The Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Under Moon-Free Skies August 12/13.

This annual shower has it all! It offers a consistently high rate of meteors year after year as it produces a higher percentage of bright ones than most other showers. It occurs in August when the earth’s orbit passes thru the debris left behind from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Many people take summer vacation now and the weather has favorable night time temperatures.

The shower not only produces lots of “shooting stars”, up to 100 per hour at the peak under optimal circumstances, but it does so this year with the Moon out of the sky. The best views will come in the predawn hours of Thursday morning when the shower’s radiant climbs the highest. It is more typical to see a meteor every couple of minutes or 25-30 shooting stars per hour. That may include some particularly bright ones known as Fireballs that the Perseids are known for. Well worth the wait!

You want to take in as much sky as possible. And best of all, you can observe the spectacle while lying down in a rural area away from town or city light pollution. The darker the sky, the more you will see. Who could ask for more?
Just look. No binoculars or telescope. Try leaving the shutter open on your camera with a wide angle lens mounted on a tripod with a cable or electronic shutter release. Exposure for a few minutes at a time and you may catch several in a single exposure.

The meteor shower is expected to peak at 4 a.m. on Aug. 13, although there should be an above average number of them right thru to August 20^th or so. That's because the meteor shower is caused by the Earth passing through a trail of dust and debris left behind by the Comet Swift-Tuttle, which can be thicker in some places than others. Whether it's the peak night or not, you'll see more meteors in the early morning than the late evening. Here’s why! The geometry of the earth and the debris itself means you'll see more meteors, just as when you drive in a blizzard, you’ll see more snow hitting the front windshield of the car than the back window. Later in the night, the part of the sky where the meteors originate will also be higher overhead, giving you a better view.

Look toward Perseus and Casseiopeia

The meteors will streak across the sky at about 60 kilometres per second from near the constellation Perseus that the meteor shower is named for. For the best views of this shower, look about two-thirds of the way up from the horizon toward the northeast. Don't get tunnel vision staring at one location. Let your eyes wander so your peripheral vision can pick up faint or bright meteors that you otherwise might not see. Enjoy!

Pluto Day Has Arrived After 25 Years of Planning!

Good morning, and welcome to the Day of Pluto! New Horizons has just arrived to its closest approach, when it passed roughly as far from Pluto as New York is from Tokyo. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has been traveling for nine and a half years, speeding ever closer to our solar system’s last major unexplored world: Pluto. For the first time ever, scientists are getting close-up views of the most popular dwarf planet, and today is the pinnacle of the whole 3-billion-mile (5 billion kilometers) trip. 

“If the spacecraft observes any additional moons as we get closer to Pluto, they will be worlds that no one has seen before.” 

Drawing ever closer to Pluto in mid-May, New Horizons will begin its first search for new moons or rings that might threaten the spacecraft on its passage through the Pluto system. The images of faint Styx and Kerberos shown here are allowing the search team to refine the techniques they will use to analyze those data, which will push the sensitivity limits even deeper.

Kerberos and Styx were discovered in 2011 and 2012, respectively, by New Horizons team members using the Hubble Space Telescope. Styx, circling Pluto every 20 days between the orbits of Charon and Nix, is likely just 4 to 13 miles (7 to 21 kilometers) in diameter, and Kerberos, orbiting between Nix and Hydra with a 32-day period, is just 6 to 20 miles (10 to 30 km) in diameter. Each is 20 to 30 times fainter than Nix and Hydra.

Twenty-five years in the making, this close-up examination of the Pluto system represents the capstone of the first era of planet reconnaissance.

Jupiter Meets Venus in June's Early Evening sky

Our sister planet appears at its best for 2015 in June and July alongside a notable planetary companion, Jupiter.

Although June nights are the shortest of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, in 2015 they pack a powerful punch. Venus and Jupiter will top most observers’ lists by dominating the evening sky all month. Keep a watch on the two brightest planets as the weeks pass, and you’ll notice them pulling closer. The drama builds to a stunning climax when they pass within 0.3° of each other as the calendar turns from June to July. But the thrills don’t stop there. June also features Saturn just a few weeks past its peak, Uranus and Neptune coming into sharper focus after midnight, and Mercury making a brief appearance before dawn.

In my picture of June 19th, 2015 below, Jupiter in the top left, Venus on the top right and the crescent Moon below making up the trio.

May's Night Sky 2015

While Venus and Jupiter dominate May’s early evening sky, glorious Saturn remains visible all night as it reaches opposition and peak visibility. At the top of this month’s list has to be Saturn, which puts on an all-night show as it reaches opposition and peak visibility. Saturn you can see in the east. It may be well above the horizon by 10 p.m.. If you target Saturn through a telescope, you’ll see its 18"-diameter disk surrounded by a ring system that spans 42" and tilts 25° to our line of sight. Close behind are Venus and  Jupiter, a pair of brilliant planets adorning the evening sky. You cannot miss this bright pair after dark toward the north western sky. Outstanding!

An honorable mention must go to innermost Mercury. The diminutive world produces its finest evening display of 2015 early this month. The planetary action gets underway shortly after the Sun sets May 1. Scan the area above the west-northwestern horizon about 45 minutes after sundown, and you should spy Mercury. Be sure to have a near unobstructed view of the horizon. With your naked eye you will notice that orange coloured Mercury does not look like a Star. You will see! The diminutive world produces its finest evening display of 2015 early this month.

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Housing & Mortgage Update Feburary 27, 2014

Still, the consensus contains no house price fall over the next three years. Instead, they are expected to rise 2.2 percent this year, 1.0 percent in 2015 and 0.8 percent in 2016.

Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank both lowered rates Tuesday although, like the Royal Bank, neither issued a news release announcing the changes.

For example, Scotiabank lowered its five-year closed fixed term mortgage 10 basis points to 3.49 per cent on its website Tuesday, down from 3.59 per cent posted on the site Monday.

BMO, meanwhile, lowered a number of its rates between 10 and 20 basis points, including its posted five-year fixed rate to 3.69 per cent from 3.89 per cent, according to Ratehub.ca.

The change follow a move on the weekend by RBC to quietly lower its rates on several fixed-rate mortgages by 10 basis points, bringing its five-year closed rate to 3.69 per cent.

RBC said in an email Monday that it was only matching lower rates offered by other financial institutions.

"Competitors have been pricing at lower rates for several weeks and this rate change now puts us in line," the bank said.

Call Me! I have 5 yr fixed mortgages available at 2.99% with no fees!

The Conjuction of the Moon & Venus February 25th, 2014

Beautiful cold morning watching The Moon and Venus rise in the southeast sky as seen here in the country today!

Comet ISON!

As of today we still don’t know if Comet ISON will put on a good show or a potentially historic one. Either way we are keen to follow as it brightens.  It now comes within range of 8-inch telescopes. By month’s end, you might be able to spot it through a 4-inch scope.  ISON is approaching Earth from the morning side, so potential comet-watchers will need to view it about two hours before sunrise. ISON lies low in the east before dawn, just north of the hazy glow of the Beehive star cluster (M44), which lies in the constellation Cancer the Crab. That nearby bright orange “star” is actually the planet Mars. With the nights getting longer and the air so crisp and clear, autumn is a great season for stargazing.  Venus meets Saturn after sunset this month in the west.  Venus brightness dazzles while Saturn’s magnificent ring system is visible only through telescopes. You can spy the pair low in the southwest during twilight.  September's predawn hours feature excellent views of Jupiter and the passage of Mars through the Beehive star cluster (M44).