Sunday, August 14, 2011

Places to Go : The David Dunlap Observatory

In an attempt to catch sight of the meteor shower this past weekend we drove up to our local observatory to see what we could see. Unfortunately they had cancelled the event (the meteor shower was still happening I'm sure, we simply didn't have the clear skies or telescopes with which to see it) but they were more than welcoming and invited us onto their creepily dark grounds to get a little tour of the place. The telescope was huge, their building was majestic in the light of the full moon, and it was dark enough to take some pretty awesome flashlight pictures. 




I set the exposure time for 15 or so seconds and Ed wrote my name with a flashlight. I had to flip the image so that my name wasn't backwards, the end result is pretty cool. I want to do another with sparklers.
 

We're hoping to head on up to the observatory again later this summer to catch sight of some stars and dance in the dark.

2 comments:

  1. F.Y.I. GUG's 4x great grandfather, Robert Marsh, purchased (what became the site of) the Observatory property back in 1802. He built an original portion of the old brick house which still exists on the property (at least, I think it's still there- it was the home of the director of the observatory). At least three generations of the Marsh family lived on that property and the adjoining lot 42...and I think there's a commemorative plaque somewhere there. Robert Marsh was also a founding member of the Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church, and is buried in the cemetery there.
    GREAT IDEA WITH THE NAME WRITING!

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  2. How interesting! When we go back up to the observatory I will have to ask them about the house.

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