The Bluewater Astronomical Society (BAS) is an incorporated non-profit organization that strives to promote basic and advanced astronomical knowledge among its members, and promote astronomy interest in the general public.
We have members who range from beginners with small telescopes or binoculars to experts with state-of-the-art equipment. The club itself owns a large 28-inch Webster Dobsonian reflector which we use regularly at the largest publicly-accessible roll-off observatory in Ontario, the ES Fox observatory at the Bluewater Outdoor Education Centre (BOEC) near Oliphant, Ontario. The BOEC was granted dark sky preserve status in November of 2012 by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Kincardine downtown revitalization - have your say!
Kincardine is planning a big revitalization project for Queen Street between Durham Market Street South and Durham Street. This project includes
Improved accessibility for sidewalks and building entrances
Infrastructure replacement for storm sewers, sanitary sewers, watermains, and services
Flexible landscaping including movable planters to improve green space and landscaping along Queen Street
Cohesive design with the Beach, Harbour Street, and Queen Street
Full road reconstruction
Enhanced streetlights
The town is currently accepting feedback on the project. Given the potential impact this project could have on our dark skies, we urge anyone who lives or cottages in the area or travels to the area to enjoy our dark skies to take this opportunity to HAVE YOUR SAY. Attached here is a letter template you can use to express your support for maintaining our dark skies. Feel free to edit as you want to. Email contacts can be found at the bottom the project home page (there are three).
The fight for dark skies
On September 27, two of our members did a presentation for the Huron Fringe Field Naturalists in Ripley on the importance of maintaining our dark skies. This presentation was very well received, and we have some new allies in our fight to maintain our skies dark and pristine. Read more about the presentation and learn about what you can do to preserve dark skies here.
Some recent updates
Nov. 6: Sky events for November uploaded
July 17: Sky events for July and August added
June 20: Updated observatory access guidelines added. Public access to the Fox has been restored.