Everyone is invited to join us and Durham Skies for stargazing at the edge of Lake Ontario. Take a free look through different kinds of telescopes (including solar-filtered scopes) to get close-up looks at sunspots, craters on the Moon, and planets visible in the current night sky. Peer into deep space and try your hand at spotting faint star clusters and nebulae. You can even bring your own telescope along and we'll give you expert advice on how to use it better.

This week we are catching the Moon early in its cycle, which means we have the opportunity to spot quite a few craters. We'll be seeking out the diamond ring crater this week!

Watch the recorded video: https://youtu.be/-9qOZxB9wFk

“O, swear not by the moon, th’inconstant moonThat monthly changes in her circled orb,Lest that thy love prove likewise variable”

See the Milky Way and galaxies with the unaided eye. Point your telescope to find the many dim deep space objects that sprinkle the sky. Away from Toronto's light polution, there is so much to see. We observe from the Long Sault Conservation area, an hour outside of Toronto. We meet around dusk once a month in the parking lot for views only seen in dark sky conditions. We hold this event on the first clear night of our week-long window. Check our homepage for GO/NO-GO calls as this event is weather dependent.

Watch the recorded video: https://youtu.be/lkVax_B5uMQ

It may surprise you to know that we can still observe the Big Bang, in a way! In fact, every time you accidentally flip to TV static, you're watching a fragment of it right there! To find out more about this echo of the spawning of the universe, join us online on Wednesday, August 12 at 6:30pm. From that first, immense explosion to now, Dr. Adam Hincks will be delving into the details of the cosmic microwave background radiation! As always, everyone is welcome!

Misconceptions are deeply-held beliefs which are incorrect. People have misconceptions about the most basic of astronomical topics, such as the cause of the seasons.

The skies down under (and in South America and Africa) host amazing sights not visible from Canada. We'll use Stellarium to travel to the Southern Hemisphere and see the sights.

Just over one hundred years ago Albert Einstein revealed the Theory of General Relativity and one of its predictions, the existence of gravitational waves. It took astronomers 100 years to first observe these mysterious waves, confirming Einstein’s theory. Now that they have, it has opened up an entirely new way to see the Universe, including objects that had not been seen before, like black holes.

Join us at the Ontario Science Centre for our monthly Solar Observing on the TELUSCAPE.

It's the Perseids Meteor Shower! This week we will be passing through a cloud of dust left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle, which means we'll have the chance to see shooting stars.