Choosing my top astronomical experience for 2011 is easy for me, as my wife and I spent 5 weeks in New Zealand, travelling all over, often staying in places away from large cities. The view we had of the far-southern skies almost defies description.

(Posted by MMcBride)

Asking an amateur astronomer to express in words their top astronomical event is akin to pointing out the astronomical singularity of the big bang, where and precisely when did it occur across this immensely beautiful universe? Really does it matter – isn’t it just important to know that it did? I had a year full of top astronomical events, firsts and bests moments ever; is that not the beauty of our hobby, one that is full of challenges, opportunities, personal discoveries and triumphs? The awesomeness of our universe begs us not to expect anything less from this living, breathing and ever changing soup of creation than the awe and wonder we find just simply being out amongst the stars. Still, I must choose between the moments but how, but, what? Glad the year was already picked for us, as I would be stuck in an endless loop of emotional wonder and amazement with no escape.

Venus is the focus in the Western sky in the coming months and shines brightly.  It is very close in size to our own planet but the atmosphere of Venus would not be kind to life of any kind.

During the first part of 2011 I was traveling in Central America with my family. I had almost no equipment with me and I was unable to import very much into Guatemala without a lot of red tape. I did manage to get an Astrotrac tracking mount for my birthday however and I stumbled upon the Citizen Sky project to observe the eclipse of Epsilon Aurigae.

Many RASC members are involved in the sport of occultation chasing. This activity involves monitoring a star when an asteriod is predicted to cross in front of it. By observing the dip in brightness and accurately timing it the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) can put together accurate estimates of the size and shape of the occulting body. This, combined with measurements of the asteroid's brightness helps to refine our knowledge of the members of the asteroid belt.

A group of 10 Toronto Centre members came out dark and early this morning to catch a transit by the ISS in front of the Full Moon this morning. The distinctive "H" shape of the ISS was clearly visible in binoculars as it zipped past the Moon at 3:52:16 a.m. Eastern time.Transits by the ISS in front of the Sun and Moon are relatively common but are difficult because the shadow path is extremely narrow - only about 4 kilometres - so precise positioning is essential. Having a pass on a clear weekend night was a real bonus.