Free Evening Public Star Parties for 2012

The Ottawa Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) is pleased to announce the 2012 public dark sky star party schedule. At star parties, our members set-up their telescopes and share their passion of the night sky by inviting the public to look through the telescopes. All dark sky star parties are held at the Carp library. 

All star parties are free.

See the Public Outreach page for a list other astronomy related events that the RASC is either organizing or participating in.

October star party: Saturday Oct 20th, Carp Library Cancelled due to clouds
Next star party: Spring 2013

Contents 1 Dates 2 Location & Directions 3 An Invitation to you 4 Other info 5 Contact Us

Dates

The RASC plans to hold one dark sky star party per month from June through to October. The schedule below identifies 4 potential dates per month. The star party will be held on the first clear night in the month and announced via email and updates to this page. The remaining dates in the month will then not have a star party (in otherwords cancelled).

** PLEASE NOTE ** : All events are weather-permitting. If the sky is cloudy, we will cancel an event. Sometimes because of unpredictable weather, we are forced to cancel an event with only a few hours notice. Please check on this web-site before travelling to the star party. We will post a "Go" or "No-Go" message here.

Month	Date	Status / Comments
June potential dates		One date will be selected for June based on the weather of the day.
	June 8, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - clouds
	June 9, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - clouds
	June 15, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - clouds
	June 16, 2012 at 9:pm	Event held under partly cloudy skies - 14 scopes, 20 volunteers, 30 visitors
July potential dates		One date will be selected for July based on the weather of the day.
	July 13, 2012 at 9:00pm	Great turnout! A dozen or more scopes and 80+ visitors. The skies were good.
	July 14, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - cloud date not required
	July 20, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - cloud date not required
	July 21, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - cloud date not required
August potential dates		One date will be selected for August based on the weather of the day.
	Aug 10, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - event conflict
	Aug 11, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - event conflict
	Aug 17, 2012 at 9:00pm	Cancelled - too many clouds
	Aug 18, 2012 at 9:00pm	Clear skies. Event held; 14 scopes 70 visitors!
September potential dates		One date will be selected for September based on the weather of the day.
	Sept 7, 2012 at 8:30pm	Date dropped
	Sept 8, 2012 at 8:30pm	Cancelled - clouds
	Sept 14, 2012 at 8:30	Date dropped
	Sept 15, 2012 at 8:30pm	First event at the Cumberland museum; 12 scopes, 30 visitors. Good sky lines and dark skies.
October potential dates		One date will be selected for September based on the weather of the day.
	Oct 12, 2012 at 8:00pm	Date dropped
	Oct 13, 2012 at 8:00pm	Star Party in Carp Cancelled - clouds
	Oct 19, 2012 at 8:00pm	Date dropped
	Oct 20, 2012 at 8:00pm	Cancelled due to clouds

Location & Directions

Star parties are held at one of two locations in Ottawa.
- In the west end in the parking lot of the Carp branch of the Ottawa Public Library. This is in Carp, Ontario, adjacent to the famous Diefenbunker.
- in the east end in the west field of the Cumberland Heritage Museum.

Carp Library Address:
3911 Carp Road, Carp, Ontario.
Click here for a Google map to the site

If you are driving East or West on Highway 417, exit on Carp Road (this is highway #5) and proceed North. The Carp library is on the left hand side of Carp Road, just north of the Carp fairgrounds.

There is plenty of free parking. There are no washrooms on-site. The nearest public washroom is at the Shell gas station on March Road near Highway 417 (nearest intersection is Diamondview road).

Cumberland Museum Address:
2940 Old Montreal Road, Cumberland, ON K4C 1E6
click here for a google map to the site.

Driving east on the 417 through Ottawa, take Regional Road 174 E at the split - left lanes toward Orleans/Rockland. Continue to Cumberland. Go right into the town of Cumberland and follow the signs to the museum. Go left at the top of the street and continue through the town about 1.5km - the museum will be on the right. The observing site is the west field beside the museum. Take the FIRST entrance into the museum - it's UNMARKED and about a 100m before the main entrance.

There is plenty of free parking in the field. Washrooms at the museum will be open.

An Invitation to you

Do you own a telescope and have difficulty setting it up? Are you having trouble seeing objects through it? We'd like to help you.

If you wish, bring your telescope, mount and eyepieces to the star parties and we will help you. Please arrive 60 minutes before the scheduled start time (descibed above) and we will help you set-up your telescope before the sun sets.

Please note that you do not need to bring a telescope to attend any of the star parties. You are welcome to look through our members' telescopes!

Other info

We are delighted that members of the Ottawa Astronomy Friends club will be joining us with their telescopes. They offer this short article on what to expect at a Star Party.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please e-mail our Outreach Contact.