Latest From starman
February 3, 2010 -- CNSC, Churchill
It has been a year since I was last in Churchill. The new building is coming along nicely. One of the features of the building is an observing platform on the northeast corner of the second level. The platform is adjacent to the classroom area so that auroral observations can be made with ease even when classes are in session. The elevation will give us a good view of the night sky and also will provide protection from polar bears that may be passing by. This will be important during the winter classes but even more important during bear season (October-November) when bear watchers can come out to see aurora.
This year's classes began with quite a flash. A mass coronal ejection is scheduled on the first night of class and should persist with auroral displays over three nights. To date, there have been no days without sunspots in 2011. I think this clearly indicates the solar minimum has passed and we are getting into a time of increased sunspot activity. This bodes well for auroral observation over the next five to eight years. And in February 2012, those auroral observations will be made from the observing platform in the new Churchill Northern Studies Centre facility!
Added to the class this year is a small portable telescope, an Astroscan 2000 wide-field telescope. I have never had a telescope before now. All observations were made with someone else's telescope or with my own binoculars. I did this on purpose since people usually have binoculars but do not have telescope's. That meant that people who were in the course would bring their own binoculars, see the objects using their own equipment and take that knowledge and information home. There, they could improve their observing skills. If they became more interested in astronomical observations they would graduate to a telescope. This year, with a new baby granddaughter to think about, I decided to acquire a small telescope and bring it with me to Churchill.
All bodes well for an excellent course and some very good viewing of the night sky.
Keep looking up.