Charles Ennis will give an illustrated presentation on astronomy, entitled Star Hopping, to the Sunshine Coast Natural History Society, 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3, at the Arts Centre in Sechelt.
The presentation will describe an easy method to navigate the skies, for stars and other visible objects. Two-thirds of the world’s population lives under light-polluted skies that prevent them from seeing the skies their ancestors saw. When they come to a place like the Sunshine Coast where you can see those skies, in an area with much less light pollution, they are often overwhelmed by what they can see.
Light pollution is the big concern for astronomers, and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) is talking to Sechelt council about getting registered as a Dark Sky Community to address concerns from light pollution.
With 100 billion stars in our galaxy, Ennis’s star hopping technique is a method that makes it easy to navigate the skies above. You just need to learn a few key formations and have a star map in hand for the rest.
Ennis joined the RASC in 2013. In 2014 he became president of the Sunshine Coast RASC. In May 2016, the RASC published his book, Building a Small Observatory. Ennis helped build the Sunshine Coast Centre observatory, located near the airport, which opened in June 2015. He also wrote the observatory’s operating manual.
In May 2016, Ennis became the national secretary. He was the writer and host of two seasons (2014-15) of a community astronomy television program in partnership with Coast Cable TV called Night Lights. He is also the host/writer of Starry Nights, a BravoFACT documentary film.
The Arts Centre is at Trail and Medusa in Sechelt. Refreshments will be served. New members are welcome.
