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Author Archives: Peter McMahon
All-hail the Saturday Supermoon!
It’s that time of year again, when news sites and TV stations act like Mars is going to crash into the Pacific with a flaming 2012 Apocalypse comet tail: The dramatic rise of the yearly “super-moon”. This phenomenon – while … Continue reading
Web links for Sky News magazine column on Jasper
In the May/June 2012 issue of Sky News: The Canadian Magazine of Astronomy & Stargazing, I look at Jasper National Park and Dark Sky Preserve (the world’s largest dark sky preserve, by a factor of 10!) in the Canadian Rockies. … Continue reading
Posted in Dark Sky Preserves, Events, News, Resources, Sky News Magazine column web links
Tagged dark sky preserve, jasper, parks canada, sites
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Best Jupiter, Venus, Moon conjunction “for years to come”
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Events, News
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Events
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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, … Continue reading
Posted in Resources
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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 ) … Continue reading
Posted in Gear, Resources
Tagged binoculars, campsite stargazing, canada, telescope, wilderness astronomy
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Telescope test-drive Part 2: The Great Family Astronomy Tailgate Party
A few months ago, I set out into the Canadian wilderness with a selection of Sky Watchertelescopes, and a pair of Canon image-stabilized binoculars furnished by my gear sponsor EfstonScience of Toronto (more on that here.) With this gear, I recently took several families out to … Continue reading
Posted in Events, Gear, News
Tagged binoculars, campsite stargazing, canada, family, telescope, wilderness astronomy
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Sky News column web extras: Bruce Peninsula
**Links mentioned in the March/April 2012 Wilderness Astronomer column in the print edition of Sky News Magazine** In addition to the fabulous features of the Bruce Peninsula and surrounding area chronicled in Sky News Magazine, I’d like to share with … Continue reading
The great family telescope review, Part 1
A few months ago, I set out into the Canadian wilderness with a selection of Sky Watcher telescopes from EfstonScience in Toronto, and a pair of Canon image-stabilized binoculars (more on that here.) Recently, I (centre, in the image above) took several families Link to this … Continue reading
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Rebooting Celestron’s Sky Scout starfinder
Last year, I got a Sky Scout personal planetarium – the handy GPS-based device from Celestron, which allows you to point at an object in the sky that you’re curious about, press the “Target” button, and see text scroll across the devices’ … Continue reading
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