My name is Joey am I am a student at Saint Mary's University. I was wondering if you could direct me to the appropriate place to rent a telescope for a short period of time ( 1-2 days) for a school an observing project I have to complete by the end of this week. I simply need to observe the moon with a telescope of 50 magnitude or higher.
Jerry and I arranged as session and along with a few other members and non-members headed out to SCO to introduce the student to the night skies. Here is what we saw and how I explained it to him after the session. This is followed by the paper he wrote for his course.
- Moon:
- Mare Crisium, Palus Somni (the fan-shaped lighter grey area adjacent to the Mare) and the bright crater Proclus
- Piccolomini with its 2 km central peak, Altai Scarp / Rupes Altai (the brightly it, snake-like 427 km long escarpment that ends/starts in Piccolomini)
- Craters Eudoxus (smaller) and Aristoteles (larger) were seen near the terminator.
- The pair of craters - Hercules and Atlas - could be see about half way between Mare Crisium and the two craters named above.
- Ursa Major and Ursa Minor
- The two stars at the end of the bowl are Merak (at the bowl’s bottom edge) and Dubhe (at the rim). When you follow the line from Merak to Dubhe and extend it out, you will find Polaris (the North Star) which is at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper.
- One thing I forgot to show you: Next time you see the Big Dipper, look at the middle star in the 3-star handle - without binoculars or telescope. Do you see one or two stars? If you see two - good eyes (it pays to be young!). Mizar (a 4-star system) and its companion Alcor (a 2-star system) make a double star bound together by gravity - they aren’t an optical double. Alcor is the fainter of the two and, if you’re lucky, you can see both Alcor and Alcor A with binoculars and certainly with a telescope.
- Big Dipper (asterism in Ursa Major)
- Little Dipper (asterism in Ursa Minor)
- Orion
- 3 stars of his belt
- Betelgeuse (& Bellatrix - the top two stars)
- Rigel (& Saiph - bottom 2 stars)
- Orion Nebula (Messier object #42 / M42)
- Canis Major
- Sirius (brightest star in the northern skies)
- other stars forming the “big Dig”
- Canis Minor
- Procyon and Gomesiha (the two brightest stars forming the constellation)
- Asterism: Winter Circle or Octagon (the brightest stars of these constellation form this):
- Rigel (in Orion)
- Sirius (in Canis Major)
- Procyon (in Canis Minor)
- Pollux and Castor (in Gemini)
- Capella (in Auriga) - this was the star that I knew started with a “C” bit couldn’t remember its name.
- Aldebaran (in Taurus)
- The star Aldebaran in Taurus
- The Hyades - the brighter stars form a “V” along with Aldebaran to form an open cluster
- Pleaides / Seven Sisters / M45 - another star cluster; it looks like a smaller version of the Bog Dipper or a small shopping cart (without wheels)
- Leo
- We saw the sickle shape of stars (also seen as a backwards question mark) just above the trees. A couple of hours after you left, all this constellation was seen to the south above the pond.
- Gemini
- I pointed out the length of Castor’s body down on e side to his toe where M35 was located. Too bad the Moon helped ‘hide’ it from viewing
- - - - - - -
From Joseph:
Although the start of this project was a bit chaotic, the ending was fortunate and rewarding. On Monday, I emailed Mr. Pitcairn explaining how my lack of prudence had left with minimal option as to how I could complete this project. He directed me to read the handout again and explained that I could gather what I needed though means other than the BGO, like a small telescope. The deadline was approaching quickly, and I needed a photo of the moon and a way to capture it. The weather was not on my side either. The forecast Wednesday through Friday was cloudy, meaning that a trip to the BGO was an unreliable option, rendering Tuesday evening as my only opportunity to capture a proper reference photo.
Despite the bleak details of my situation, I set out to rent a telescope. I researched stores, libraries, and other universities, with no luck. As a last resort I emailed Jerry Black, the librarian and webmaster of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) in Halifax. I asked him if he knew any places where I could rent a telescope for a school project. I received a reply the next day, and after a short conversation, Jerry invited me to join him and his wife at the St. Croix observatory that evening. Surprised and extremely grateful I accepted their invitation.
At the observatory that evening Jerry explained to me the different components of his and his wife’s multiple telescopes as I helped him set them up. Once it got dark, he allowed me to capture a picture of the moon (at around 62.5 magnification) with my cell phone through the eye piece of his larger, Meade SCT 2500 mm focal length telescope. After that, Jerry’s wife Judy pointed out to me just about every star in the night sky, explaining their names, what constellation they belong to, and other interesting information. We first observed Jupiter through her binoculars, then she directly me to look downward and to the right to see Sirius, then more right to see Orion’s belt with Betelgeuse above it, until we had done a made it all the way around to the Big Dipper.
After about an hour and a half of this, Jerry called me over and showed me what he was capturing on his S30 Pro Smart telescope, which was a more complete but less sharp image of the moon. This would be one of two images I used as reference for my sketch. Two images from two different telescopes. 24 hours earlier, I was thinking how the heck am I, as an accounting student, going to get my hands on a picture of the moon at 50 magnification or higher. Now thanks to the generosity and kindness of these strangers, I had two!
This experience was made even better by the sky conditions that evening. We were in the brush about an hour away from Halifax, so there was very minimal light pollution if any. It was light when Jerry and I were setting up the telescope, so I believe my eyes naturally adjusted to the level of light outside. This gradual shift helped me to see the moon and stars more clearly with my bare eyes, allowing me to enjoy their beauty without straining to see my surroundings. I captured the first image at 8:04pm and the second at 9:12pm. At both times the sky was very dark and the moon very bright.
If I had to use one word to describe the overall feeling I’ve enjoyed while completing this project, it would be serendipitous. I was very lucky to have met Jerry and Judy. They cordially invited me to join them, graciously and passionately shared, in detail, their love of astronomy, and left me wanting to learn more. Their passion rubbed of on me, helping me develop a love of learning for a new topic. I leaned into each piece of information they shared and tried to ask detailed questions in an effort to show my appreciation. This project not only strengthened my interest in astronomy, but it also further established my belief that people are kind and helped me gain two new friends.
