Lac Teeples Deep Sky Observatory
Sounds fancy, doesn't it.
Actually it's just a place where we do amateur astronomy.
The skies in the region are reasonably dark (3 on the Bortle scale, see below) meaning that the site is good for astronomy. There are no street lights, so the light pollution is limited to the houses nearby (minimal if it exists at all) or a glow from Ottawa/Gatineau on the horizon. Unfortunately, skies are frequently cloudy in this part of Canada, especially in winter when the nights are longest (see graphs below). The trees block a fair part of the sky, but the view is clear to the north, and a narrow view of the south is available.
Electronically-controlled 8” and 11" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes are operated by the owner. A specialized astronomical CCD camera is used for photography or computer display. Astronomical binoculars are also available. Valuables are routinely taken back to Ottawa (nothing is very large or heavy).
A clear sky chart for lac Georges is reasonably accurate for the property (~8 km distant).
On darksitefinder.com the area is shown as dark green.
The zenith sky brightness information from https://www.lightpollutionmap.info is as follows:
· Rough Coordinates: 45° 45′ 05″ N, 76° 10′ 05″ W
· SQM 21.79 mag./arc sec2, Brightness: 0.207 mcd/m2, Artif. bright. 35.9 μcd/m2, Ratio 0.210
· Bortle class 3 (rural sky), Elevation 266 meters
When is the right time to observe?
... unfortunately the times of the year when the nights are longest are those when the clouds are more likely to block the view.
July, August and September would seem to be the best months. These are also good months to be at the cottage!
Unless the observing target is the moon, it is best to avoid at least ten days around the full moon. Check the lunar phases.
Images here taken from weatherspark.com/y/23201/Average-Weather-in-Ottawa-Canada-Year-Round
How does the weather look tonight?
See below... click for more details.
Lac Georges is approximately 8km to the North, as the crow flies.
