Eyes on the skies — August

Welcome to the Ontario Parks “Eyes on the Skies” series. This space (<– see what we did there?) will cover a wide range of astronomy topics with a focus on what can be seen from the pristine skies found in our provincial parks.

August is here at last with its fine weather, fewer mosquitos, and longer nights. All of the constellations and objects from July are still visible, but there are a few exciting new things to see this month.

Here are our astronomical highlights for August 2023:

Continue reading Eyes on the skies — August

From the Big Bang to beyond: the astronomical origins of the universe – part 4

In the first three posts in this series (Part 1 – OriginsPart 2 – The Formation of Stars, and Part 3 – Planets and the Conditions Necessary for Life), we discussed our origins from the Big Bang to the formation of our solar system and the basic ingredients that allowed life to develop and flourish on our planet.

In this final installment, we discuss what may happen next. As in the first three articles, we will use imagery taken from our observatories in Killarney Provincial Park.

Continue reading From the Big Bang to beyond: the astronomical origins of the universe – part 4

From the Big Bang to beyond: the astronomical origins of the universe – part 2

In our previous post, we discussed the Big Bang and the formation of galaxies, globular clusters, and supernovae remnants using images taken from the observatories in Killarney Provincial Park.

In today’s post, we will explore how stars are born and start their lives.

Continue reading From the Big Bang to beyond: the astronomical origins of the universe – part 2