It is easy to conceive that Binbrook Conservation Area is an under-used resource when you only see it at night. That illusion was shattered, in a nice, way, when HAA members showed up on the Sunday afternoon of Labour Day Weekend for a picnic. The beautiful weather had brought families out in droves and it was fortunate that the HAA had the foresight to reserve a pavilion for the day.
Gail and I arrived about 2:30pm, left a Club cheque at the gatehouse to cover costs, then politely asked a family to vacate the afore-mentioned pavilion on which we hung the HAA banner. Turns out, though, that it was my white scope that members homed in on as they arrived shortly after.
By 4:30pm, just over a dozen of us were scanning the Sun for spots (two tiny ones) and flares (3 nice ones) after which we went on a Solar System hike. This consisted of hanging small placards, representing the Sun and planets, from tree limbs along a trail at intervals to scale with their actual distances. While the inner planets were all within 2 dozen paces Pluto was over half a mile away. It was a great way to explore areas of the park we had not previously seen. As we retraced our steps, we saw other strollers stopping to read the cards, their interest obviously piqued.
Everyone had brought a picnic supper, and some extra nibblies to share, and it was nice to see a couple from Brantford, who wished to join the Club, fit right in.
By 7pm, several more members showed up to take advantage of the exceptional conditions for observing and imaging until shortly after the Moon rose, about 11:30pm. While I only remembered my camera as the Sun set (see picture below), I hope that others will post their pictures of what was another memorable HAA event.
Update by Tim Harpur
We couldn’t have asked for a better day (and night) for the HAA picnic.
After taking a short walk through the solar system and eating – I set up for imaging through my 135-400mm telephoto APO lens. I mainly imaged wide field of the lagoon, trifid, eagle, and swan. The following image is the Eagle (top) and the Swan (lower) imaged at 168mm f/5.6 – 2 minute exposures stacked.
