Winter? The stars still
come out. Why not you? During winter the main observatory is closed because
the heavy snow makes the roof difficult to clear. That's when the Personal
Observatory Dome (POD) is used. Winter's frequently cloudy skies mean that
we have no regular observing schedule. But if the night sky is clear and
you'd like to bundle up under the stars, give us a call (705.657.2544) during
the day. The warm room in the observatory remains open. Ahhh!
Can
telescopes cohabitate? The answer is "beautifully." The POD serves
as the home to two different telescopes. One is the 4.3-inch apochromatic
triplet refractor shown here. It is designed primarily for planetary and
lunar observing. At low power it is also a superb wide-field telescope for
scanning the Milky Way.
Meet our deeper peeper.
The 8-inch SCT can gather more light for observing dim deep-sky objects.
In winter, the Orion Nebula is a favorite. The two scopes interchange quickly
so it's easy to adapt to whatever our primary targets are for any particular
night.
The Orion Nebula (M42/43)
as photographed by Schomberg, Ontario astronomer Gord Rife.
