CAO Spring 2026 Work Party
The Spring Work Party was held at the E.C. Carr Astronomical Observatory (CAO) on Saturday, 2 May. Members of the CAO Committee were joined by other members of the Toronto Centre as well as 7 volunteers from the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. University of Toronto to prepare the CAO facilities for the summer observing season.
Although it was a blustery cold day punctuated by heavy snow showers, the crew was able to remove, clean and stow the storm windows, install the tarpaulin under the pergola, set up picnic tables on the observing pad and do a general cleanout of the Geoff Brown and Sue-Lora Observatories. The heat pump shed was completed while a small team lead by Dave Brodie felled dead tree and trimmed branches from other trees around the property. Steven Spinney and Matteo Statti applied deck wash to the exterior wheelchair ramp, stairs and deck.
Meanwhile, Don Stewart worked on minor repairs to the alarm system, installed a dimmer switch for the GBO warm room ceiling lights, prepared the security system DVR for summer operation and replaced batteries for the rooftop weather station. He also set up a new computer to replace a server that was damaged as a result of the 2025 ice storm blackout. He also updated all the CAO computers to the latest version of Windows 11.
Denis Grey, Richard Sewards, Claudio Oriani and Don spent much of Saturday working on upgrades to the Paramount ME in the GBO. A motherboard was replaced and an Eagle minicomputer was installed on the 16-inch telescope to enable control of the telescope from the observing floor as well as the warm room computer station. An additional 5-inch refractor was installed to enable use of our new spectroheliograph. It is now possible to image the solar disk in white light, H-alpha and any wavelength of the visible spectrum using the GBO instruments. The GBO telescope awaits a precision polar alignment and generation of a T-point model before it is fully operational again. Weather permitting, this will be done by the end of May. Richard also prepared the telescope in the SLO for imaging with recently gifted ZWO cameras in addition to the existing rig for DSLR imaging.
All this work in near-freezing conditions required fortification. Bob Bowdler assisted me in preparing meals and snacks throughout Saturday and Sunday. Although she was unable to attend the work party, Elaine dos Santos provided scones, a tray of naan and roti, and a chocolate bundt cake which were all very much appreciated. Needless to say, there were few leftovers in the kitchen by Sunday afternoon.
This work party was a great success with most of the tasks completed as planned. While he was unable to attend, Tony Horvatin provided much needed details for the task list and made himself available by phone for questions – thanks, Tony. Thanks are due Thomas Bernard, Bob Bowdler, Dave Brodie, Denis Grey, Tom Luton, Claudio Oriani, Richard Seward, Maggie Smyth, Steven Spinney, Matteo Statti and Don Stewart for volunteering their time and expertise. University of Toronto volunteers included Dr. Michael Reid, Mike Williams and students Alexis, Charles, Kabir, Luke and Nicole (for her second work party!). The students got their first look at a truly dark sky ahead of moonrise, and were thrilled to see Venus, Jupiter and the rising of the Earth’s shadow on Saturday night. See all of the photos below....
On Sunday afternoon, I conducted an orientation session for 4 users of the CAO. Completion of training will qualify these members to access the property and use its facilities unsupervised. More training and assessment dates will be announced during the summer.
The CAO is now ready to receive visitors. Please book your visit online on the Toronto Centre website and enjoy your CAO. Clear skies!
B. Ralph Chou
Photos by Ralph Chou and Steven Spinney
