A few weeks ago, as Venus was getting high in the sky, you may remember that Jupiter and Venus have been jockeying for position around the Moon as it all appears from here on Earth (here’s a look at some of the photos I took of this Continue reading “Best Jupiter, Venus, Moon conjunction “for years to come”” »
Month: March 2012
Daytime stargazing on March Break
As is often the case, I found myself this March with dozens of kids who weren’t mine, wanting something cool to do for the day.
Since I (and they) were at the Peterborough Museum and Archives (2 hrs northeast of Toronto) during the first day of their March Break kids program, I figured I should bust out some science and Continue reading “Daytime stargazing on March Break” »
Learning Unlimited Etobicoke: From Wilderness Astronomy to Weird Science and beyond
Over the past three months, I’ve had the honour and pleasure of presenting a weekly general-interest science lecture for Learning Unlimited Etobicoke, who have been offering speaker series’ since 1976.
From astronomy to medical science, to paleontology, to materials science, to research oddities, to Canada’s biggest science projects and beyond, we looked at Continue reading “Learning Unlimited Etobicoke: From Wilderness Astronomy to Weird Science and beyond” »
Family Telescope Test-Drive: Solar System edition
For Part 3 of our family astronomy gear test drive, we sent one suburban Ontario family home with a SkyWatcher P130 refracting (mirror-based) telescope.
Over several clear moonlit nights this winter, Ron, Serena, Angela (age 10 ), and Emma (age 8 ) used this portable 5″ diameter scope (pictured) to check-out details on our Moon, cloud layers and moons of Jupiter, phases of Venus, and ice caps on Mars this past weekend, during its Continue reading “Family Telescope Test-Drive: Solar System edition” »