Bayside Astronomy

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Bayside Astronomy

Free astronomy program from Canada Day till Labour Day! Come here for program updates, cancellations and more. Mondays and Wednesdays are both at Miller lake.

Learn about preserving dark skies, and look through our telescopes to see Jupiter, Saturn's rings, galaxies, nebulae, lunar craters and more! Bayside Astronomy is a free program that seeks to educate the public on the wonders of astronomy, the benefits of dark sky lighting and the need to reduce light pollution. Our celestial tours start the Friday of Canada Day all the way to the end weekend of L

abour Day. Bayside Astronomy will be running five days a week during this time. Our main location is the POD by the Lion's Head marina, it will be active on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday we're located at Singing Sands on Dorcas Bay road, the telescopes will be down near the beach at the end of the boardwalks. Mondays will be at Miller's Family Camp near the docks, and Wednesdays will be at the Summerhouse Park docks past the gate. We start at sunset. We will (as long as it's not too cloudy!) show you the rings of Saturn, the stripes of Jupiter's chaotic atmosphere, and the sights of distant galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters! We have a lot to show, and only so much time to do it, so we hope to see you there this summer!

05/09/2026

Venus Wows with Jupiter in May and Early June!

That really bright object on the western horizon at around sunset is Venus. The evening and sometimes morning star, is very easy to spot now as after the moon it's the brightest object in the night sky.

At maximum brightness, Venus shines at roughly magnitude -4.9 (remember the lower the magnitude the brighter the object), which is about eight times brighter than Jupiter's peak brightness of -2.9. Venus is brighter due to its closer proximity to the Sun and its highly reflective cloud cover.

Starting around today, go outside around 9pm if the skies are clear and look for Venus and then spot the other really bright planet Jupiter. Note their positions with respect to each other. Go out each night until June 9 at 9pm and watch as the planets get closer and closer together, with the moon joining the duo around May 17 through May 20th.

Then catch the conjunction (planets appearing very close together) on June 9th when they are about 1.5 degrees apart, which is about the width of your pinky finger at arms length.

This post provides some facts about our HOT sister planet Venus!

04/27/2026

Polaris.

Ever constant in out night sky in the Northern Hemisphere, this star (or triple star set) is the most important star in our night sky for many reasons. Let's take a detailed look at Polaris!

04/22/2026

Looking for Accommodations!

Hi everyone. Bayside is coming back for 2026, and we need some inexpensive accommodations for one of our student program managers. If you have a bedroom not being used and would be willing to rent it out to a quiet, non-smoking, intelligent college student from June 13 through to Aug 29, please let us know.

We are looking for something north of Owen Sound or Wiarton. The closer to Lions Head or Tobermory, the better. Thanks.

04/11/2026

This month (April) with spring here, the spring constellations take the place of our winter friends like Orion and Gemini. In this post we cover Leo the Lion which is easy to spot in the sky by looking for the backwards question mark!

03/31/2026

Bayside is Coming Back in 2026 and You Can Help!

Yes Bayside Astronomy is returning in the summer of 2026. What you may not know is that while Bayside is always Free to the public, the Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association (BPBA) still has to pay the student program manager salaries. These are college students who are working their way through university and have to pay rent, groceries and gas while they are working at Bayside. While most of their salaries are covered by grants, there is still a large portion that is not covered.

The BPBA is holding a 50-50 draw to help bring back our wonderful summer student Program Managers, and you can help. If you live on the Bruce, buy a ticket to the 50-50 draw and help support Bayside Astronomy. For tickets contact Pat at 705- 507-4973.

03/14/2026

Today we peek down (just a tiny bit) into the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. One that flat earthers and space deniers bring up occasionally is... if the universe is infinite and full of stars, why is the night sky still dark? This is called Olber's Paradox named after the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers (1758–1840).

02/28/2026

The Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse on Mar 3 2026 is here!

There is a lot of press about the blood moon total lunar eclipse coming on Mar 3 2026. What is a blood moon, and what is a total lunar eclipse? This post will cover those questions.

This full moon is also called the Worm Moon. According to the Farmer's Almanac, for many years, it was believed this name referred to earthworms appearing as the soil warms in early spring—drawing birds such as robins and signaling the changing season. However, historical research suggests another explanation. In the 1760s, Captain Jonathan Carver recorded that the name referred to beetle larvae—another type of “worm”—which emerge from thawing tree bark and winter hiding places at this time of year.

Either way, the name reflects the same idea: the land is beginning to wake up.

02/14/2026

What is That Really Bright Object in the Sky?

Most amateur astronomers get that question very often from their friends and family who know that they love the night sky. In most cases the answer is either Venus or Jupiter depending on whether the object is in the west or the east.

In all of February, if it's in the east, it's Jupiter! Jupiter rides high in the sky and is almost twice as bright as the brightest star in the sky Sirius. You can catch Jupiter above Orion (look for the three belt stars).

Let's learn a little about the largest planet in our solar system.

02/01/2026

Artemis II Set To Launch Soon.

We are going back to the moon! With any luck the Artemis II mission will launch, perhaps as early as Feb 8, taking mankind back to the moon for the first time since 1972 when Apollo 17 lifted off.

The mission will be the first manned test of the new Space Launch System (SLS), and while the mission won't actually land on the moon (that will happen on Artemis III), it will take man further away from the earth in space than any other mission.

The 10-day mission will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. Glover will become the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American to leave low Earth orbit and to travel around the Moon.

Keep your eyes open for the launch date and for more details of this mission check out the NASA pages at https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

01/17/2026

SOS (Save Our Skies)!

The long cold nights of winter are the best time to get out and stargaze. When it's not snowing or cloudy, the turbulence caused by heat coming off pavements, roofs and the ground itself is absent, and the stars truly are spectacular. But there is still one more impediment to stargazing that is year round - ALAN (Artificial Light at Night). Light pollution from street lights, lit buildings, cottages, decks and docks with un-shielded lights all limit what we can see in the night sky.

This post covers light pollution and what you can do to SOS (Save our Skies). If you need more information, or just need a way to talk to that neighbour with the all night garage light, the International Dark Sky Association has some excellent public outreach materials at https://darksky.org/resources/public-outreach-materials/.

Address

1 Bruin Street
Lions Head, ON
N0H1W0

Telephone

+14168372959

Website

http://www.bpba.ca/

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