Comet-hunting telescope – recalling Comet Halley

“Is that the telescope that was used to view Comet Halley back in 1985-1986?” The telescope featured in the previous blog entry was built by Bill Peters and Jay Anderson, with some help from me, in 1985 to observe the famous comet. We all lived in Winnipeg then. We knew that we would be hauling it around to star parties so we could share the comet with the public. We wanted people to look at the simple plywood construction of a Dobsonian telescope and think, “I could make that!” So we left it unpainted and crude. Thousands of folks glimpsed Halley through those optics. [More in the next pane... ]

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Observing Comet Holmes

Councillor Peter Frinton observing M42, the Orion Nebula,
with the 17.5″ Dobsonian reflecting telescope.
Peter and Fitch Cady did all of the heavy lifting to facilitate this observing session.

Oh, about Comet Holmes… It is now so big that even in the telescope’s lowest power eyepiece, it fills and extends beyond the entire field. The observer has to move the telescope to discover that the haze is really the comet, and you can see the edge of the comet and, beyond it, the real black sky. The explosive behavior of the comet makes this one of the most unusual observable events in astronomy during my lifetime

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Comet Holmes in Bowen Telescopes tonight

Tonight will be clear and Bowen Islanders will be out to see Comet Holmes. My 17-1/2 inch Dobsonian, and hopefully other scopes will be set up in the bay at the end of Jason Rd. Please read the instruction for preparing, driving and parking here: http://bowen-island-bc.com/forum/read.php?f=1&i=62663&t=62663

Below are printable maps of the current night sky and the comet’s location. The first shows the features of the eastern sky tonight at 8:30 PM. The second shows the sky with a circle the same size as the field of 7×50 binoculars. The brightest star in the circle is Mirfak, the brightest star in the Constellation of Perseus. Click the thumnails for the full-size maps.

The telescopes should be ready for observing by 8:00 PM. I’d be surprised if anyone wants to continue much after 9 or 9:30 PM. It will be chilly.

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Where in the solar system is Comet Holmes?

It is not enough for me to see Comet Holmes in the sky, I want to know where it is in the solar system, and where it is going. Since I have the software to show me this, by playing with it I learned lots about this very unusual comet. In the next pane I have some diagrams that show the current arrangements of the planets and an animation that illustrates how the Earth and the comet will move over the next few months. [if you cannot see the rest of this article, please click the title... ]

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Yes, you can still see Comet Holmes

It is a lovely clear night (at last), and I just walked out to see what was new with this astronomical celebrity. Expect that in the future Comet Holmes will be called The Great Comet of 2007. Everything you need to see the comet (except clear weather and a pair of binoculars) is in the next pane. [If you cannot see the rest of this article, please click the title... ]

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The Dark Season | The 1st Avalanche Report

Howe Sound still raging toward the end of a major blow during The Dark Season.

While living in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg, I knew the traditional temperate zone’s 4 seasons. Each was delightful with its own sensations, experiences, and drama.

Now, as an Islander in the Salish Sea, life is very different. While I recognize the astronomical boundaries of the 4 seasons, I have decided that I really experience 3 seasons that only slightly pay homage to the transitions caused by the solstices and equinoxes. [If you cannot see the rest of this article, please click the title... ]

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Hummingbird at my feeder (Mid-November on Bowen Island)

This year, whenever I decide that all the hummingbirds must have left for the season, one shows up. I have two feeders so that no one bird can defend both from all comers. A few moments ago a hummer was sipping from the the feeder outside my office window. I suspect this is one who is too lazy to migrate. I’ve heard there are such birds who stay around Vancouver in the winter. I guess they survive eating bitter insects until the flower bloom again.

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Observe Comet Holmes!

On October 23 Comet Holmes suddenly, and explosively, increased in brightness. Within a day it became almost a million times brighter. If the clouds would vanish, you could go out and see it tonight. Story and star maps in the next pane. [Click the title if you cannot see the rest of this article... ]

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Bowen Island has a plan

Today — dark, misty, and wet — the Bowen Island community gathered to hear the latest plan for Snug Cove. The Chapel became a meeting hall.

Several teams of planners have been working with Council, and the many Bowen Island action groups, to arrive at a detailed concept that is economically feasible, environmentally sustainable, and desirable for the multitude of factions who are passionate about the Island’s future.

The competing issues are daunting. Everyday all of the Island’s ferry traffic flows through Snug Cove. Pedestrians often feel like second class citizens compared to vehicular traffic. Business want places for their clients to park. Almost everyone values arriving off the ferry in the setting of a true Provincial Park (not a ferry marshaling yard). The Municipality wants new amenities and a City Hall that is part of the Cove. And so on.

Some members of the community, who have lived here for decades, recalled earlier plans that never materialized. But the Mayor, and several councilors in the room, seem determined to move this process forward. Councillor Hocking suggested to me that he expected this plan to be posted on the Internet.

This plan is not the end. As someone else once said, “It is not even the beginning of the end…”

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Washoe, the chimp who could sign, dies at 42

John Locke’s famous assertion, “Brutes abstract not,” was challenged when Washoe, a young chimpanzee, learned American Sign Language.

In 1999 this matter was a constant preoccupation in my family. As part of graduating from grade nine at Island Pacific school here on Bowen Island, the students research and present a major academic work. My daughter chose, Language Between Humans and Apes. It was a year of learning for all of us. At one point she travelled to Ellensburg, Washington, where the elderly chimp was retired. We are sad to read of the death of this amazing animal.

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