Observatories
Saint Mary's University's Burke-Gaffney Observatory is the world's first fully-automatic Twitter-controlled observatory.
The Deep Sky Eye Observatory, located in North America's first Starlight Tourist Destination, is operated by Tim Doucette in Quinan, NS.
The Abbey Ridge Observatory (ARO), originally built in 2003 by deceased member Dr. David Lane, it is named for the granite ridge that rises above Elbow Lake and along Abbey Road in Stillwater Lake, NS where it was built. It has been moved to Stargaze Nova Scotia (https://www.learntostargaze.com), owned and operated by RASC Halifax Centre member John Read. Coming soon - the plan is for the telescope to be used visually (with an eyepiece atop a ladder), or with an astronomy camera either live (Electronically Assisted Astronomy) or remotely over the internet.
Here are links to other groups and observatories:
- Stargaze Nova Scotia (near Peggys Cove) as noted above
- Two RIvers Observatory (near Sydney, Cape Breton)
- Hall's Harbour Observatory, operated by Kathy Walker (Hall's Harbour)
- Cliff Valley Astronomy, operated by Stephane Pickard (New Brunswick)
- Gairloch Mountain Observatory, operated by Tim Donovan (Cape Breton) not updated since 2020
Other Resources
The RASC Halifax Youtube Channel provides access to numerous educational video resources and records of some of our activities.
The Facebook group Astrophotography Nova Scotia has numerous contributions from local astronomers and photographers as does the group Queens Country Astronomy Group.
Learn about the four supernovae discovered by Centre member Dave Lane, Paul Gray, (then 10 year old) Kathryn Aurora Gray and Nathan Gray.
Michael Boschat's huge compendium of Astronomy Sites.
The Canada-Wide Astronomy Buy & Sell is Canada's trading post for new and used telescopes & accessories. Site maintained by Paul Markov.
Do you have a screw loose?
You might want to try finding replacements for screws, bolt or bolts and other hardware parts at:
www.mcmaster.com,
/telescopescanada.ca m3-thumb-screw,
telescopescanada.ca m3-x-8mm-hex-head-screws
www.amazon.ca/dp/B00A9N1I18?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_ZQCDN374CBNYD40VWF92
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The Halifax Planetarium has a long history, dating from its establishment in 1955 at the old Nova Scotia Museum of Science on Spring Garden Road; ; it one of the oldest public planetariums in Canada. The Halifax Planetarium is now located in Dalhousie University's Sir James Dunn Science Building. See map. For information on the availability of public shows, please visit here.
For information about shows for groups (school, community, etc.) write to:
The Discovery Centre Dome Theatre provides live presentations on astronomy themes.
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The Minas Astronomy Group (MAG) is an informal group of amateur astronomers who met monthly in Avonport, NS. This group has not reconvened since the 2020 pandemic but the records are retained as an historical record of a partner organization.
Astronomy Nova Scotia provides a listing of all astronomy-related events including special lectures, planetarium shows, and public observing events.
Saint Mary's University Department of Astronomy & Physics offers undergraduate and graduate level astronomy & physics degrees.
The RASC New Brunswick Centre meets on the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of the month in Moncton, St. John or Fredericton.
Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) brings the world together to share their passion of astronomy and the wonders of the Universe. AWB is dedicated to fostering understanding and goodwill across national and cultural boundaries by creating relationships through the universal appeal of astronomy.
A special group of RASC members from across the country also belong to the "Royal" Astronomical Society of Daves (RASD) which has 7 Nova Scotia members: VIII Lane, XI Turner, XVII Chapman, XXI Parsons, XXX Chiasson, XXXIII Griffith, XXXVII Hoskin, and XXXVIII Robertson.
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Want to plan your next observing/astroimaging session? Here are the St. Croix Observatory (SCO) 360º panorama data sets for use with Stellarium or KStars or SkySafari.
In Stellarium, select the sky viewing options and choose “landscape” and “add/remove landscape” to select the zip file containing the folder to be added.
In KStars, using the EKOS options to enable and define the reference “terrain” image location.
In SkySafari Pro, download the .png file from the zip files below into the SkySafari directory. On an iPhone connected to your Mac, add the file to the SkySafari Pro directory within the iPhone. Restart SkySafari Pro and choose the panoramic image as the background under Settings -> Horizon and Sky.
SCOEastPad (zip file)
SCOSouthPad (zip file)
SCOWestPad (zip file)
SCORolloffNorthWest (zip file)
SCORolloffNorthEast (zip file)
SCORolloffSouthEast (zip file)
SCORolloffSouthWest (zip file)
SCOHyperStar (zip file)
Need a QR code to link to this site?
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