With its pink granite cliffs and shimmering lakes, Killarney Provincial Park is beloved for its awe-inspiring views.
But for some of its most memorable sights, we have to leave the stratosphere behind.
Here are some ways to add a slice of deep space exploration to your next visit to Killarney. Continue reading 6 far out reasons to visit Killarney Provincial Park
Stargazing in July is always a special treat. That’s because this season marks the return of the three shimmering stars that make up the Summer Triangle: Deneb, Vega, and Altair.
Continue reading The Summer Triangle, the Milky Way, and the celestial wonders to be spotted within
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.
July has finally arrived. Summer is the perfect time to escape the noise, air, and light pollution of the larger urban areas and head to the peace and serenity of a provincial park.
July also hosts a number of beautiful constellations, full of interesting stories to tell.
Here are our astronomical highlights for July, 2022:
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.
Heading outside? Here are our astronomical highlights for June, 2022:
Seeing the magnificent Northern Lights is a bucket list item for any nature lover.
But did you know that the Northern Lights are caused by charged particles from the Sun?
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, is the name given to an often-ethereal band or curtain of faint light seen towards the northern horizon. Generally, the light is so faint that the light pollution of even a small town can wash it out.
However, in the dark skies of many of our provincial parks, the Northern Lights can be spectacular.
Today’s post comes from Will Morin, a Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Sudbury and Bruce Waters, a former educator at the McLaughlin Planetarium and founder of the Killarney Provincial Park Observatory.
It’s time we learn the astronomical traditions of the diverse Indigenous cultures in the Americas.
On a clear dark summer or winter night, you can see a cloudy band of light traversing the sky.
This light is known as the Milky Way.
The Milky Way actually has nothing to do with dairy. Instead, it’s the term for the light of hundreds of millions of stars that are so far away we cannot see them as individual points of light. Instead, we see their combined glow as a fuzzy, glowing band of light.
On February 23, 2021, Quetico Provincial Park was officially designated as an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association!
The opportunity to look up into a beautiful starry sky has forever been a part of the Quetico Provincial Park camping experience.
Imagine yourself lying on your back gazing up into a wide-open sky filled with a million points of distant light (like the sky captured above by David Jackson!). You take a deep breath of clean air and stare upwards in wonder.
Stars as seen in midnight’s gaze
Stars shining upon shoreline’s haze
Guiding us, teaching us with stories manifold
About ourselves, stars speak, from birth till old.
Their permanence ties us to days gone by
But to hide their secrets, they still do try
To gaze upon them brings dreams of futures bright
But to see them vanish, is to lose much delight.
~Bruce Waters
At Ontario Parks, we’re committed to the protection and preservation of our province’s biodiversity. The night skies in their natural splendour are an important part of that protection.
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.
For those of us in Ontario, April is that transition month between winter and spring weather. The snows start to melt away, the lakes start to open up and, by month’s end, the first buds may appear on the trees.
Here are our astronomical highlights for April, 2022:
