| I had the biggest crush on this guy during my first year at Mount Royal College.
He was in general studies and had spiky blond hair, blue eyes and a toned soccer body. I would spot him eating lunch in Wyckham House and always find some excuse to join his table. Imagine my delight when my group of friends — including Mr. Fly Guy – decided to spend reading week in rural Montana.
One evening we took a walk through the forest, and I thought it would be a good time for a romantic line. "Wow, look at all these stars — it’s beautiful," I said.
"I guess," he replied.
Undaunted, I continued: "That could be the big dipper, and what do you think that one is?’
"I don’t know," he said. "Who gives a shit?"
I felt super lame. In fact, I have felt super lame about that moment for years, until recently. On a drive through the countryside I came across the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, a shining space-station type structure on a rolling hill off of Highway 22 – 2.5 kilometres south of the Highway 22X interchange.
The observatory was established in 1971 when rancher Sandy Cross donated a quarter-section of his land to the university. Observers Alan Clark and Gene Milone had handpicked the spot as one of the best locations for stargazing in southern Alberta. It has since been operated by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary.
As I toured the bizarre dome-shaped buildings, educator Jennifer Howse confirmed it is not only cool to check out the stars, but it makes for a wicked date. She believes it’s even better than necking on Nose Hill.
Every third Saturday of the month until October, Howse and professors from the University of Calgary open the facility to the public so stargazers, families and romantics can take a close look at the night sky. Revellers are treated to talks, tours and a chance to see all the way to the edge of the known universe through high-powered telescopes. During last month’s open house, visitors viewed Saturn – a mere billion miles away. "They were lucky," said Howse, who has a museum studies degree from a U.K. university. "It has been a cloudy spring, but the clouds parted that night."
The biggest draw is the telescopes, including the 1.8-metre ARTC telescope, one of the three largest in Canada and the nation’s best for viewing infrared light from stars. It is hooked up to a high-tech control room where researchers, and occasionally the public, use it to hone in on images like the Perseus Galaxy, where scientists believe a planet similar to Earth orbits one of the stars.
"Astronomy is so amazing right now – scientists are learning so much," said Howse, whose daughter Averi works in the observatory gift shop. "It is very exciting. My favourite thing to look at is the sun through one of our telescope filters."
Down the hall from the ARTC dome sits the Baker Nunn patrol camera, which was used by the Canadian army from the 1950s to the 1970s for Cold War monitoring. The Baker Nunn is also the only telescope in the world that can search the Northern Hemisphere skies for killer asteroids. Researchers from the university use the camera to map asteroids, including the notorious Apophis, which has a one in 45,000 chance of hitting the Earth in 2036. "People want to blow it up. They want to see an explosion," Howse said. "But if we do that we will have 1,000 things coming towards us instead of one, so scientists are looking at other ideas like giving it a nudge. It’s all a bunch of theories right now, though, and the chances of it hitting Earth are really small."
The U of C is also part of a team building the largest-ever array of radio telescopes, used to view things like cosmic dust, which normal telescopes don’t pick up. And the team is part of the North American Themis project, studying the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, which are powered by charged particles flowing from the sun. They are looking into what triggers the "dancing lights" and their related storms.
"The U of C and the Canadian Space Agency are doing so much that people don’t know about," Howse said. "That is part of why people should come visit us. We know the observatory has a somewhat odd, Area 51 feel to it – but we are very welcoming. Coming out here is something unique to do and a great date idea. Or bring your kids, everyone is welcome."
The facility’s next open house is Saturday, July 21, from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., when Mike Williams will give a talk entitled The Lonely Planet’s Guide to the Universe and Dr. Russ Taylor will present a talk entitled Toward a More Complete History of Time. There will be an observatory all-nighter on August 28 for the lunar eclipse at 4 a.m. Howse recommends visitors bring blankets, bug spray and a flashlight. Open house nights cost $10 per vehicle, or you can drop by for free on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons
For more information call 931-2366 or 220-7977. |
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