- DDOD Outreach
- Why DDOD
ASTRONOMY DAY EVENING OBSERVING IS "CANCELLED":-(
(April 29, 2017, 8pm)
Although the sky is trying to clear, it's very unlikely to be clear enough for telescope viewing tonight. So we've CANCELLED tonight's evening viewing session. And as it will be raining or at least overcast all day tomorrow, we are cancelling tomorrow's (Sundday's) daytime and evening activities.
But please check this webpage again in a couple of weeks for more free observing opportunitites and other activities being planned for this summer.
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(April 29, 2017, 11am)
We will have some Solar Telescopes set up in the park east of the Langstaff Community Centre (near the blue gazebo) on Saturday April 29 from 11:30 till 1:30 pm for safe viewing of the Sun, as weather permits.
We will advise later this afternon if tonight will be clear enough this evening for telescope viewing of the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and more. Tomorrow morning we'll post another notice about more daytime solar viewing and evening planetary viewing on Sunday (April 30).
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If you have the opportunity to travel this summer, you won't have to go too far to see the Moon completely block your view of the Sun's bright disk during the total solar eclipse on August 21. The path of totallity goes through the upper United States from Oregon to South Carolina. But you need to make your travel plans soon, as many of the hotels and motels along the eclipse path are already full booked!
If you stay here in the GTA, you'll only get to see about two-thirds of the Sun's disk being covered by the Moon. The sky and ground won't seem that much darker, and the Sun itself will still be much too bright to observe without using a special filter or method to safely create an image of the Sun. Normal sunglasses are *totally inadaquate* and using them could lead to perminent eye damage or even blindness!
The DDOD astronomers will be providing classes this spring to explain what to expect and how to watch and photograph the eclipse safely from here or along the path where the eclipse is total.
Wishing everyone clear AND DARK skies,
--Ian Shelton, DDOD Chair
The David Dunlap Observatory lies nestled in the heart of Richmond Hill, Ontario, a city of 200,000 just north of Canada's largest city, Toronto. The 190-acre oasis of mature forests, pastures and springs is home to two distinct deer herds and an abundance of other wildlife, including a coyote pack, foxes, voles, rabbits, honey bees, many species of butterflies, and birds including hawks, owls, doves, crows and songbirds. The property represents the last and largest urban open green space in southern Richmond Hill.
Originally deeded to the University of Toronto by the philanthropist Jessie Donalda Dunlap in memory of her husband David, the Dunlap Observatory opened on May 31st, 1935. Its magnificent 74-inch telescope was the second largest in the world at that time and has been used through seven decades to conduct much groundbreaking research, including the discovery of the first known black hole, Cygnus X-1.
In 2007, the University of Toronto wrested control of the land from Jessie Dunlap's heirs through a protracted legal case spanning 4 years. They then broke the public covenant that the land would remain a park and a research and outreach centre in perpetuity by selling the property to a developer intent on replacing most of the greenspace with many hundreds of houses.
The DDO Defenders have been working hard to represent the public and inform all levels of government about what will be lost if the developer is allowed to proceed.
On April 12th, 2012, after six long and anxiety-ridden months of Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) mandated mediation following a four year hard-fought and very public battle, an agreement was reached in March between the mediation parties to the David Dunlap Observatory Lands OMB case.
Minutes of Settlement were drawn up for signing by all parties to the mediation -- the landowner Corsica Development Inc. (a subsidiary of Metrus Developments Inc., now known as 'DG Group'), the Town of Richmond Hill, the Region of York, the Toronto and Area Conservation Authority (TRCA), and the David Dunlap Observatory Defenders (DDO Defenders) Inc.. This historic document was ratified by Richmond Hill Town Council on Thursday, April 12th. All mediation parties had been sworn to absolute secrecy under a strict gag order until Council signed off on the agreement, but now the silence has finally been broken and the details of the settlement agreement can be made public. (read more)
For further information or to offer support, please contact:
Ian Shelton - Chair, DDO Defenders Inc.
sn87a@hotmail.com or (905) 762-0072
The Minutes of Settlement is posted at the Town of Richmond Hill - DDO webpage.
