RASC members will present introductory one-hour talks on astronomy at the following branches in September and October:

Observing the Night Sky for Beginners

Keshen Goodman Public Library
Wednesday, September 22, 7 p.m.
Presenter: John McPhee 
Basic practical information for someone starting out in amateur astronomy,
followed by outdoor observing, weather permitting. Free StarFinders, while
supplies last!

BONUS: weather permitting, we will have public observing with telescopes outside the library.

Astronomy with Binoculars  

Observing the Night Sky for Beginners

Exploration of the Solar System  

Time:       Thursday. September 9th, 7:15 p.m.
Location:   Rm. 118, Sir James Dunn Building, Dalhousie University
Presenter:  Jonathan Franklin
Title:      "Autumn Giants:  An Exploration of the September Sky"

Full details will be sent shortly before the show.

Admission is charged: $5 per adult; reductions for families with children (8 to 15 years)

Seating is limited. If you plan to attend please reserve seats by e-mailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   with the number of adults and children. (Directions to the planetarium and fee information will be sent to you before the show.)

Please do not be late; unlike the cinema, you won't get in once the lights are down. The show is about an hour long.

Take Me Outside...To See the Night Sky

(Associated with Take Me Outside Week | Recreation Nova Scotia)

September 20–26, 2010

This week we experience the Autumnal Equinox, when day and night are equal. This takes place on Thursday, September 23, when the Sun rises a few minutes after 7 a.m. and sets a few minutes after 7 p.m., Atlantic Daylight Time. This week, the evening twilight ends at about 9 p.m., when it will be as dark as it is going to get. Of course it will always be darker in the country than in the city, so try to get out of town if you can.

Before the sky becomes fully dark, even from within a city, there will be interesting sights, including bright stars, the Moon, and planets.  The Moon will already be in the Southeast sky at sunset, and from one night to the next, you may  observe the Moon change phase and step across the sky from West to East. Jupiter—the largest planet—is almost opposite the Sun in the sky and will be closest and brightest this week low in the Southeastern sky. High overhead, you will see the bright stars Vega and Deneb; together with the bright star Altair lower in the South, they form The Summer Triangle.

On the night of Wednesday, September 22, the Moon is nearly Full, and will hang just North of the bright planet Jupiter in the sky. This will help you find Jupiter if you have not found it already!

With the help of simple binoculars, you will see much more detail in these objects. On the Moon you will observe the dark lava plains and the pockmarks of the craters, plus the rays of light coloured material strewn across the lunar surface by ancient asteroid impacts. With the same binoculars, Jupiter will reveal its disk and you may be able to spot up to 4 of the moons that revolve around Jupiter. These were discovered by Galileo over 400 years ago! The positions of these Moons changes by the hour and will be quite different on successive nights.

As an extra challenge, you can try to spot the planet Uranus in the same binocular field as Jupiter, only two Moon diameters to the upper left. Uranus will appear as a star only slightly dimmer than Jupiter's moons.

The Milky Way—our home galaxy—may be subdued a little by the Moon's glow, but it is up there, stretching from the Northeast to overhead to the Southeast. Binoculars will reveal thousands of stars and the occasional gaseous nebula or star cluster. For an extra challenge, search for the Andromeda Galaxy, not far from the conspicuous W of the constellation Cassiopeia. (For this the StarFinder may be helpful: see below.) The light you are seeing from Andromeda left over 2 million years ago!

Useful links:

Check Astronomy Nova Scotia for the latest news and local events in astronomy, plus you can request a speaker for your group.

Kejimkujik National Park:  Nova Scotia's first Dark Sky Preserve...a great place to camp under the stars.

The Halifax Clear Sky Chart will forecast observing conditions a day or so ahead.

Check for upcoming sightings of the International Space Shuttle.

What's Up? Sky & Telescope magazine's sky at a glance.

Print and assemble your own StarFinder!   Simple all-sky star charts for 12 months of the year.

Friday, September 17, 2010, 8:00 p.m.

Room SB260 (Sobey Building), Saint Mary's University

All welcome!

Special Guest Speaker Night

“Muin and the 7 Bird Hunters” - an introduction into Mi'kmaq astronomy lore

with guest speaker Mi'kmaq Elder Murdena Marshall

(related article)

Our invited presenter is Mi’kmaq Elder Murdena Marshall of the Eskasoni First Nation in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Elder Marshall will provide background and interpretation of a traditional night sky story of “Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters”. This sky story, passed on in the oral tradition of the Mi’kmaq First Nation, links the annual cycle of the seasons with the movement of the stars and the Mi’kmaq constellations.The story carries the information to use the seasonal star positions as a calendar to mark the date of the Mi’kmaq Mid-Winter Feast. The presentation  will include a showing of the animated audio/video production of “Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters”. This video presentation was first shown at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa as part of the start up of the 2009 IYA celebrations. The story provides insight and appreciation of the Mi’kmaq view and understanding of the earth and sky as well as a valuable and memorable lesson of the relationship of the earth’s seasons and night sky star patterns.

Elder Marshall is the spiritual leader of the Mi’maq people and an authority in traditional Mi’kmaq culture with a long interest in Mi’kmaq astronomy. She provided guidance in the production of the animated video of the traditional story of “Muin and the Seven Bear Hunters” ensuring that the traditional Mi’kmaq understanding of the story was clearly conveyed. Elder Marshall will be assisted by Ms Prune Harris M.A. of the Integrative Science Program of Cape Breton University who is knowledgeable in the Mi’kmaq culture and was involved in the production of the animated story.  

 Executive Council Meeting

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Room SB152 (or sometimes SB153) (Sobey Building) at St. Mary's University