The night skies have held me under their spell for a long time. As a kid, remember being so excited when we got to talk about the stars in Brownies or when the inflatable planetarium came to my school. Going in the yard in the evening after getting a lesson in the constellation and showing my parents everything I learned always made me so proud. And the auroras were always something my brother and I would run out of the house to see. (We still do that! Just in two
But we grow up and lose that wonder of the universe so easily. Admittedly, part of that was due me turning my attention to music once I got to high school but trying to be a teenager always takes priority over the magic already all around us. And then university came and microbiology became my new focus.
It didn’t take long in the real world for me to desperately want to reacquaint myself with my old friends in the Heavens. When I moved back to Saskatoon permanently, I bought a (way too big) telescope and joined the local RASC Centre. I took some time away from the hobby for personal reasons after a few years but I’ve been active again for the past little while.
Enough of the background. Here are some photos and stories of what I’ve been up to astronomically….
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June 14, 2021 – 4.7 day old, 21% illuminated moon
April 2, 2020 Venus in Pleiades 
April 2, 2020 Moon 9.8 day 71%
February 27, 2020 Moon & Venus Conjunction 
February 27, 2020 Moon & Venus Conjunction
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June 20, 2019 – I did a little cell phone astrophotography in the backyard. It was a hazy night but I still managed to capture the moon and Jupiter.
One cool thing about being a part of a club like the RASC is the chance to learn new things. On May 14, 2019, we had talks by two students from the U of S Physics and Astronomy Department. I was especially interested in the talk by Ashley Stock who was part of an award-winning team that built a radio receiver for an old satellite dish on campus. Here’s a couple of pictures of this ‘budget’ project.
April 8, 2019 – Conjunction 
April 8, 2019 – Waxing Cresent Moon 14.2% Illumination
The Vernal Equinox on March 20th was also the night of a full moon. The Super Worm Moon, while not a ‘super’ as it’s often hyped up to be, was a beautiful sight as is the moon on any night.
Light pillars are spooky but increasingly prevalent form of light pollution. They’re created by lights that are unshielded and often directed upwards. Unfortunately, Saskatoon is full of poor lighting so light pillars and sky glow are now a way of life here.
Astronomy, like most sciences, is all about observation. And having the right gear is a big part of it. In addition to the obvious optics such as telescopes and binoculars, the right gear must also include observation guides and logs. A strong cup of caffeine helps too!
The end of 2018 brought a special visitor to the skies. The hype about comet 46P/Wirtanen was definitely warranted. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have as much luck spotting and photographing it. But it was definitely lovely spending the time outside trying to find it. The Geminid meteor shower on was also on display with the peak on the night of December 14th. I’m not sure about anyone else but in 45 minutes, I saw 8 meteors which
Meeting Dave Williams – November 4, 2018 
Astronaut Dave Williams talk to the crowd – November 4, 2018
