Carp star party out of this world

CARP – Last Saturday night (Sept. 14) the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) Ottawa chapter hosted its final star party of the year. The heavens did not disappoint.

It was a perfect night for sky viewing for the hundreds of people who showed up to the Diefenbunker commuter parking lot to take in the stars.

However, you could say the real stars of the night were the enthusiastic RASC volunteers who showed up in droves with their telescopes. The 30 or so astronomers were set up along the west edge of the parking lot and were more than ready to share their equipment and expertise with anyone who stopped by.

One thing West Carleton Online soon learned from chatting with the astronomers is that your first star party is not likely to be your last.

“This hobby can sometimes give you goosebumps,” astronomer Taras Rabarskyi said. “We can look through the telescope and see something that is 2.5 million light years away that happened 2.5 million years ago. We cannot even know what is happening there now.”

Rabarskyi says after stargazing for roughly 10 years he knows how important it is to take advantage of clear nights like this one. Along with his state of the art telescope he showed us the ‘dew heaters’ he uses to prevent the optics from fogging up in the cool night air and the anti-mosquito device he brought along to deter the clouds of voracious Carp mosquitos.  

“Tonight is a pretty ideal night for looking at the stars,” Rabarskyi said. “We have good weather and a not bright moon. We are really lucky because there are only about 30 good nights a year for viewing.”  

Another volunteer, Hani Mehrez who travelled from north of Montreal agreed the weather and time of year are an important consideration for his hobby of astro-photography.

“Since you are magnifying the image by quite a bit the atmospheric conditions are very important,” he said. “It’s ideal with no wind and transparent air. Usually the best month is October because it’s cooler and less humid.”

 “I started in 2014 with a Cannon camera looking at the moon,” Mehrez said. “First I began with easy objects then in 2016 I moved on to doing deep sky photos starting with star clusters.”

Constance Bay resident Mark Lilienthal told West Carleton Online he also started with an existing camera and an interest in taking pictures of the stars. However it wasn’t long before it was time for an equipment upgrade. He showed us his most recent photograph; a nebula estimated to be 3,000 light years away from earth and considered to be the birthplace of new stars.

“I took this photo yesterday, on Sept. 13, from my home in Constance Bay,” he said. “It is a two-hour exposure where the camera takes an exposure every 120 seconds. You download all this information into a computer program to combine the exposures to get the image. This is an image of a star formation called NGC 7822.”

Liliethal says he looks forward to volunteering at the star parties because he enjoys learning from others and explaining his hobby.

Longtime RASC member Brian Carroll also enjoys meeting with the general public to share his passion. While he says he has lost count of how many star parties he has been to, he never tires of seeing peoples’ eyes light up when they see something new through his telescope.  

 “I love to answer questions and talk to people,” he said. “And, even better I love to hear them say, ‘Oh wow.’”

The RASC has been hosting star parties for many years. They are free family-friendly events held monthly from May to September in the shared parking lot of the Carp Branch of the Ottawa Public Library and the Diefenbunker. For the past few years they have been organized by RASC Ottawa member Katie Francis who we met in the parking lot as she was busy handing out bug repellant to attendees.  She looked well prepared for the evening in her very effective looking bug mesh head cover.

Francis told us parking in the dark can be a bit tricky, so a few volunteers are needed for traffic control and to ensure cars are parked with headlights pointing away from the telescopes. Tonight it was RASC Ottawa President Dave Chisholm on the job.

We found him clad in a fluorescent vest directing an ever increasing flow of cars coming down the hill into the parking lot. It looked like the logistics were about to get a lot more challenging once it got dark.

“We have had 800 people show up at one party last year,” he said. “It was an eclipse night. Usually there are not quite as many people. Actually one of tonight’s big challenges is to provide DEET free mosquito repellant to people because the DEET will eat the plastic knobs off the telescopes.”

Chisholm says RASC Ottawa has about 430 members and that members also have access to the observatory at the Mill of Kintail. A second generation astronomer, Chisholm said he comes by his interest in astronomy honestly as his dad was a radio astronomer in the ‘60s.

After the event Francis told West Carleton Online by phone (Sept. 18) her first star party a few years ago was a game changer.

“When I was in high school I took an earth sciences and space class,” she said. “The space part was so fascinating. I discovered this club from the star party advertisements after I finished university. I went to my first one and I really enjoyed it so I joined the club and shortly after became the star party coordinator.”

She says she enjoys her role as star party coordinator.

“In winter there is some leg work to get city permits for the star party dates; line up the porta potty; and order the educational materials we hand out on party nights. Once the season arrives I bring the materials to the event. The club members are always keen to bring out their ‘scopes so I can rely on them to show up. It’s pretty special. The volunteers are so passionate about their hobby and it gives them a chance to share this passion.”

The star party season has ended for this season says Francis but they will be back again next year usually starting in May.

“It’s a great spot,” she said. “We are lucky to have this location. The Diefenbunker provides a porta potty and lots of parking as well they turn off the lights and then we get this great high look out. I invite you to come out next summer and enjoy some night sky views.”