Star Gazing at the Texada Island Fly-in

This week there was a full moon gracing the skies over Hole in the Wall here in Coastal BC.

After a full week of sunshine, high wispy clouds moved in, a precursor to an arriving warm front. We love sunny skies here on the Sunshine Coast, but we do need the occasional rain to keep our forests so green. But now it is back to sunny days and starry nights. And that's a good thing.

Powell River Books will be hosting a Star Party at the Texada Island Airport Fly-in on Saturday, July 11, at 10:00 pm. Wayne (with a little help from me) will set up two telescopes in the airplane camping area. The goal is to introduce people to astronomy and the availability of affordable telescopes. The Star Party is part of our contribution for the International Year of Astronomy and to encourage everyone to look to the skies.

Wayne is an enthusiastic amateur astronomer. He has three telescopes, a Meade ETX125 (125 millimeter) Maksutov-Cassegrain, a Meade LX90 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, and a Edmond Astroscan (for fun). For newbie amateurs astronomers, here are a few of his recommendations:

• 7 X 50 mm binoculars with magnification no higher than 7 ($100)
  
• a planisphere chart to identify celestial objects (about $20)
  
• Nightwatch by Dickinson, Schaller, Costanzo and Cooke ($40)
  
• Star Watch by Harrington (about $20)
  
• Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazine
• FirstScope telescope by Celestron (about $60)
  
• ETX-90PE telescope by Meade (about $600)

Thanks to everyone on Texada Island who came out for the Star Party in the airport camping area. We hope you enjoyed your evening. Look for us again next year at the annual fly-in. -- Wayne and Margy