Welcome to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Sarnia Centre
Upcoming local events in the Sarnia Lambton area
Observing Evening
Saturday Nov 2, 2024. 6:30pm
Anyone wanting to come and observe the night sky is welcome to join us at the north end of the parking lot under the Blue Water Bridges (Near the gazebo).
Bring your Telescope, Binoculars, Camera or a coffee and just come and hang out with us as we spend some time staring at the beautiful night sky.
Sarnia RASC monthly meeting on zoom
Agenda:
What’s up this month – VIDEO – Domonic
What are they doing in space – VIDEO – Massimo
Highlight's from the observing night on Nov 2
Astronomy group share - Prepare a picture or experience to share with the group
Click the pictures below for a link to the latest news and images taken by the best telescopes
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile, renowned both as a vital research tool and as a public relations boon for astronomy.
Hubble features a 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) mirror, and its five main instruments observe in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to capture extremely high-resolution images with substantially lower background light than ground-based telescopes.
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. Its high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This enables investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led Webb's design and development and partnered with two main agencies: the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Euclid Space Telescope
The Euclid spacecraft is approximately 4.7 m tall and 3.7 m in diameter. It consists of two major components: the service module and the payload module.
The payload module comprises a 1.2-m-diameter telescope and two scientific instruments: a visible-wavelength camera and a near-infrared camera/spectrometer. The service module contains the satellite systems: electric power generation and distribution, attitude control, data processing electronics, propulsion, telecommand and telemetry, and thermal control.
ESA's Euclid mission is designed to explore the composition and evolution of the dark Universe. The space telescope will create a great map of the large-scale structure of the Universe across space and time by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, across more than a third of the sky.
Welcome to the Sarnia RASC webpage. Here you will find information about our local centre along with past and upcoming events.
The Sarnia Centre of the R.A.S.C. is a non-profit affiliate of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. We are a group of amateur astronomers who share our enjoyment of astronomy.
We encourage everyone to look at the night sky. Binoculars or a telescope help, but are not necessary. The stars, planets and galaxies are a wonder to behold.