Basic HTML Version
18
Escarpment Magaz ine Spr ing 2012
FEATURE
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dark sky br ight idea
A
little over a year ago representatives from
the Bluewater Astronomical Society and the
Bluewater Board of Education met to discuss
the possibility of constructing an observatory
at the Outdoor Education Centre near
Oliphant. Sometime back, the Astronomical
Society had received a classic 12” reflector
telescope from the University of Guelph’s ob-
servatory and they needed a permanent loca-
tion to house it. Because of the relatively dark
skies and flat, open landscape, the Outdoor
Ed. Centre was an ideal location for observa-
tion of the night sky.
This was not the first time these two like-named
groups have worked together. In fact, the As-
tronomical Society had been working with the
board of education for a number of years at
the Outdoor Education Centre. In the past,
members of the BAS have assisted students on
night walks or snowshoe adventures to ob-
serve the stars. Deb Deibel administrator/co-
ordinator of the Outdoor Education Centre,
said that students love the late evening obser-
vation walks and are always full of questions
for the BAS members.
One of the founders and current Vice-Presi-
dent of the BAS, John Hlynialuk, is a former
science teacher. John loves astronomy and I
don’t believe he will never stop teaching it. I
sat in on an evening astronomy session with a
group of grade 6/7 students fromDerby Cen-
tral School who were at the Outdoor Ed. Cen-
tre for three days.
In the darkened classroom, John projected images of the current night’s sky from his computer
onto a large screen and pointed out planets, stars, constellations and other fantastic objects. As
John talked, students eagerly waved their hands in the air, begging to ask questions. John fielded
each one with passion, understanding and a vast knowledge of the stars. He further piqued their
curiosity with queries like, “What would happen if you were sucked into a black hole?” The
hands shot up again - I could see the kids were enthralled.
After the classroom experience we followed the dark pathway to the new observatory where
John and Outdoor Ed. Centre Resource Manager, Martin Kerr, helped the students understand
the workings of a field observatory. The students were awestruck by the rolling roof and the
array of telescopes at the facility. John and Martin fielded more questions about how the roof
moved and what do they do if it snows or rains.