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Success in 2010
Courses in Feb. of 2010 were a success in spite of fears of lack of sunspots. After 260 sunspotless days in 2009 (see www.spaceweather.com) and with a continuation of sunspotless days into 2010, apprehension was high. A week before the courses were to begin, 2 massive sunspots appeared. By the time the courses began, 10 spots appeared and when the courses were finished, 78 sunspots had graced the solar surface. One evening, two days after a major solar flare, the aurora was active for 2 1/2 hours producing a rather impressive display of Northern lights. It seems that the sunspot drought is over and we are now definitely in an upswing in solar activity. This bodes well for courses a year from now. Incidentally, the course dates have been set and information should soon be available on the CNSC website.
CNSC Building Project
The Churchill Northern Studies Center is currently engaged in construction phase of a new building just east of the current building. The current facility will be refurbished and the new building should be ready for next winter's observing sessions. Progress on the building can be followed by looking at the CNSC web site. When I left last February 19th, the footings were ready to receive the floor and walls of the building. Walls had not yet been erected but the laminated beams had arrived on flatbeds. Since then, Mike Goodyear has sent me pictures of some of the construction, although I have not received anything recently. My guess is that Mike is quite busy.
Upcoming Celestial Event
I am sure you are excited about Easter. Looking down the calendar of celestial events, the major event this year so far is the Perseid meteor shower. It will occur on the night of August 12. This year, there will be very little moonlight so observation should be excellent. In fact, this should be the best meteor shower of the year. The big bonus is that it occurs in August when the weather is warm enough for us to enjoy the night sky comfortably. Please make your plans now for an observing session on the night of August 12, where ever you plan to be.
Note that on April 22 the Lyrid meteor shower will be at its peak. Moon will be just past first quarter so it should be set by midnight so that we may get a look at some of the Lyrid at meteors.
Other Stuff
I recently made a trip to Arizona. While traveling through Portal on the Arizona-New Mexico border, I bumped into an old friend from way way back when I was in the planetarium business. His name is Jack Newton and he is a prominent amateur astronomer. I once did a planetarium show that involved Jack. He now has two homes, one in British Columbia and the other in Portal Arizona. The Portal home is part of a development called Sky City where each house has an observatory attached. Jack spends his observing time looking for supernova. His current count of new finds is 46 although he assures as me that there will be many more this year. Each night Jack's 10 inch telescope searches 700 galaxies looking for supernova. It is an interesting place and you can get more information about Jack from his website: www.jacknewton.com