New Solar Panels
We’d like to give a big shout out to the Sunshine Coast Community Solar Association (SCCSA) for their assistance and generosity in updating the solar power system for our observatory. They volunteered their time to remove the old roof solar panels, install new high efficiency solar panels and new regulation equipment and didn’t charge us a thing! You guys are awesome!
First Light for our New Celestron Telescope Mount
Last night we took our new Celestron CGX-L telescope mount for a test drive. It worked like a charm! The old SynScan mount has been retired after 12 years of service. Thanks again to the Sunshine Coast Foundation for giving us the ability to purchase the new mount.
March 3 Lunar Eclipse
For those of you interested in the March 3 lunar eclipse: The entire event is visible from the Pacific Ocean and western North America. The rest of North America and South America will see part of the eclipse, but the Moon will set before the eclipse ends. The current forecast for us on the Sunshine Coast of BC is not favourable for viewing unfortunately.
Botanical Garden Event
We will be attending this with a slide show on “Flora in the Sky”, featuring clusters, nebulae, and galaxies named for flora down here on earth. No telling what the weather is going to be, but if the skies are clear we will bring telescopes as well.
Training for the “Big Scope”
We’ve just started training new Qualified Operators for our “Big Scope”. If you’re interested, please let us know! It may look a bit intimidating, but its actually quite easy to operate.
Wooden Boat Days 2025
Our astronomers will be at Wooden Boat Days in Madeira Park on Saturday, August 9, 2025, from 10 Am to 3 PM, with our solar scopes.
Canada Day: Hackett Park, Sechelt
Our astronomers and their solar scopes will be observing solar activity at Hackett Park in Sechelt for the District of Sechelt’s Siyaya Days this Canada Day. Come on down to see what the sun is doing.
Maintenance
Its been ten years since we opened the observatory and we’ve been busy lately with maintenance chores, waiting for a clear sky to take care of one critical issue: Realigning the main telescope. We’ve replaced the old handset and tonight (Saturday, 28 June) our team hopes to get this accomplished, so the observatory won’t be open to the public tonight.
UPDATE: 30 June. Chores complete! We are returning to chasing skies to show the universe to the public! Come see us at Canada Day festivities tomorrow in Hackett Park, Sechelt.
