Nestled along the gentle curves of Southern Ontario’s Pine River, a waterway that meanders its way into the vast expanse of Lake Huron, lives Brady, the three-toed sloth and a rather unconventional mascot for the Pine River Observatory’s amateur astronomy blog. In the warm and personal tones befitting a seasoned naturalist, let’s explore how Brady, whose lineage traces back to the canopies of the South American rainforests, found his way to the Canadian wilds and into the hearts of stargazers.
Brady’s name, derived from the scientific Bradypustridactylus, hints at both his physical nature and his metaphorical journey. The Latin roots, meaning “three-toed” and “slow-footed,” perfectly encapsulate not only his methodical movements but also his gradual immersion into the world of stars and skies. Originally from the dense, lush rainforests where the canopy serves as both home and protection, Brady’s path to Pine River was as serendipitous as it was unusual.
The journey began when a Canadian biologist, specializing in tropical fauna, undertook a conservation project in Brady’s native habitat. Captivated by the gentle nature and peculiar charm of this particular sloth, whom she found endearingly perched and peering curiously at her night-sky observation equipment, she named him Brady. As her project concluded, she arranged for Brady to be brought to Canada under a special program aimed at raising awareness about the rich biodiversity of the rainforests and the dark skies initiative.
Upon arrival at Pine River, a community known for its robust conservation efforts and its burgeoning interest in astronomy, Brady was instantly a local sensation. His tranquil demeanor and unhurried pace resonated with the community members, who themselves were accustomed to the slow and rewarding pursuit of celestial phenomena.
Settling into his new home, Brady’s curiosity about the night sky, sparked under the dense leaves of his original rainforest, grew under the expansive, clear skies along Lake Huron. The observatory, situated near the banks of Pine River, provided the perfect vantage point for Brady to indulge his fascination with the cosmos. The astronomers, in turn, were delighted to have a mascot who exemplified the virtues of patience and contemplation—essential qualities for any stargazer.
Brady’s presence at the observatory became a poignant reminder of the interconnectedness of all things. As a blog mascot, he not only attracts attention to the mysteries of the universe but also serves as a gentle ambassador for the conservation of his distant, lush green homelands and the dark, starlit skies of his new Canadian haven.
Thus, in Brady, the folks at Pine River Observatory found not just a mascot but a symbol of cosmic and earthly stewardship, his slow-footed, contemplative approach to life a model for both naturalists and astronomers alike.
Story and images created for Pine River Observatory by ChatGPT 4.
When I took this shot of the moon on 9 PM 18 May 2021 from my balcony in Hamilton, Ontario (with a Nikon CoolPix P950 at 2000 mm zoom) I was pretty happy with the detail along the terminator – the zone between sunlight and shadow. Lots of lovely craters, some clear enough to see central peaks. Contrast is important: when I took the photo the sky was still blue to the unaided eye. The moon is so bright that to photograph it for surface detail usually means tricking the camera to under-expose the shot; automatic camera settings are not designed for this kind of thing. I always shoot astronomical subjects with the camera on manual. This photo was taken at ISO 560, 1/150 sec, f 6.5, hand-held with on-camera image stabilization. Normally you should only try hand-held shots with the shutter speed at the reciprocal of focal length (for example, 1/500 of a second if the focal length is 500 mm), but the stabilization in this camera is very good.
A nice photo of the moon. taken with a Nikon Coolpix P950.
What I did’t notice until pointed out by John Gavreau of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers is that I accidentally captured the famous Lunar X in the photograph.
The Lunar X is visible in the middle of this cropped frame.
The Lunar X is a transient feature caused by oblique sunlight falling on the rims of adjacent craters.
This is the second blog post about the April 8th 2024 total solar eclipse that was witnessed by hundreds at Royal Botanical Gardens (Canada) in Hamilton, Ontario. I had the privilege of being the interpretive lead for the event, and was able to provide my own telescope for people to view the partial phases of the eclipse in safety. A previous blog post described the preparations for the event.
Monday 8th April started out as an inauspicious looking day. The weather forecast was largely for cloud in the Hamilton area, and everyone was feeling a little pessimistic as to whether we would see anything other than a great big shadow in the afternoon. I arrived at the RBG Arboretum around 11:00 AM to start setting up my telescope and to get a feeling for the space in which the audience would experience the event.
One of the wonderful RBG volunteers taking a turn looking at the partial solar eclipse through the 5″ telescope.
My little 5” Meade Terabeam Maksutov Cassegrain telescope went together very quickly, and I did an approximate north alignment of the German equatorial mount, but on a completely cloudy day that kind of thing is iffy at best. I must admit that as an amateur astronomer I’m not terribly interested or capable of doing alignments. I have never been really able to get a good alignment on my telescope mounts. I have a lovely EQ 6 mount that is currently underutilized, and the smaller, beaten-up black mount (is an EQ4? I don’t know) that I use for the Mak-Cas. I set everything up, and was satisfied that it was going to be a workable telescope for public viewing. Unlike most 5” Meade telescopes, this telescope has a custom 2” optical back, which allows for 2” eyepieces to be fitted, as well as full frame DSLR cameras. For the eclipse I set up a 2 inch eyepiece so that the public could view the eclipse through the telescope when safely fitted out with an aluminized mylar solar filter
Shortly after noon I got a call from our communications specialist Cassandra who wanted to see if I could come to a different part of RBG and do an interview with the CBC. RBG owns and manages a large set of properties, and the prospect of having to drive for 15 minutes from site to site just before the eclipse started did not necessarily appeal. However, I thought I had better do my duty as Director of Science, responsible for science communication. When I reached the gardens in Hendrie Park, I found that the Ontario Science Centre had set up an interpretive table and were working with grade 12 students on interpreting the eclipse for the public. A CBC video crew was also there to transmit their impressions of the eclipse and the Ontario Science Centre efforts. I did two short interviews with the CBC crew about 20 minutes apart, and then popped back into my car and headed back to the Arboretum. While I was on the road to the Arboretum the eclipse had started. I was back at the Arboretum about 10 minutes later. At this point things were still completely cloudy.
I started working with the telescope to see whether I could catch any kind of glimpse of the eclipse, and I was also equipped with eclipse glasses. It was some time before the clouds started to show some blue and break up, but they did. About 10 or 15 minutes before totality we started seeing good views of the sun through light, high cloud. There were even breaks where some parts of the sky were completely clear. The clouds were moving quickly, and it made for a very dramatic atmosphere, would we or would we not see the eclipse in totality?
People started to line up to view the partial eclipse with the telescope, and there were a lot of very positive comments about that experience. A couple of nice sunspots made the view of the sun more interesting than a non decorated solar disk would appear.
The partial solar eclipse digiscoped through the 5″ telescope with an iPhone 12. The green object is an artifcatual internal reflection.
Just before totality, the clouds opened up and while there was high cloud during totality from our point of view we had a pretty good view of totality. It only lasted 87 seconds in the arboretum, a very short experience. But, it was thrilling, and I was able to get a few good photographs using a handheld Nikon camera and a fifth 150 to 500mm telephoto lens without filter out totality.
After totality and the sun burst through again there was just a lot of ooohs and awwws, and some applause, as everyone put their eclipse glasses back on and thought about the experience they had just had. Over the next hour I continued to offer viewing through the telescope, which was convenient but did need to be realigned manually every couple of minutes, as I did not have a motor drive working. While someone inconvenient it did work, and it meant I had to be on hand to make sure that people were looking at the sun safely. I should note that I have a nice 60 mm Coronado Solar Max Hydrogen alpha telescope, but without a mount tracking the sun I’ve found it too complicated to used for a public event like this.
Totality in Hamilton, Ontario!
I took a few more photographs of the sun with a 300 mm telephoto lens with a solar filter on it, and as the sky lightened up people gradually started drifting off. By the time the eclipse was completed the vast majority of people had left for home.
Eclipse-watchers in the RBG Arboretum, chilling beside firepits!
This was an exciting total solar eclipse despite the clouds. The crowd was happy, the views were good even with high cloud at times, and it ranks up with the experience I had in 2017 of a total solar eclipse viewed in Missouri. That was a longer totality, but the environment was quite different. Both were worthwhile. I hope that if anyone has an opportunity to view a total solar eclipse they will make it a priority. While not common, these do not have to be once in a lifetime experiences if you are willing to travel.
Brady, our new AI-generated mascot at Pine River Observatory.
Introducing Brady, our new mascot! Brady (short for the Genus Bradypus, or slow foot, the scientific name of the genus of Three-Toed Sloths) is a keen and wide-eyed amateur astronomer in love with the beauty of nature and the mysteries of the universe. The idea of having a mascot came to me when introducing the public to observing the solar eclipse on 8 April 2024. I thought having some way to introduce some humour and warmth to the Pine River Observatory blog would be a great idea.
A sloth seemed appropriate. Not only are they very endearing animals but as there have sometimes been many months between posts on my blog the pacing seems a good fit. Slow foot indeed.
A time-series of the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse I photographed in south of St. Louis, Missouri.
The April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for amateur astronomers in Canada to witness an extraordinary celestial event. By planning ahead, selecting the right equipment, following safety guidelines, and keeping an eye on weather conditions, you can maximize your chances of experiencing this breathtaking phenomenon. Remember that the memories and awe-inspiring moments you’ll capture during the eclipse will be cherished for years to come.
This blog post gives you general suggestions about viewing or photographing the eclipse, based on my personal experiences with the August 2017 total solar eclipse that I saw in Missouri.
1. Where Will the Eclipse Be Visible?
The April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse will be visible across a large portion of North America, offering Canadians an incredible opportunity to witness this phenomenon. The path of totality—the region where the sun is completely covered by the moon—will stretch across several provinces, allowing observers to experience the eclipse in its full glory. In Canada, the path of totality will traverse regions including Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec, southern Ontario.
Totality – the period when the sun is completely blocked by the moon – varies from place to place. It will cover a narrow band of about 160 km across. The differences can be stark. Totality will not be visible in downtown Toronto, but will be in Hamilton. Even if you are not in the path of totality the sight of the moon obscuring the disk of the sun can be very dramatic.
A 5″ Terabeam telescope (the white ETX-125TB Catadioptric Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope on the left) and a Nikon digital camera and telephoto lens on an Eq-5 tracking mount, both equipped with mylar solar filters suitable to photograph a solar eclipse.
To fully appreciate the grandeur of a total solar eclipse, it’s crucial to have the right equipment on hand. While a total solar eclipse is a mesmerizing sight to behold with the unaided eye, using proper eye protection is essential to avoid permanent eye damage. A pair of certified solar viewing glasses or eclipse glasses are an absolute necessity during all stages of the eclipse, except for the brief period of totality when the sun is completely covered.
For those looking to capture the eclipse’s stunning moments, a digital camera or smartphone can be used to take photographs, but it’s important to use appropriate solar filters to prevent damage to the camera’s sensor. Solar filters designed for cameras or telescopes can help capture the intricate details of the eclipse’s corona.
If you’re an amateur astronomer with access to telescopes, consider using a solar telescope or a telescope equipped with a solar filter. These devices allow you to observe the eclipse in even greater detail, revealing sunspots, prominences, and the solar corona during totality.
There are also some very simple ideas that can make for a fun viewing experience. These include pinhole “cameras” that project an image of the sun onto a white panel or card from a small hole in a solid sheet.
3. Viewing in Safety
Safety should always be a top priority when observing a solar eclipse. Even a partially eclipsed sun can cause permanent damage to your eyes if proper precautions are not taken. Follow these safety guidelines:
Use Certified Solar Viewing Glasses: Regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not sufficient for observing the sun. Only use certified solar viewing glasses or eclipse glasses that meet the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard. Check for any damage or scratches on the glasses before use.
Inspect Your Equipment: Ensure that any equipment you use to observe the eclipse has the appropriate solar filters in place. Telescopes, binoculars, and cameras all require specialized filters to prevent harmful sunlight from damaging your eyes or equipment.
Monitor Children: If you’re observing the eclipse with children, make sure they also have proper eye protection and are aware of the importance of not looking directly at the sun without it.
4. Weather Considerations
While regions of Canada offer prime viewing opportunities for the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, weather conditions can play a significant role in determining whether you’ll be able to witness the event. It’s crucial to keep an eye on weather forecasts in the days leading up to the eclipse and to have a backup plan in case the weather takes an unfavorable turn. As the eclipse is taking place in early spring, for example, the chance that it will be obscured by cloud in Ontario runs about 50%.
If you’re planning to travel to a specific location to view the eclipse, consider selecting a spot with a history of clear skies during the month of April. Coastal areas may be prone to fog or marine layer clouds, so it’s wise to research local climate patterns before finalizing your viewing location.
5. Potential Challenges
While parts of Canada are fortunate to be within the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse, there are a few challenges to keep in mind. The farther you are away from the path of greatest totality, the shorter the duration of totality will be. Be prepared for a potentially brief but incredibly intense experience. At most it will be about three minutes. During that period the entire landscape will become dark – not quite night, but very dramatic none-the-less. You may also experience a distinct cooling during the eclipse as the warming rays of the sun are cut off. Also, if you are in a popular area during the event traffic may be heavy!
6. Final Thoughts
I travelled from Hamilton, Ontario to St. Louis, Missouri in 2017 to view the total solar eclipse with friends from the area. This was one of the most moving experiences I can remember. It was well worth the time and travel. And, I prepared for the photographic experience by reading and practicing with my equipment before I left for the trip. If you can take in the 2024 eclipse I highly recommend it.
Will the total solar eclipse of 21 August 2017, which will transit across the continental USA, live up to the hype? The eclipse will also be visible as a partial eclipse from pretty much all of Canada and Mexico.
I've already seen that some writers are expecting the eclipse to be the most-photographed event in history (at least far). I'm planning on seeing the eclipse first hand, as are many other astronomy fans and photographers. My contacts near our planned main observing site are worrying about the traffic. Stores specializing in astronomy gear are selling out of excise viewers.
Whether or not the event – compounded by human interest – lives up to it all depends on the weather too. Right now I'm hopeful it will cooperate. Long-range forecasts (always to be taken with a grain of salt) show a sunny day expected on the 21st at my planned observing site. Just in case, though, I do have a backup site thanks to the suggestions of friends in the area.
In the mean time, many people planning on attending the eclipse in its totality are practicing their photographic methods. I've been preparing by running a series of tests of interval exposures with wide-angle lenses. Shot through solar filters, these photos are then stacked together to create a single image showing the track of the sun through the sky.
Above, a Nikon D800 dSLR on a sturdy tripod with a wide angle lens and a solar filter, set up to take photos every 30 seconds. The sun moves through the sky at a rate of about 15 degrees per hour. At a diameter of about 30 arc-minutes this means that the sun shifts by its own diameter every two minutes.
I've also been running through other equipment options, such as whether I should try to set up a telescope and motorized mount to follow the sun. Given the travel distance and the practicalities of carting around heavy gear, I'm now planning to minimize the kit and maximize the experience, but also be equipped to take some interesting snaps.
On to more mundane things today though, like having a plumber over this morning to replace some old plastic water lines that are now prone to leak.
Kudos to SkyNews, Canada's astronomy magazine! In specially-marked copies of the current issue (on shelves right now) they're giving away free eclipse viewing glasses. Look for the yellow sticker on the top right of the cover for a copy with the insert. Eclipse viewers are hard to find already. Even KW Telescope on Manitou Drive in Kitchener have told me they've sold out and are expecting more shortly.
You should be able to find SkyNews in Chapters, Indigo, and other shops with large magazine racks – until they sell out too!
Also, there's a photo of mine on page 14 🙂 (the Nov 2016 moonrise sequence).
The idea of being able to take a photograph of the International Space Station is enchanting. Here’s one of humanities’ greatest achievements, passing by very frequently and yet so far out of reach to those of us on the ground.
Taking photos of the ISS is perfectly possible from the ground, but it requires some preparation. First, you have to know how to find it. There are several smartphone apps and on-line sites that allow you to predict when and where the ISS will be visible from your location. I use ISS Spotter on an iPhone, which I find very handy.
Once you know where it is going to be you have to think about how to capture it. The ISS typically crosses a section of the sky at a rate of between 1 and 3 degrees per second. This doesn’t sound too fast, but when you realize that it’s about 100x faster than computerized telescope mounts move you get some idea of the challenge. Even a large consumer telescope on a computer mount just can’t keep up.
It IS possible to follow the ISS and other satellites using computerized telescope mounts, but they’re not off-the-shelf gear. An absolute master at this kind of photography is Thierry Legault, an engineer based in Paris, France. Thierry’s systems include modified mounts that can turn at the phenomenal speeds needed to track a satellite. Take a look at his images and his methods at: http://www.astrophoto.fr/
My equipment isn’t up to that sort of approach, but you don’t need to that way. Instead, I’ve tried mounting my 125mm Meade Terabeam Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope on a photographic tripod. This arrangement (see the photo) is easily carried in one hand. It depends on being able to use the finding device (in this case a Rigel Systems QuikFinder reflex sighting device) to follow the target. Using this simple set-up it’s possible to follow the target and take numerous photos or shoot video, and them examine the resulting images later for any that worked out. This is an approach related to “Lucky Imaging” that is commonly used in more sane corners of amateur astronomy.
My ISS-hunting rig. I’ve mounted a Nikon dSLR camera at prime focus on a 125 mm Meade Terabeam Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope. This is then set up on a heavy-duty photography tripod. This telescope is equipped with a red-circle Rigel Systems QuikFinder (http://rigel.datacorner.com/rigelsys/quikfinder.html )
Of course I am using the term “sane” in a tongue-in-cheek manner here and mean no disrespect to those suffering from mental disabilities. It’s just the term that came to mind as I snapped away at the space station like a field gunner trying to shoot down an Sopwith Camel during the First World War.
There are a couple of very basic set-up steps that deserve every bit of attention before the pass begins.
First, ensure that your finding device is well-aligned with the telescope itself. You will not be looking through the telescope or camera to take these photos. You’re flying blind, relying on the finder to set things up. You are adjusting the aim of the telescope throughout the entire pass. The steadier the better, but you still must keep moving to keep the ISS as close to the telescope’s centre of view as possible.
Second, focus is crucial. The ISS is tiny from earth – just a few arc-seconds across. Before the pass focus the telescope as carefully as possible on a star. This is a little easier said than done without having the telescope on a capable telescope mount. I used the moon and also very distant lights to try to focus the spot mac.
While I was setting up to shoot the ISS I snapped this distant jet high over Lake Huron. Possibly 30 km or more away.
Keep in mind too that if you are using a dSLR your camera is going to shake like made when the mirror and shutter are activated. Every bit of extra motion is a problem. I think an ideal imager for this application would be a mirrorless camera with a full-frame sensor, but I’m not quipped with one of these.
For my first try I used a Nikon D800 camera on video mode. I started running the video before the ISS came into view, and simply kept the telescope pointed at it, moving as smoothly as I could, throughout the pass. Afterward I then exported all of the images using IrfanView, and threw out everything that wasn’t a recognizable image. In other words, nearly all of the resulting frames.
Just for the focus. I used the moon as a target to focus the telescope prior to the pass of the ISS on 29 July 2017 visible from the mouth of the Pine River.
Despite all of the make-shift arrangements, at the end of the day I did capture something with structure. Here are a couple of frames:
I’ve seen some authors recommending this approach with telescopes on Dobson mounts. This makes a lot of sense too, as these mounts are intended to allow you to point the telescope by hand with ease. I will try to take more images of the ISS as time and opportunity permits. It’s a fascinating subject!
One of the grandest spectacles in astronomy is a total solar eclipse. On 21 August 2017 there’s going to be a stunning event, as the shadow of the moon sweeps over the continental USA from west to east. I’ve recently seen suggestions that this might be the most photographed event in history (to date) when it happens. I’ll be in there too, dear readers, making plans for many months about the chance to photograph this spectacle. The next one that will be visible over the North American continent will take place on 8 April 2014.
A total solar eclipse is, of course, a transient event in which the moon passes directly in front of the sun from the perspective of some location on earth. Because of the coincidence of the similar relative sizes of the sun and moon as viewed from earth, the moon can just about block out the central disk of the sun. A total eclipse, as the name suggests, brings the sun, moon, and earth into alignment. A partial solar eclipse consists of part of the sun’s disk being blocked.
The 21 August event will be a partial solar eclipse in southern Ontario. For observers in a band a few kilometers across running from the west to the east coast of the USA it will be total.
Preparation for watching an eclipse is a must. Not only should anyone wanting to take this in be prepared from the perspective of observation itself, safety is a crucial concern. Although the disk of the sun is blocked by the moon during these events, the sun is still producing a great deal of UV radiation from the corona, the tenuous outer layers of the sun’s atmosphere. Always wear appropriate eye protection during these events, or observe indirectly, such as with a pinhole camera you make make from a simple cardboard box. For safe eclipse observing ideas, see: https://www.space.com/35555-total-solar-eclipse-safety-tips.html
In preparation I’ve been sorting out gear, trying things, and reading up. I highly recommend Alan Dyer’s comprehensive e-book on photography of this specific event. I’m planning on using several cameras to capture different aspects of the eclipse. At least one will be running interval photos that can later be stacked to produce this sort of effect:
A three hour sequence of solar photographs taken at the home base of the Pine River Observatory, at Lurgan Beach, Ontario on 29 August 2017. A Nikon D7000 digital camera was set up to take photos every 30 seconds, and was equipped with a Mylar solar filter and a wide-angle lens. Every sixth resulting photo was then stacked with StarStaX. The last photo, with the sun in the trees, was taken without the solar filter. It forms a background for the otherwise rather dull individual photos of the sun.
Another camera will be set up with a long telephoto lens and a Mylar solar filter. I am not quite sure yet whether or not I will set up any camera on a telescope mount to track the sun – as this trip requires some travel, lugging such things around is always complicated.
If you are able to take images of the eclipse, consider submitting them to SkyNews Magazine, Canada’s own astronomy magazine. They’re holding a contest for the best solar eclipse photo: http://www.skynews.ca/solareclipsecontest/
The International Space Station (ISS) is a wonderful example of what humanity can do if we set aside our squabbles. It’s also readily available to view from many locations on earth, as it orbits overhead. I’ve been very impressed by some astrophotographers who have been able to capture photos of the ISS from the ground, and have been trying out a few things myself.
On Saturday 5 August 2017 I was able to get my best pictures to date, shooting from Pier 8 at Hamilton Harbour. The Space Station made a fairly leisurely pass just before 10 PM, arching up to 30 degrees above the horizon. I set up two cameras for the pass. One, with a wide angle lense, snapped away 30 second time exposures every 33 seconds, to create a background star trail image. Onto this I was able to add graphics showing constellations and trace out the course of the ISS:
The International Space Station (blue traces and inserts) passing north of Hamilton, Ontario on 5 August 2017. The blue trace was superimposed over top of the original track of the station captured on a series of 30 second exposures stacked with StarStaX. The inset images are from the composite below. The view is looking roughly north.
The second camera was mounted on my 125mm Meade Terabeam Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope on a photography tripod. I aimed this my hand and took both individual photos and video of the station at it passed. While most of the shots were smeared, a few recorded a little recognizable ISS detail:
Some of the better individual images of the International Space Station photographed over Hamilton, Ontario on 5 August 2017. The gold “wings” visible in the images are the stations large solar panels. Images earlier and later in the sequence definitely show differences in aspect as the station rotates slowly to keep its solar panels aligned with the sun.
While these are not nearly as good as some photos taken by experts such as France’s Thierry Legault (http://www.astrophoto.fr/) I’m still pretty pleased.
Post and images are copyright 2017 David Galbraith.
Pine River Observ-atory 