7 Ways to Improve Your Astrophotography

Join us on November 8th  2019 at 7:30pm – Admission is free and everyone is welcome!

HAA welcomes Trevor Jones as our guest speaker for our first meeting at McMaster Innovation Park, our new home.

Trevor Jones is the creator of AstroBackyard, a popular astrophotography website and YouTube Channel. From his light polluted backyard in St. Catharines, Ontario, he captures deep sky objects using a variety of camera and telescope equipment. Trevor brings his YouTube audience along for the ride, through every mistake, triumph, and especially run-ins with his black lab mix, Rudy. 

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Annual General Meeting and Council Elections

General Meeting for October 11th 2019.

Join us this Friday for our annual general meeting, in which we hold elections for the next year’s council, hear what everyone has been up to and generally take care of business.

But that’s not all! It’s also game night; get ready for Messier Bingo! Grab your bingo sheet as you come in the door and be ready with your Messier objects trivia.

Optics expert Barry Sherman will be showing us his newest (in a long line) of telescopes.

Bob Christmas will once again share his vast knowledge of the sky with an installment of The Sky This Month which you won’t want to miss!

Place and Time

We’ll be meeting at The Hamilton Spectator Building located at 44 Frid St, near the junction of Highway 403 and Main St West in Hamilton for one last time. Starting time is at 7:30pm. Admission is free and everyone is welcome!

Door Prizes

There will be a draw for door prizes at the meeting and a free door prize ticket to all who arrive before the 7:30 start time!

Food Share Donations

Donations of non-perishable food for the Hamilton Food Share program will be collected at this meeting. Please drop off any items at the drop-box located near the entrance of the auditorium. All donations gratefully accepted and thanks to your generosity we’ve collected thousands of pounds of food since we began. Let’s keep up the great work as the need continues.

Photo credit: National Science Foundation

October 2019 Event Horizon Newsletter

The latest issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!

In this issue you’ll find…

• April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse Planning
• September Astrophysics Group Meeting Summary
• Report from the 2019 Black Forest Star Party
• The Sky for October 2019
• NASA Night Sky Notes
• Eye Candy
• Upcoming Events
• Plus More

Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.

Photo credit: The Milky Way from Binbrook, by Ann Tekatch

Join Us for our September Meeting

Join us on September 13th 2019 at 7:30pm – Admission is free and everyone is welcome!

After our 2 month summer break, we’re back to our regular monthly meetings. Join us on September 13 at The Hamilton Spectator Building as our very own Chair John Gauvreau continues from his earlier topic titled “Visions of the Future” about 3 artists work as they conceptualized the future of space travel. In part 2, John looks backwards at how the moon was depicted in art, comparing pre-telescopic views, to more recent detailed ones and finally how it is portrayed in the photographic age.

Non-members are welcome

Non-members are welcome to join us at our general meeting events to see what we’re all about. You’ll find a club full of enthusiastic amateur astronomers passionate about this fascinating science and hobby. We’re confident you’ll want to become a member of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers and join us in exploring this fascinating hobby.

Place and time

We’ll be meeting at The Hamilton Spectator Building located at 44 Frid St, near the junction of Highway 403 and Main St West in Hamilton. Starting time is at 7:30pm.

Door prizes

There will be a draw for door prizes at the meeting and a free door prize ticket to all who arrive before the 7:30 start time!

Food share donations

Donations of non-perishable food for the Hamilton Food Share program will be collected at this meeting. Please drop off any items at the drop-box located near the entrance of the auditorium. All donations gratefully accepted and thanks to your generosity we’ve collected thousands of pounds of food since we began. Let’s keep up the great work as the need continues.

Become a member

Becoming a member of the HAA opens up new opportunities to take your love of astronomy further! Members have access to our star nights at the Binbrook Conservation Area, our telescope loaner program, social events such as our Cosmology Discussion Group, and more!

Photo credit: Crescent moon by John Gauvreau

September 2019 Event Horizon Newsletter

The latest issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!

In this issue you’ll find…

  • June Astrophysics Group Meeting Summary
  • April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse Planning
  • The Sky for September 2019
  • NASA Night Sky Notes
  • Eye Candy
  • Upcoming Events
  • Plus More

Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.

Photo credit: The Wizard Nebula (NGC 7380), by Peter Wolsley

Annual Public Perseids Meteor Shower Night

Join us this Friday August 9th for our annual Perseids event at Binbrook Conservation Area which is also our biggest outreach event of the year. This event is open to everyone so an HAA membership is not required.

Entrance to the park is free after 8:00 PM and will run until 11:00 PM. As usual, we will be in the big bowl shaped lawn near Pavilion 3. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs and enjoy the night sky while you watch for meteors!

Binbrook Conservation Area is located at 5050 Harrison Rd, Binbrook, ON L0R 1C0. Click here for directions.

We hope to see you there!

Photo credit: wired.com

Public solar observing and stargazing event cancelled

Our public solar observing and stargazing event scheduled for today has been cancelled due to the extreme heat. Please join us on August 9 for our Annual Public Perseids Meteor Shower Night at Binbrook Conservation Area.

June 2019 Event Horizon Newsletter

The latest issue of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Event Horizon newsletter is now available for download!

In this issue you’ll find…

  • May Astrophysics Group Meeting Summary
  • Skyscapers, a Group for Women Astronomers
  • April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse Planning
  • The Sky For Summer 2019
  • Oh wow! It’s so Obvious How the Universe Works
  • NASA Night Sky Notes
  • Upcoming Events
  • Plus More

Download the latest issue or visit the newsletters section for past issues.

Photo credit: Open star clusters M35 and NGC 2158, by Bob Christmas

1919-2019: A Century of Black Holes

Join us on June 14th 2019 at 7:30pm – Admission is free and everyone is welcome!

HAA welcomes Brian McNamara as our guest speaker for the evening.

McNamara studies galaxies and clusters of galaxies.  He is interested in how they form and evolve under the influence of powerful radio jets launched by supermassive black holes. His most recent work involves making measurements with the earth-orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory and the newly commissioned Atacama Large Millimeter Array, which is the most powerful telescope in existence.  He is a former member of the Hitomi X-ray Observatory Science Team and is current team member of its successor, the XARM X-ray observatory, which is planned for launch from Japan in 2021.  McNamara is best known for his studies of energetic feedback from massive black holes and how the energy released by accreting black holes shapes the universe around them.

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Public Stargazing Tonight!

Happy astronomy day! Tonight, Saturday May 11, we have our public observing night scheduled from 8:30 – 11 PM.

Originally scheduled for McQueston Park on the mountain, we have relocated to Bayfront Park.  (There is a carnival at McQueston, and although it sounds like fun, there just isn’t room for us there this month.  We’ll be back at McQueston another time.)

Everyone is welcome to come out for this fun outreach event.  Bring your telescope, bring your binoculars, bring your family and friends!  We will be meeting in the parking lot of Bayfront Park, on the beautiful Hamilton waterfront, at Harbourfront Drive and Bay Street North.  There are usually lots of passersby and visitors to the park and the more scopes we have to show off the better! 

The forecast is looking only mediocre, but there is a chance of clear skies to begin the evening, and there is no rain forecast.  It’s a lovely moon phase tonight and if clear enough we can see the moon pass through M44, the Beehive Cluster. At worst we will have a fun visit.

We hope to see you there!