Day 1 blog entry.
Mon 9 May ‘22: I am here!
It was a beautiful day, blue skies, warm. And the weather forecast is looking good for the rest of the week. I started out later than I wanted but began packing the car around 11:00 AM and left the house at 2:30 PM. Spotted a First Quarter Moon rising up in the east. Gathered some supplies and food before jumping on Highway 400, which turns into 69, and is part of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Just north of Barrie, I followed a route that I took many times to Awenda Provincial Park. It was there many moons ago that I did my first astronomy presentation and telescope viewing for park visitors.
Another flashback: going to Coldwater to the late Geoff Gaherty's house. One of those visits was when a gang of us were going to the Algonquin Radio Observatory. [ed: Correction: going to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory!]
I noticed that everything was still brown with the deciduous trees only just starting to bud. Summer ain't here yet! A good reminder it's really the very early stages of spring, winter is just ending. Friend Trevor Horvatin, a former KPP staffer, told me it snows in Killarney sometimes in May.
First spotted Canadian bedrock, the Canadian Shield, somewhere between marker 153 km and 156 km. Lots of colourful granite, majestic igneous rock, scraped clean by glaciers.
I arrived at the official Park Office at 6:45 but then headed to the staff area. Warmly greeted by Kathleen. We made plans to get together tomorrow to start planning out the week.
Long day but satisfying.
The Moon is higher now!
I can see my Moon shadow…
The Astronomer-In-Residence program is coordinated by the Allan I Carswell Observatory (AICO) at York University with the Killarney Provincial Park Observatory (KPPO).
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