One of Canada’s best stargazing extravaganzas happens on August 12-15th at River Place Park, RR 3, Ayton, Ontario near Mount Forest. The general public is invited to attend.
Two main tents are set up so that hourly presentations can be made during the day. These include formal and informal slide presentations, workshops, commercial exhibits, and a children's program.
Speakers include
- Terence Dickinson who will talk on Backyard Astronomy circa 2060 A.D.;
- Dr Rene Doyon will speak on Hubble’s Successor: The Mighty James Webb Space Telescope;
- James Cackette focuses on Northern Lights and astronomy in The Great White North ;
- David Shuman & Paul Simard share a Panoramic HD 3-D Experience on Mars.
At night, several telescopes are set up for night sky viewing by the general public. You will likely get to see some globular clusters, some nebulae and several planets.
Bob Summerfield will use a laser pointed at the sky to give an overview or tour of the night sky on Friday at 10pm.
Starfest is organized by the North York Astronomical Association. Each year, it attracts some nine hundred astronomy enthusiasts to view the annual Perseid Meteor shower and other heavenly treats.
The Perseid Meteor shower peaks on Thursday August 12th with about 60-100 shooting meteors an hour. You can see about 30-50 meteors an hour on Wednesday and Friday nights. (If you can’t get to Starfest, walk out onto Meaford’s harbour lookout for a stunning view.).
This is a camping weekend and you will need to bring a tent or a trailer if you plan to stay overnight. The River Place Park is a private campground with a pool; children’s play area, and a few flush toilets and coin-operated showers. The registration cost is $50 (individual rate) or $80 (family rate).
See http://www.nyaa.ca/index.php?page=/sf10/sf.home10 for more details.
