ASTRONOMER IN RESIDENCE
Julie Tomé
August 15 - August 21, 2022
For over 20 years Julie Tomé has inspired wonder and curiosity about the night sky through her work at various observatories, science centres, and museums, as well as through numerous outreach activities and the York Universe radio program. As a Museum Educator, Julie shares her passion for all things science and history with folks of all ages through school programs, camps, exhibitions, and special programs.
Read Julie's blog posts as an Astronomer in Residence:
My week as Astronomer in Residence has finally arrived! I’ve been looking forward to this all summer - it’s been a long time since I’ve run programming at a scope and I miss it.
I come with 3 assistants in tow, namely my husband, our 13-year-old daughter, and 10-year-old son. We didn’t want to be in a rush getting to the park so we opted to overshoot completely and spend a night with friends in Sudbury on Sunday. Having both spent the better part of 4 years living there, it was fun to show the kids the old stomping grounds.
After a chill morning with our friends, we stocked up for the week and headed over to the park to meet Kathleen and get the keys to the observatory!
After a bit of a rest and a look at the Discovery Program schedule and hiking trails available here, we headed out to get the lay of the land - find the amphitheater, the Nature Centre, the beach - all the important places for the next week.
We had dinner and it’s been a quiet evening - mostly reading. Going to turn in soon to make sure we’re up in time for the 10:00 guided hike!
We started the day with an amazing guided hike by Marisa about our connections to the plants, animals, soil, rocks, and stars at the park. She made great connections, pointed out things I wouldn’t necessarily have noticed, and told us some of the history of this place. We’ve participated in a lot of interpretive programming at parks from coast to coast since we got our camper van in 2017 and this one stood out for me - it was philosophical as well as educational. It was inspiring in a way I hope my lessons are when I speak of connectedness with nature.
After lunch and a short rest we were off to learn how to build a campfire with Harrison and Sophie. We switched from tipi to log cabin fires last summer but today we learned about mashing the two types together! We also learned that the bear that was just a bit up the trail while we were gathering for the morning hike was likely Boris the maintenance bear (who hangs out in the maintenance area of the park). We had delicious s’mores, chatted with other campers and park staff, and headed down to the beach. We saw another animal friend there - a northern watersnake! My first reptile observation in the Seek app! (A fantastic app, I highly recommend it).
Then it was dinner, a bit of reading and a sunset trip back to the beach. We tried to find the snapping turtle a family on the hike told us about, apparently it lives under the dock. It must have been out. But we’ll keep trying.
I spent a couple hours in the 16” dome - the scope apparently “lost its brain” so I didn’t manage to get any images - Bruce is working on getting it fixed but no luck yet. Regardless it was nice being in a dome again and the sky was fantastic! My kids helped me open everything up but then got bored as I was poking around and also got tired of being eaten by mosquitoes so they headed back inside before it got dark. My son came out again after a few hours and exclaimed, “Wow! There are so many stars!” And indeed there were! I’ll give it another shot tomorrow but with the other scope, just observing, no trying for photos - I just want to enjoy the sky.
The morning was pretty chill as my first official program was a solar observing session from 2-4 pm. I didn’t want to go on a hike and tire myself out and I wanted to look over my prep notes too.
After lunch I headed to the dome to meet Marisa and open everything up. Lining up the scope brought back memories of my first year astronomy observing project - we had to track sunspots. There were a few nice groups of sunspots were visible and the clouds held off for the most part so everyone who came by got to see.
After observing my family and I headed to the beach for a quick dip before dinner. Still no sign of the turtle.
We attended Grandmother Kim Wheatley’s presentation at the amphitheater. It was wonderful. She told us her story, about her family and where she came from, some of her experiences, and how she got to be where she is today. She also told us a wonderful Anishinaabeg story about stars and water lilies.
I then headed back to the 10” dome to wait for darkness to fall and take a look at a few of the objects I’ve chosen for Friday’s observing session.
We had a terrific night. A few campers stopped by. We took a look at the Ring Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Great Hercules Cluster, Saturn, and Jupiter.
Being here with a 10-year-old boy, the jokes about The Crack have been… unending. I suspect they will cease now that we’ve actually done the hike. I had done it once before in the fall of 2006. I didn’t remember it being that hard… of course, I had stronger knees back then. It’s quite a family accomplishment! No one had to be carried (when we were in Lake Louise in 2017, my poor husband carried the kids halfway up the mountain. Both of them. At the same time!), there was surprisingly little whining and complaining, and only completely warranted tears. It was worth it for the view at the top!
On the way up we saw some water lilies, and after Grandmother Wheatley’s story yesterday my son took some time to tell it a story and sing it a song.
We met some reptile friends and some amphibian friends along the way too!
A lot of hydration and showers and we were off to do a little laundry before dinner.
We enjoyed Kate’s Owl Prowl in the evening (even if no owls graced us with their presence). It was neat to do programming in the dark. It was impressive how quiet a group will be with the right motivation - make too much noise and you’ll scare away the very things you’re here to see and hear. Kate’s a great presenter and I’m looking forward to working with her on Friday night.
After the owl hike I gave it another shot with the 16”. I spoke to Bruce yesterday evening and he assured me that it was tracking just fine even with the loss of its brain, and it absolutely is. I don’t know what I did on Tuesday but tonight the scope was behaving. I spent some time focusing and taking a bunch of complete garbage photos with the DSLR mounted on it. All the astrophotography I’ve done has been on film with an OM-1 I bought secondhand at Henry’s on Queen St. in Toronto and on a tripod not mounted on a scope so I couldn’t expect spectacular results on the first go!
All in all, my feet and knees hurt, but my heart is full.
It’s been a relatively quiet day. My daughter and I started the day by participating in the Artist in Residence workshop. Jim Morlock was lovely and offered lots of helpful hints and tips. I didn’t have time to finish my painting but I’ve got what I need to continue it at home.
I’ve had early-ish mornings and late nights so I took a nice nap after lunch then took the kids to the beach. I went out to the rock with my son and jumped off it a few times. We had the rock all to ourselves - it felt very exclusive!
Tonight was my second official program.
So many people came out! Kate said it was the most she’s seen for a drop-in program. Probably about 100 in all - she had to stop counting after a while to open up the second dome. We looked at the Ring Nebula, the Great Hercules Cluster, Saturn, and Jupiter. There were a few clouds that came and went but they didn’t interfere with the observing. It was a great night!
It’s hard to believe the week is almost over!
We had a slow morning today and after a late breakfast headed out to the Chikanishing Trail. It was cloudy today so we may not have had the sun beating down on us but it was muggy. It was a lovely hike nonetheless. The kids stopped at all the interpretive signs and took turns reading aloud. We stopped to dip our feet in Georgian Bay. We saw a red squirrel stuffing its face with a mushroom and another watersnake. We found the spot where I sat with my classmates 16 years ago and learned to water paint.
My son continues to stop to tell stories and sing songs to water lilies.
We had a quick lunch and I spent the rest of the afternoon refining my presentation for this evening. The kids hung out with me enjoying their first access to the internet all week before my husband and son went to the beach. Then it was back to the apartment to make sure all the devices were charged up for the big show.
The presentation went great. Sixty people and a dog attended. Folks got to touch the park’s meteorites at the end. They have a really great amphitheater. Harrison was a great host. It’s so nice to talk to people in three dimensions again!
It’s been clear all week. I’ve gotten to spend time at the scope every day. I was hoping for one last chance but, alas, one can’t have everything…
Well the week is over. We spent the morning packing up and cleaning the apartment - getting the place ready for Elaina who arrives tomorrow.
We handed in the keys and observatory laptop and purchased our park crest sticker to add to the ceiling of the camper van. This is a tradition since the very first road trip where we camped (there was one “wallydocking” trip before that).
We headed into Killarney to get some “world famous” fish and chips and check out the lighthouse.
We found some more herp friends while we were there. Inspired by Harrison, my kids named them all Eugene.
Before long it was time to go.
I want to thank all the park staff, especially Kathleen, Marisa, Kate, and Harrison, for making my stay so fantastic. Thanks to the Friends of Killarney for funding the program. Thanks to Bruce for answering all my texts about the scopes. Thanks to the campers for coming out to the programs. Thanks to Elaina for encouraging me to get my application in. And last but certainly not least, thanks to my husband and kids for being the best assistants an astronomer could ask for.
Until next time!
Julie's photos as an Astronomer in Residence:
Week 3, August 2022:
