RASC Niagara

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Niagara Centre

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Our monthly general meeting is this Thursday at Heartland Forest in Niagara Falls. No beginners meeting this month. The general meeting will start at 7. It will be our last meeting until September.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Our monthly meeting will be at Heartland Forest in Niagara Falls on April 17. Beginners session at 6. The general meeting at 7. Our guest speaker is Bryan Delodder, Ten Telescopes. He will speak about building your own 6” mirror telescope with 3D printers and other technologies.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Our first public star night of the year will be at Heartland Forest in Niagara Falls on Saturday, March 8. Clear skies permitting, we’ll be showing people the Moon, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars. The event will start at 7:30 p.m. It’s free and fun for the whole family.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

There will be a total eclipse of the Moon on the night of Thursday, March 13. From Niagara, the eclipse will start at 11:57 p.m. and continue into Friday morning. The eclipse will peak at 2:58 am and finish at 6 am. The full Moon will turn dark red or dark grey. Pic, Aug 2017

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Here’s the March image from our club calendar. Trevor Jones imaged the Rosette Nebula last year. The large nebula is found in the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn.

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Niagara Centre President Jeanette Bax photographed NGC 281, a large emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. She used a Seestar S50 to take this picture in November. The nebula is a large cloud of hot gas and dust.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

This section of the constellation Orion contains some of the sky’s greatest nebulae. Philip Downey used data from the RASC’s remote telescope in California to create this picture.

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Niagara Centre member Rylan Wakeman recently photographed the Sculptor Galaxy, NGC 253, with a Seestar S50. His one hour exposure revealed plenty of detail in this large spiral galaxy’s dark dust lanes and bright star forming clusters.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Our next monthly meeting will be on December 19 at Heartland Forest in Niagara Falls. Our guest speakers are Trevor Jones and Ashley Northcotte, of Astrobackyard. Trevor will speak about how you can get started in astrophotography and Ashley will speak about light pollution.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

The Pleiades are one of the greatest and most beautiful star clusters in the sky. They can be seen in the east at this time of year in the evening and overhead at midnight. There are many names for them around the world, such as the Seven Sisters, Subaru and more.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Here’s the December image from our club calendar. Ivan Rosenbreyer imaged the Iris Nebula, also known as NGC 7023. The Iris is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. The blue light is a reflection of starlight by gas and dust surrounding the star at centre.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

The Andromeda Galaxy is overhead in the evening at this time of year. Away from light polluted cities, the galaxy can be seen with the naked eye, even though it is over 2 million light years away! Niagara Centre President Jeanette Bax took this picture with a Seestar telescope.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Our final public star night of the year will be on November 9 at Heartland Forest, Niagara Falls. Clear skies permitting, we’ll set up our telescopes to look at the Moon, Saturn, Venus and more. Dress warm. Observing will start after 7 p.m. It’s free and fun for the whole family.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

A bright green fireball appeared over Niagara at 7 pm on Monday night. Several Niagara Centre members saw it happen. The fireball was much brighter than any star in the sky and had an obvious light green colour. It appeared to be heading southeast. Did anyone else see it?

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Last night was the first night that Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS could be easily seen from Niagara. Several Niagara Centre members found it after 7:15 p.m. with binoculars, phones and the naked eye. For the next few nights, look west around 8 p.m. to catch a view

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

A fantastic display of northern lights began after sunset on Thursday and continued until after midnight. From Niagara, the show peaked after 10 p.m. Niagara Centre member Philip Downey took this picture from Lakeside Park in St. Catharines.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

The forecast looks good for our star night at Firemen’s Park on Saturday night. Come on out after 7 to see the slim crescent Moon, Saturn and more through our amazing telescopes. Dress warm!

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

We will have a public observing night on October 5 at Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls. Clear skies permitting, we’ll look at the Moon, Saturn and more with our fantastic telescopes. It’s free and fun for the whole family.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Our annual public star night at Cindy Drive Park in St. Catharines will be on September 7. Parking is available on Willcher and Cindy Drive. The event will start at 7:30 p.m. Clear skies permitting, we’ll look at the Moon, Saturn and more through our amazing telescopes.

[RASC Niagara @RASCNiagara]

Rylan Wakeman photographed the Bubble Nebula on August 9. The nebula is a large cloud of gas and dust in the constellation Cassiopeia. A hot star at the centre of the bubble is blowing out tremendous winds that form a cavity in the nearby gas and dust. He used a Seestar S50.