The long weekend is almost over and what a great time we’ve at the park. Not one, but two special events were a real hit with everyone here at the Visitor Centre. First off people enjoyed seeing some of our native birds of prey up close on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday evening they were given the shivers with chilly tales of shipwrecks in the dark waters of Lake Erie.

For the past couple of summers we have had some stargazing programs here at the Visitor Centre. However, just because we don’t have one this summer doesn’t mean that you should miss out on a great activity that you can do in park. Although you can stargaze just about anywhere, Rondeau is one of the best places to take a glance up at the night sky in southern Ontario. When you’re visiting Rondeau you’re on a peninsula that sticks out into Lake Erie, in an area that is predominantly farmland. This means that there is little light pollution and the skies are darker. The dark nights at Rondeau allow us to see a greater number of stars twinkling in the skies above than you can see when you’re closer to towns and cities where the street lights and other light sources drown out the fainter stars.

 This upcoming week should be especially good for stargazing because we have just had a new moon (the moon is totally hidden in the earth’s shadow) on July 30th which means we’ll see even more stars this week, many of which have fascinating stories and myths attached to them. One of my personal favourites involves part of a group of stars called the Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle is made up of three bright stars; Deneb, Altair and Vega that are actually part of three different constellations; Cygnus the swan, Aquila the eagle and Lyra the lute.

There is a festival held in Japan called the Tanabata festival that involves two of the stars: Vega and Altair. These two stars are a celestial couple; Orihime (Vega) the celestial princess and Kengyuu (Altair) the herdsman. Orihime and Kengyuu are separated by a mighty river (the Milky Way) and are unable to be together. However, once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month the boatman (the moon) comes to ferry one of them across the river so that they may be together for that one day. If it rains, the river gets too high and the boatman cannot help them and it is said that a group of magpies will fly up and make a bridge so that the sweethearts can have their one happy day together.

Another great star to see in the sky this time of year is Antares which is part of the tail of Scorpius the scorpion. This star can been seen near the horizon in the southern sky and fools many people into believing it is the planet Mars because of its red colour. Antares is a red supergiant star. It is 550 light years away and it is only about 3300 degrees Celsius (fairly cool for a star). The reason it is so bright in the sky is because it is so huge. Antares is about 800 times bigger than our sun and 10 thousand times brighter! If Antares was put into our solar system, its diameter would reach out past the orbit of Mars! The way you can tell if you are looking at a star or a planet is whether or not it twinkles. Stars twinkle in the night sky because they are producing their own light. Planets only reflect the light from our Sun so they look like steady dots in the sky.

Constellation Scorpius (Antares is said to represent the heart of the scorpion)

If you want to see a planet you are in luck because Saturn is in a great viewing spot this week. If you look to the western sky (towards Rondeau Bay) in the constellation of Virgo you should see a bright golden yellow dot (remember it is not twinkling). This is Saturn and it is a great time of the year to see it. If you have binoculars or telescope you can even see the rings of Saturn as well as some of its moons.

So if you have a chance and the inclination I recommend you find yourself a good spot in Rondeau (I recommend Beach Access #11 or on the South tip of the park), aim your gaze skyward and enjoy the majesty of the stars at Rondeau.

If you have any questions about the stars and constellations or anything else nature related please send them my way at kipling.campbell@ontario.ca.

Twinklingly Yours,
Kipling