will begin. So our next attempt at a public viewing will be in 2017.

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Our next public viewing at our telescope will be Tuesday, December 6, from 8:00-9:00PM. You may also attend between 7:00-8:00PM, but priority in accessing the telescope during that time will be given to a children’s group that has arranged to attend (so that just means you might have to wait a bit).

Our observatory is on the rooftop of UPEI’s Memorial Hall, but we ask that you come first to room 417 to wait for your turn to go up to the telescope. Volunteers from local astronomy groups and UPEI Physics will have information about the Moon and answer any questions for you while you wait.

It is necessary to climb a flight of stairs to reach the telescope, but the elevator can be taken up to the 4th floor waiting room.

In the evening hours, campus parking lots are free, with parking lots B and C being the nearest lots to Memorial Hall.

If the weather is cloudy and we cannot view the sky, the event will have to be cancelled.

Do you have a telescope at home that you’re not really sure how to use? Then we invite you to attend our “How to Use Your Telescope” workshop where volunteers from our Community Astronomy Network will help you set up your telescope and practice using it.

The workshop is still in the planning stages, but we hope to hold it in the latter half of January 2017 on the UPEI campus. If you’re interested, please pre-register so that we can try to arrange a date that will work for as many people as possible.

Link to registration form

UPDATE (10:30AM Nov. 19): The weather is looking cloudy all day today, so our viewing is cancelled. Our next scheduled viewing after this one will be Tuesday, December 6 (details will be posted next week).

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Our next public viewing at our telescope will be Saturday, November 19, from 7:00 to 9:00PM. We hope to have better luck with the weather for this viewing than we’ve had during our last few attempts!

Our observatory is on the rooftop of UPEI’s Memorial Hall, but we ask that you come first to room 417 to wait for your turn to go up to the telescope. Volunteers from local astronomy groups and UPEI Physics will have information about the Moon and answer any questions for you while you wait.

It is necessary to climb a flight of stairs to reach the telescope, but the elevator can be taken up to the waiting room.

In the evening hours, campus parking lots are free, with parking lots B and C being the nearest lots to Memorial Hall.

If the weather is cloudy and we cannot view the sky, the event will have to be cancelled. Our next scheduled viewing after this one will be Tuesday, December 6, from 8-9PM.