The province is known as the land of the living skies, and as such we have the opportunity to see many things if we look up.
That’s the inspiration behind Jim Huziak’s new column “The Universe in Your Own Backyard,” which will soon be running in the News Review.
Huziak says he’s been interested in astronomy for fifty years, saying that interest began as a young boy looking up at the sky.
The result has been a life-long hobby, and something he wants to share with people.
“When you do it that long, you pick up stuff whether you like it or not.”
The idea is to show that there’s not a lot needed to enjoy the night skies in the area. Huziak says that it’s about exploring the night skies from home, and he says you can see a lot just going outside on a clear night.
“You don’t need big equipment, you don’t need observatories and you don’t need to go somewhere special. The whole point is to try to get people interested because there is a lot that you don’t even notice that you can see.”
It’s a hobby, but one that can have a real impact, Huziak says, whether someone wants to do it for their own entertainment or get involved with greater scientific study of stars.
“Astronomy is kind of odd... It’s probably the only science where amateurs can participate and gather data. With astronomical data, probably more comes from amateurs than comes from professionals.”
It has been a quiet year so far for events, but Huziak says there have been a few interesting ones that recently occurred. For instance, Venus and Jupiter were within half of degree of each other, something which rarely happens. Right now is also the best time to see Saturn in the sky.
“My wife says that just one look at Saturn is what made her interested in astronomy, when you see it you just don’t believe it, it’s just different seeing it with your eyes rather than a magazine photo.”
While it’s quiet for spectacle, Huziak says that when you think about what you’re looking at, the volume of stars and the distance between them and the earth, the universe is infinitely fascinating.
“There is something daily you can look at, the ordinary stuff is fascinating when you realize what you’re looking at,” Huziak says.
“It is huge, and we are small. You do this for any length of time, you start feeling very humble at just how incredible this is and the science that runs it... It sure makes the fact that the Riders are 0-3 at the moment seem very insignificant.”
Part of the goal is to build interest for an active informal astronomy group in the area.
He says there are some people he knows that are interested in the subject, and they will sometimes meet when there’s a special event, such as the Venus transit a few years ago, but he would like to have the interest in the community build and have the chance to get some permanent facilities in the area.
“With a group you can do other things... I’d love to put in a public facility, eventually get to the point where you could get a roll-off roof observatory, easy to do and not that expensive... A place where people can go on a semi-regular basis that’s run by volunteers, other places do it.”
