Amateur astronomy is a hobby which has really taken off in recent years. There is nothing like watching a meteor shower with the family, or letting a stranger look at Saturn's majestic rings through the eyepiece of your telescope. The reaction is always the same, a lot of 'oohs' and 'ahhs'.

You don't even need a telescope to see some of the best objects in the night sky. Planets, a few star clusters, and even the Andromeda Galaxy (over 2.9 Million light years away) can be seen through a modest set of binoculars in Muskoka's dark skies.

Muskoka is also home to the world's first Dark Sky Preserve, located at the Torrance Barrens. Light pollution in the surrounding area has been limited by provincial legislation in order to preserve our views of the heavens. You might want to plan an evening trip out to the Barrens to take a look. Even without optical aid of any kind the sky is breathtaking, and many people don't realize how much the human eye can see.

Another local facility which caters to the amateur astronomer is the Echo Valley Observatory, owned and operated by Delta Grandview Resort just outside of Huntsville. This observatory boasts the largest telescope in Muskoka, a 16" Schmidt-Cassegrain, which will unveil countless wonders in the sky above. Tours can be arranged at most times during the year.

There are some great sites located right in the Town of Bracebridge where you can begin to appreciate the beauty of the heavens. Try visiting the Fairgrounds off Fraserburg Road, or the field at Monsignor Michael O'Leary school.

Recently the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with NASA and the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)), landed the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan.

The probe spent 7 long years attached to NASA's Cassini orbiter and was released on Christmas Day for arrival at Titan on January 14th, although the event was not observable by telescopes on earth, it was listened to. A radio signal was picked up by several radio telescopes indicated that Huygens had made successful entry into Titan's atmosphere.

Another similar historical event took place on July 5th, 2005 when 'Deep Impact' reached Comet Tempel 1. The spacecraft released an 'impactor' weighing about 300kg (~800lbs) which hit the comet's nucleus at nearly 10 kilometers per second!

The resultant blast was visible from Earth-based telescopes and resembled a brief flash of light lasting only about a second or so.

To get more information on Cassini/Huygens or Deep Impact, please visit NASA's website at www.jpl.nasa.gov.

There are always new comets, asteroids, and planetary phenomenon that come up during the course of the year.

LOCAL RESOURCES:

Muskoka Hertiage Website - Ecology of the Night

Genesis - The Earth & Sky Store
58 Main Street East
Huntsville
(705) 788-0706

Echo Valley Observatory
1478 Millar Hill
Dwight
(705) 635-3910