Due to cloudy skies we will be forced to cancel the Star Party with Dr. Losier School this evening. We have rescheduled for Friday, May 20th....Clear skies!

The astronomy evening featuring the Geminid Meteor Shower will be cancelled due to poor weather forecasts for the remainder of this week. Stay tuned in the New Year for more events at the Sky-Tech Galileo Observatory!

On December 2nd the community of Miramichi Rural School will get together for a Christmas Activity Night and the Star Troopers will be on-hand to teach people how to use our battery of equipment. Jupiter should be a spectacle to behold as the moon will set with the sun leaving us with an atmosphere spoiled by little light pollution. The observatory will be open from 6pm-9pm. See you at the Galileo Observatory!

Come celebrate International Astronomy Day at The Galileo Observatory Saturday, October 16th. The Moon will be two days past 1st quarter, casting great shadows across its crators and Jupiter will be high in the sky and its many moons and stripes should be a site to behold! There will be prizes to give away and free stickers and collector cards for students. Cost will be $2 per person or $5 per family. All proceeds go towards the Astronomy Club at Miramichi Rural and improving the delivery science program at Miramichi Rural. Evening will begin at 8pm with a 45minute presentation of what will be will observing followed by going into the field and using our using our battery of telescopes, binoculars, and Skyscout GPS systems. Come on out for a great night with the Miramichi Rural Star Troopers!

The Miramichi Rural Star Troopers would like to thank everyone who turned out for the grand opening of the newly named "Galileo Observatory"! There were approximately 250 people in attendance and lots of prizes were given away. Paige Manuel, a Miramichi Rural School student won the main prize of the night; a used, but like-new, telescope.Brandon Manuel was the winner of the "Name of the Observatory" contest. The sign for the "Galileo Observatory" will be installed in the next couple of weeks and will stand as a reminder that the observatory was built on the 400th anniverary of the invention of Galileo's telescope. After speeches from Marley Kingston, Libby Kingston, Bandon Manuel, Jack White, Luke MacDonald, and some great space jokes by resident comedian, and amatuer astronomer, Carter Maresh the crowd was treated to some spectacular sites using our equipment. These included: The rings of Saturn, craters on the Moon, Venus, and star clusters. The observatory is now open for business and bookings can be made by school groups by contacting Adam Hayward at adam.hayward@nbed.nb.ca We will also have nights open to the public so watch our calendar to the right for these special nights. A thank you to all who made this night possible.   Check out the newspaper articles about the "Star Troopers" http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/1027959 http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/1027012  

The Miramichi Rural Star Troopers started their meetings in January of 2010. These 15 students attend night classes from 6:30pm-8pm once every two weeks. Topics we have covered so far have been Earth's Moon, Mars, and have done some naked-eye observing and were introduced to the Celestron Skyscouts. Once these students have been trained in the operation of the equipment we will then have our opening ceremonies and begin our training partnership with other schools. The projected date for this is early April. The Star Troopers will host "Star Parties" at Miramichi Rural and travel to schools throughout School District 16 to teach their peers about the wonders of our night sky. The observatory will also be open to the public once a month.

- Students should start thinking of a creative name for the "Name the observatory contest". Names should be based around the themes of "space", "exploration", "discovery", etc. - The winning submission will become the permanent name of the observatory and will be on display at Miramichi Rural for many years to come!