I’m sure everyone reading this is waiting for it to get dark enough to venture out under the stars for the Perseid meteor shower which is on as you read this (ok, a few of you). The shower peaked early this morning, so it will taper off over the next few days. Find somewhere dark after 9:15ish; the more stars you can see, the more meteors you’ll see.
Anyone who happens to find themselves at the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park between the 12th and 16th will have a chance to take in the shower under some of the clearest, darkest skies in the country, and also rub shoulders with over 300 amateur and professional astronomers attending the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party (SSSP). This annual August event, hosted by the Regina and Saskatoon Centres of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, draws amateur astronomers mainly from the western provinces but includes guests from across the country and the US.
At 1460 meters above sea level, the Cypress Hills are the highest elevation between the Rockies and Labrador; higher, in fact, than downtown Banff. The park is a Dark Sky Preserve; stray and excessive light is strictly controlled, making a part of the province already devoid of urban sky glow darker yet.
For the four nights of the star party, one of the campgrounds becomes a sea of telescopes. Hundreds of astronomers spend the hours of darkness with their eyes on the night skies, and daylight hours attending seminars and lectures. Sleep is something they’ll do when back at work on Monday.
The SSSP is not for hard-core astronomers alone. The star party includes public educational programs, daytime solar observing, guided star walks where astronomical objects are identified using lasers, and public viewing nights where attendees get a chance to check out the heavens through a wide variety of telescopes. As well, Park interpreters and a local organization work together to run a public observatory throughout the entire summer season.
The SSSP is a great event if you get a chance, some year, to attend, but when it comes down to it, the Perseid shower and Saturn’s rings are a great sight from wherever you happen to be. One of the best things about the universe is that it’s just as big from your own back yard.
