A Martian update: What's new on the Red Planet with Professor Paul Delaney.

Measuring light pollution of your sky, see www.globeatnight.org

Learn how to find locations for dark sky observations and how to make the best use of online weather resources

Skies were cloudy Jan 3, so we will try again on Jan 10 provided skies are clear.Join us at the Ontario Science Centre for our monthly Solar Observing on the TelusScape observing pad. This is the area in front of the Science Centre's entrance. We use specialized telescopes that are safe to aim at the Sun. Check our home page on the Friday prior for go/no-go calls as this event is weather dependent.

This is an adaptation of a successful planetarium show which Damien Robertson ran while at McMaster. The show focuses on a ‘recap’ of the life of Betelgeuse as it inches closer towards supernova and explores star formation, evolution and death. He’ll also talk about how planet formation is an intrinsic process in star formation as well. He’ll modify the talk to include more observational details and current images.

Meteor shower

Join us at the Ontario Science Centre for our monthly Solar Observing on the TelusScape observing pad. This is the area in front of the Science Centre's entrance. We use specialized telescopes that are safe to aim at the Sun. Check our home page on the Friday prior for go/no-go calls as this event is weather dependent.

The moon is between us and the sun. Without the moon in the sky at night, deep sky objects are easier to observe.

The shortest day and the longest night of the year.

See the milky way and galaxies with the unaided eye. Point your telescope to find the many dim deep space objects that sprinkle the sky. Away from Toronto's light pollution, there is so much to see. We observe from the Long Sault Conservation area, an hour outside of Toronto. We meet around dusk once a month in the parking lot for views only seen in dark sky conditions. We hold this event on the first clear night of our week-long window, so the date and time are determined closer to.

Join us at the Ontario Science Centre for our monthly Solar Observing on the TelusScape observing pad. This is the area in front of the Science Centre's entrance. We use specialized telescopes that are safe to aim at the Sun. Check our home page on the Friday prior for go/no-go calls as this event is weather dependent.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids