IYA is being celebrated in hundreds of different venues across Canada. Some of the loveliest sites, without question, are in Canada’s parks. 

There were many fun and fascinating astronomy-themed events on Saturday, July 18th, in celebration of Canada’s Parks Day. 

Fans of astronomy and the outdoors showed up in all kinds of weather across the country to take part in special Parks Day activities like solar and night observing, rocket launches, bedtime stories (Mary Lou's New Telescope), astronomy-themed crafts and educational games for all ages, and performances.

The celebrities showed up for Parks Day, too - Terence Dickinson, Canada’s best-selling author of astronomy books for children and adults, gave a talk at Bon Echo Provincial Park in Cloyne, Ontario. Award-winning science journalist Peter McMahon gave a talk at Pancake Bay Provincial Park.

And, as a very special event, Mount Carlton Provincial Park in New Brunswick officially became a Dark Sky Preserve on Parks Day.

If you missed Parks Day, don’t worry - or if you loved Parks Day and want more - IYA-themed events are being organized in parks of all kinds across the country, throughout the year. Keep checking our Events calendar for your area to find the latest listings.

On June 3, the Quebec section of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) gave a one day workshop to 98 participants, mostly professionals active in municipal planning and design, on a draft proposal for outdoor lighting regulation that Quebec municipalities could implement. Considering that we had hoped for about 30 participants, we were delighted--and pleasantly surprised-- by the interest in the workshop which  was divided in four themes:

1. Bad outdoor lighting consequences.
2. What is an eco-energy concept?
3. Introduction to the draft regulation.
4. Samples of implementation.

Created 5 years ago, the Quebec section of the IDA is a sub committee of the Federation des astronomes amateurs du Québec (FAAQ). Around 10 members bring their expertise to this committee. Indeed, a few amateur astronomers, architects, engineers from different backgrounds, e.g., the city of Montreal, Quebec Hydro, lighting manufacturers, are part of the Quebec section of IDA. From the beginning, we gave ourselves the mission to develop awareness and mobilize individuals and groups, support involvement, evaluate, and underline specific actions aimed at light pollution abatement.

We are delighted to announce that Julie Bolduc-Duval has joined the IYA Canada team as part-time Education and Outreach Coordinator. Her activities are made possible by a generous three-year grant from the PromoScience program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

 Julie has a B.Sc. degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Victoria, BC, and is completing a graduate-level teaching diploma program at the Universite de Sherbrooke, QC. She is presently a physics and astronomy professor at the CEGEP de Thetford, QC. Previously she has worked as a teaching assistant and lab instructor for four years at the University of Victoria, and notably from 2001 to 2004 as a senior interpreter and scientific educator at The Centre of the Universe, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, in Victoria. She has been very active, for many years, as a volunteer educator in a wide variety of other astronomy programs in Canada, and is a member of the Quebec working group for IYA 2009. She brings diverse and important skills to this position, including fluency in both English and French, and a passion for astronomy and education.

 Her goals will be to increase the reach and impact of IYA activities, with an emphasis on inspiring youth, especially from under-served communities. She will work with individuals and groups, in the astronomical community and beyond, to ensure that IYA leaves a legacy of greater public interest, understanding, and appreciation of astronomy in Canada.

 Julie, welcome!

This week Andrew Fazekas, The Night Sky Guy is launching a new 7 minute stargazing column on CBC Radio One that will run every Wednesday in July and August. It will be nationally syndicated and run sometime between 3 pm and 6 pm local times during the local drive-home shows in most major Canadian cities from Halifax to Vancouver to Whitehorse.  So tune in to your local CBC Radio One station on Wednesday afternoons.

Each week he will be talking about how to get started in backyard astronomy, what’s up in the sky every week, and exploring some of the coolest wonders of the universe. Today he will be talking about how best to get started in the hobby and what it has to offer.