We had perfectly clear skies (and unseasonably warm temperatures) for our Moon Night which helped to make it a successful event – and the first one in a long while!

Looking through the archive of blog posts, the last successful public viewing we had weather-wise was April of 2014! We did manage to squeak in a few minutes of viewing between clouds in December of 2014, but either way you look at it, our recent Moon Night was the first successful viewing of 2015. That speaks to the challenges of doing astronomy in the quickly changeable PEI weather.

Telescopic view of the Moon captured by event guest and UPEI student Hannah Reid on her smartphone.

We had five telescopes set-up on the UPEI campus for the event – the Physics Department’s 6-inch Dobsonian (donated to us by the Sidewalk Astronomers of Charlottetown) plus four other telescopes. Keith Cooper, Judith MacNeil, and Jane Vicary with their personal telescopes, and Ryan Casey, a teacher participating in the Scopes for Schools program. Another Scopes for School teacher, Rachelle Arsenault, also came along to lend a hand in telescope operation. And Physics students Dave, Trevor, Cameron, Aidan, Deanna, Andrew, and Phoenix came out to practice using our telescopes, which hopefully means plenty of potential volunteers for our future viewings.

In addition to viewing the Moon, our astronomers aimed their telescopes at Saturn, the Andromeda Galaxy, and some double stars, so the 40-plus visitors got to enjoy all sorts of astronomical sights. It was particularly delightful to hear the exclamations of excitement from some guests who had never looked through a telescope before.

Here’s hoping for more clear-sky nights like this one in the future!

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.