Features

Mercury to Transit the Sun – November 11 – UPDATED

Nov 13, 2019 @ 08:01 A wonderful video of Mercury transiting the sun on November 11th was shared to Vimeo. The video was shot from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and shows the transit more than 22,000 miles above Earth.   Nov 6, 2019 @ 08:03   Mercury is the closest planet from the sun and orbits once every 88 days. ...

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Seeing Double

Seeing double is never a good thing and a sign to seek medical attention; however, double stars can be a thing of beauty. Some stars that appear as a single point of light to the unaided eye are in fact, double when magnified with binoculars or a telescope. Optical doubles are two stars that appear close together only by line ...

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Perseid’s are underway

The annual Perseid meteor shower is currently underway and will peak on the night of August 12 into the morning of the 13th. The Perseids is the result of earth ploughing through the debris field of Comet Swift-Tuttle when this 26-kilometre wide mountain of rock and ice last rounded the sun in 1992. At its peak, the shower can produce up ...

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The Annual Perseid Meteor Shower

  You are taking a late-night stroll or sitting on your deck staring at the starry sky and whoosh, a quick streak of light catches your attention. You have just witnessed the fiery re-entry of space debris called a meteor. In a few cases, they can be nuts, bolts and wires from damaged satellites orbiting high above the earth. However, ...

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Big Bright Jupiter

On any clear night, look to the southern portion of the sky after sunset and you will come across a bright object. This is not a star but the planet Jupiter. Of the eight major planets in our solar system, Jupiter is literally the “king”. This fifth planet from the sun is so large; eleven earths can line up across ...

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Telescopes and Binoculars

Telescopes have come a long way since its invention in 1608. The simple refracting telescope consisted of two small lenses located at each end of a long tube. This `spyglass` was a great tool to magnify approaching enemy ships from a distance.   Galileo Galilei heard of this new instrument and in 1609 constructed his own without seeing the original. ...

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Our Moon

  Stargazing is a wonderful and peaceful past time that anyone can enjoy. From planets to star clusters, galaxies to nebulae, the night sky is a treasure chest of celestial delights. Although astronomy and star gazing are traditionally done in the dark countryside, our glorious moon can be enjoyed from the city as well. The moon was created about 50,000 ...

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The Sun – Our Life Giving Star

My passion for the night sky began at the tender age of 8 with an elementary school library book entitled “Stars”. I learned from that fateful day that the Sun is a typical star in the night sky and one of 200 billion stars of our Milky Way Galaxy. But not all stars are the same. They come in an ...

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Clinics & Back to School

Most of us have by now taken down our Christmas trees, packed away the decorations and polished off any remaining Christmas baking left in the cookie tins. Hopefully, too, you have stored away a host of wonderful memories of time spent with family and friends. And now, it is up to all of us to fan the embers of warmth ...

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Plan for Magical Total Lunar Eclipse – January 20th

  A total lunar eclipse is a magical event to witness and our next chance comes on the night of January 20/21 with all of North America having a ring side seat for the entire show. An eclipse is a result of the perfect lineup of the sun, earth and moon. This does not occur every month as our moon ...

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Close Approach of Mars

Jun 22, 2018 @ 11:04   Hands down the biggest celestial event of the year will take place on the night of July 27 – the closest approach of Mars since 2003. The red planet is now seen rising in the south-east at midnight local time and will continue rising a bit earlier each night until the big night when ...

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The annual Geminid meteor shower

Dec 5, 2017 @ 08:08 Another great celestial event is poised to light up the night sky. The annual Geminid meteor shower will peak on the night of December 13 into the morning of the 14th. As Earth crosses the debris field of asteroid 3200 Phaethon we will enjoy a predicted rate of 120 meteors seen per hour or one ...

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Picture of the Day – Joe Roberts ‘Push for Change’

Nov 23, 2017 @ 18:52 Joe Roberts ‘Push for Change’ was presented with a 150th Anniversary Medal. OPP Commissioner Hawkes tweeted, “Great pleasure to present #OPP community safety partner Joe Roberts @pushforchange with @SenateCA 150th Anniversary Medal for his commitment to #endyouthhomelessness by walking 9000+ km across #Canada with 335 of 452 events in #Ontario. #SenCA150″

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News from the Park – October 23rd

Oct 23, 2017 @ 08:15 Well, clearly I did not go to the same elementary and secondary schools that Kathleen Wynne and Energy Minister Glen Thibeault went to. For that matter, it’s clear that Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk didn’t go to the same school as Wynne and Thibeault either. And I get the funny feeling that, while Conservative Leader Patrick ...

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