Last year, I was invited to North Battleford to do some public astronomy programming. Unfortunately, I was too busy with wedding shoot planning and editing and I was unable to find anyone else who was interested. I was contacted again this year but as I am no longer a member of the astronomy club both at the centre and national levels, I passed their information along and thought nothing of it. That is until I heard that they were unable to do it again this year. So, I stepped up and said that I could do it as an individual. Before I knew it, I was on my way to North Battleford with my telescope.
I arrived at the River Valley Center just after 2 pm. I quickly set up my telescope for the small but eager crowd who were waiting for me. What do you look at in the sky at 2 pm? The sun, of course! With my solar filter firmly pressed onto the end of my telescope we were able to view 3 rather large pairs of sunspots. According to SPaceweather.com, there were about 147 that day but I was just happy to see a few. As cool as it sounds to be able to look at the sun, it’s not quite as interesting to observe as it sounds.
After about an hour in the 30C heat, we all took a break. I had to drop off some paper work though which gave me a great opportunity to wander around the Allen Sapp Gallery. As I’m just learning about art, it was a neat opportunity to learn more about this self-taught Indigenous artist and see his works firsthand. I highly recommend this small gallery if you’re in the area.
I then took a drive to the Chappell Gallery but when I got there and saw the time, I decided not to be one of those “Last Minute Mollys” who push in just as everyone is trying to close. I will hit the inside of this gallery on my next trip though. The outside art works and grounds were lovely so I imagine the inside is pretty cool too.
After grabbing a quick dinner, I got set up again for the lunar part of the program. Oh my, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect evening! Clear skies and perfect temperatures are always welcome but more so when you do any kind of public astronomy event! I started with an informal chat about the moon. Unfortunately, I have no head for numbers but that’s not really the interesting part for most people anyway. Getting up to the telescope and seeing that bright, pot-marked disk is always amazing. Even after all these years, it’s still awe-inspiring to see. I planned things just right so we were able to view the first quarter moon at 7 pm. Sure, it was a little hard to see in the telescope because it was still fairly bright at that time of the evening at the end of July but as the evening went on, we could see more and more detail and people couldn’t stop looking.
When we were all done, I loaded everything back into the vehicle but I had one more thing to see. A nearby lookout point gave me a fabulous view of the setting sun. Yes, I forgot to bring some filters with me but I’m still super happy with my photos of the perfect end to a great day.
