Meteorite Find

Well, the search teams were full last weekend unfortunately, so I was not able to get out searching for meteorites. However, my Dad was able to go. He found a number of good pieces. They are visibly burned from entering the atmosphere. The pieces he kept were about 74 grams and 215 grams. I'm still hoping to get out this coming weekend and find some pieces of my own. I'll post something if I'm able to do so. Anyway, below is a picture of my Dad's meteorite.

Hunting for Meteorites

On November 20, 2008, a large meteor fell just south of Lloydminster, SK at around 5:30 p.m. It broke up into thousands of pieces and spread over many kilometers. My Dad was fortunate enough to go out last weekend and was able to find a couple of pieces from the meteorite. They are quite obvious as they are definitely burned/charred. They are very interesting indeed. So, because I was unable to go with him, I checked about going out this weekend. So, I'm just waiting for the stamp of approval from the guy heading up the search. I'll post some photos of my Dad's pieces. In the meantime, below are some photos of the meteor that fell, captured by a CTV News camera. The bottom photo is from a police dashboard camera.

Well, as much as I don't consider myself an environmentalist, I figured with the looming Earth Day tomorrow, I would put up a post regarding that. There is not much for me to say about it. I will say that, yes, it is important to protect the Earth and it's ecosystems. I do notice light pollution, especially when trying to snap some night photos. I have also noticed that our city is using bright lights in new areas, opposed to the less brilliant amber lighting in other areas. This makes it hard to take half decent photos in the city. It's a shame really.

Anyway, for more information about Earth Day, please visit the official website.

(Photo from the Earth Day website)

Canada Post Year of Astronomy Stamps

When I was over at my Dad's today, he showed me some stamps he had bought from Canada Post. They are to commemorate the International Year of Astronomy, which of course is this year, 2009. They are really neat looking stamp sets. They feature a shot of a cool space object and a Canadian observatory, one of which was instrumental in co-discovering the first black hole.

Here is a link to info on the Canada Post website.

2009 Star Party

The annual star party put on by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Saskatoon and Regina Centre's) will be held from August 13-16, 2009 in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. It is a growing event held each year in early to mid August in the southwest corner of Saskatchewan. This year's theme is Discover Saskatchewan's Living Skies.

Here is a link to the site that provides a wealth of info about the Star Party.

100 Hours of Astronomy

I'm not quite sure why I've been so far behind the eight ball lately, but I missed the 100 hours of astronomy this past weekend.  There were many events all around the world for this event that ran from April 2-5.  Locally, there were numerous events scheduled. One in particular was held at Beaver Creek Conservation Area, just south of the city. There was a number of telescopes set up. Some friends of mine from work had gone and were able to look through a telescope for the first time ever. They were thrilled to see astronomical sites such as Saturn.

Here is a link to the official site of 100 Hours of Astronomy.