Starry-eyed over the West Island

Starry-eyed over the West Island Royal Astronomical Society sets sights on heavens from Morgan Arboretum

Albert Kramberger
Article online since 29 novembre 2005
BY CATHERINE CULLEN
The Chronicle

What brings the starry-eyed members of a club with decades of history in Montreal's downtown core all the way out to the West Island? If you want too know the answer, all you need to do is look up. Way up. That's what the members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Montreal centre did. In fact, you could say looking up is their raison d'être. However, in the past few years the club's longtime residence downtown hadn't offered them much of a view.
"Downtown, on a very dark night, you may see a couple dozen stars at the most. In the West Island you can see hundreds of stars," says club spokesman Andrew Fazekas.
Light pollution from skyscrapers, streetlights and even the lights from parking lots make stargazing downtown a difficult task. So last spring, the 110 or so members of the RASC's Montreal centre said goodbye to the building they had occupied for the last 50 years, a former radar station on Mont Royal that was owned by McGill University, and they made their way out to Ste. Anne de Bellevue. The group now conducts meetings at John Abbott College and does some outdoor activities at the nearby Morgan Arboretum. While it was hard to leave their old home, the facilities downtown weren't adequate anymore, says 25-year club
veteran Bill Strople.
"Some of the members have a lot of fond memories so it's sad to leave but it was time for us to go because we realized we were probably losing some of the membership because of the (poor facilities).'
Now that they've settled in to their new home in the West Island, the club members are back on track with their mission to share their love of the heavens, or "nature on the grandest scale we know," as Strople puts it. The RASC is a non-profit organization with 27 chapters across the country that all share the same aim: to make advances in astronomy and to teach the public about all the wonders the night sky has to offer.
One way they work towards that aim is through monthly meetings. The first Thursday of every month the group gets together at John Abbott to discuss upcoming astronomical events and to share new observations. While the group members share an impressive grasp of astronomy, they're actually quite a diverse group, says Strople. "There's people from all walks of life - they're not all a bunch of old fuddy duddies or research professionals."
Fazekas agrees. "No matter where anyone comes from we all share this passion for the night sky and the universe."
They share that passion with the public during several free events throughout the year. Their next big event is a lecture called "The Wonders of the Night Sky" on Dec. 1 at 8 pm. If you can't make the lecture, the public is always welcome at the club's monthly meetings. While newcomers will likely find the group members brimming with enthusiasm and knowledge, being well versed in the finer points of astronomy isn't something newcomers need to be worried about, says club president David Schuman.
" Even if you can't find a single star but you've always wanted to know more about astronomy, the RASC is great place to start, " he suggests. "Right now is a particularly exciting time to get interested in astronomy," Schuman adds. "Advances in technology make it possible for even amateur astronomers to make significant contributions to the field", he says.
In fact, one of the club's longest-standing members is the perfect example. Constantine Papacosmas (whose last name literally means "father of the stars") has a comet named after him.
So if you dream of having your name written in the stars, or if you simply want to your children to have an introduction to astronomy, The Wonders of the Night Sky is a free event that begins at 8 p.m. on Dec. 1 at John Abbot College in room P-204. Membership to the Royal Astronomical Society is $64/year for a regular membership and $41.50 for youth. For more information on any of the RASC's events or if you'd like to become a member, check www.rascmontreal.org.