Tuesday, April 21, 2009

IYA Activities in Halifax

Readers can respond to this blog by clicking HERE.

Today we move to the east coast, and find out what’s happening in Halifax , Nova Scotia .  Well, I can tell you that astronomers from the RASC Halifax Centre and the Saint Mary’s University Astronomy & Physics group together with science educators at the Discovery Centre and the Halifax Planetarium at Dalhousie University are doing a heck of a lot this year!  Together, they are Astronomy Nova Scotia .

To start with, the Halifax folk are doing a lot of talking … they’re giving regular talks at public libraries on topics such as black holes, observing the night sky, how to use a telescope, and distances in the universe.  The talk on May 6 at Keshen Goodman Public Library will also include a Telescope Clinic, where people can bring in their telescopes and getexpert advice from astronomers—what a great idea!  ANS are also giving monthly public lectures at Saint Mary’s (the picture to the left is from Dr. Marcin Sawicki’s lecture on Jan 10, during the ANS IYA kickoff), as well as visiting schools throughout Nova Scotia . Speaking of schools, I have to mention the Star Trail Contest which gives Nova Scotia elementary and high school students the chance to win prizes or to observe at Saint Mary’s Burke-Gaffney Observatory. But hurry—the deadline is May 1!

But wait, there’s more … observing and planetarium shows, for instance.  ANS are doing sidewalk observing at various places in and outside Halifax (see the picture to the left), and twice-monthly public tours at the Burke-Gaffney Observatory.  The Discovery Centre is presenting StarLab planetarium shows for children, and there are shows at the Halifax Planetarium for schools and youth groups.

And those busy people are also doing a great job of getting in the media! Many of the ANS astronomers have appeared in the papers, on radio, and on TV—you can see them yourself here.

One that I really like is a night interview of the RASC’s Andrea Misner on the TV show Living Halifax, where she talks about dark skies and light pollution (and many other things!):

On a lighter note, some of the SMU astrophysics students have been taking time out from their studies and research to make some funny videos—have a look at “PirateAstronomy” on YouTube. My personal favourites are “General Relativity in 10 Seconds”, and “Astrodissin’”.

ANS were kept hopping during 100 Hours of Astronomy, where among other things, they had a public lecture on Galileo by Dr. Ray Jayawardhana from the University of Toronto (attended by 200 people on a very wet Friday evening!), displays and contests at a mall (see picture at lower right), Café Scientifiques (see picture to the right, from an earlier Café Scientifique on Jan 10, featuring Dr. Rob Thacker from SMU , and Dr. Doug Welchfrom McMaster), sidewalk observing, and a telescope clinic.

Thanks to Dr. Rob Thacker from Saint Mary’s, and Dave Chapman from the RASC Halifax Centre for telling me about all the great things happening in Halifax this year. Upcoming events include an attempt to make Kejimkujik National Park a Dark Sky preserve, and something called Project Purple (they wouldn’t tell me more!). 

See their website for information about past and upcoming events, pictures, and their Facebook group.  Maybe you will become as excited as this girl is!

Don’t forget to send us your IYA reports and pictures and we’ll put them on our website.  And send me an email to let me know what you think of the blog.

Finally, visit the SkyNews forum to talk about all things astronomy-related.

'Till next time,

Terry