by Julie McIntosh
TEHKUMMAH—The Stargazing Party held awe-inspiring sights at Gordon’s Park during the August 5th weekend. Campers and guests from across the Island and beyond gathered to marvel at the clear sky during the event hosted by Rita and Terry Gordon, managers and proprietors of Gordon’s park on Manitoulin Island.
Wine and cheese dining greeted guests as they arrived in the late afternoon at the park. Registered members spent the start of the night huddled around a campfire, introducing themselves, discussing the evening’s processions and the observation telescopes they brought with them. Grace Smitt is the host astronomer at the park this year. It was estimated that 50 visitors were present at the event his past weekend observing sights such as the international space station and some of the falling meteor showers.
Guests typically bring their own observational devices, but Gordon’s Park has a Dobsonian telescope and a GoPro which takes longer to align with the star Polaris (the North star) but offers singular amazing sites for photography.
Public astronomy tours are also held during star gazing parties. From 9 pm, public observing sessions were joined with laser-guided tours of the night sky.
Included in the event are door prizes to be won by guests. This past weekend’s main prize was a painting of the northern lights by Terry Gordon. Prizes are astronomy related, with some sponsored gifts from astronomical societies like the Science Centre planetarium.
Peter Richards and his colleague Jeff Booth, members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) in Toronto, visited the park this past weekend. Mr. Richards was taken aback by the sights. “They capitalize on the best attributes, with wonderful clean facilities, dark skies just as promised and a special little camping area in the dark sky reserve,” he said.
Mr. Richards used a 12-inch aperture 3,000 mm focal length SCT telescope. “What we came here to see were the very dim faint sky object, including the Andromeda galaxy M-31,” as well as “the whirl pool galaxy M-51.” Mr. Richards has been a member of the RASC for almost six years.
The park is free from high levels of light and air pollution, making the designated location one of the best for sight-seeing in Canada. It holds the title of Canada’s first Commercial Dark-Sky Preserve designation by the RASC, and is hailed as one of the best viewing sites in Ontario by the society. With their 360 degree view of the sky, spectacular viewing can be observed with minimal obstruction.
When entering the park, guests are asked to turn off their car lights and begin using red lights. Red lights do not distort night vision, whereas white lights take the eyes roughly half an hour to readjust to the dim lights of the night again. There were about 50 people present at this weekend’s event. This upcoming weekend could bring up to 100 people including visitors who come for their own self-guided gazing.
The park is technologically friendly as well, offering ports for people to charge their electronics for night sky observation, photography and video equipment.
Rita Gordon and her husband have been managing Gordon’s Park for over 25 years. In the past 20 years, they began growing an interest in developing their stargazing program.
According to Ms. Gordon, people come to visit the park to satisfy their curiosity about the stars in the privacy and respect of like-minded avid astronomers. “It’s in the interior of our park, so it’s private. People don’t have to worry about their equipment and things. It’s an area where they’re all together, and can view so much from horizon to horizon.”
“It’s very quiet and very peaceful,” she continued. “These are people who are all about discovering our universe and stargazing.”
Ms. Gordon urges visitors to stay between August 12 and the 14 to marvel at the upcoming Perseids meteor shower. Gazers should expect to see the showers at their best on August 12. Next week’s expected guest speakers will include experts and university professors who work in the academic field.
Gordon’s Park is located at 18777 Hwy. 6, 13 minutes from the Chi Cheemaun Ferry Docks in South Baymouth. You can reach Ms. Gordon for reservations at (705) 859-2470.
