New exposure risk in Winnipeg. If you have been exposed to measles and you start having symptoms, it is important to stay home. If you don't know you were exposed, but you have a fever, stay home. Over that one thing could prevent all that. VACCINATION www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I finally had the opportunity to do a FULL image (not a test shot) with my new telescope. I chose The Heart Nebula, and let the scope run most of the night gathering data, then processed it this AM. I may try again bit of further processing to remove some of the stars, we'll see. The final image:

My cousin who is visiting from out of town, yesterday got asked a couple questions for Global TV’s news segment on the Grey Cup. I told him he shouldn’t have said he was from Detroit, he should have said he came all the way from the North Pole! 😂

🔐 Account Security Thread 🔐 We're seeing an increased number of phishing and social engineering attempts targeting Bluesky users. While we're working hard to protect you, here are essential steps YOU can take to secure your account and stay safe. 1/10 🧵👇

Interesting comparison. While perspective is the only difference when it appears the moon is larger when close to the horizon, there is a perceptive change when the Moon is at perigee (closest to Earth) and apogee (farthest). And yes, the Moon’s orbit is not a circle, so its distance does vary.

Haven’t heard this in awhile. “I close my eyes Only for a moment and the moment's gone All my dreams Pass before my eyes with curiosity Dust in the wind All they are is dust in the wind … Nothin' lasts forever but the earth and sky It slips away And all your money won't another minute buy”

I just got the notification again. It's aurora time! (And clear skiesnto boot!)

repost with an iconic fictional band

Get your butts outside! Major aurora happening right now, visible in most parts of the city (and if you have clouds, those are clearing soon)!

Don’t leave your children unattended in Iceland.

Another video of our visit at the Skógafoss Falls. 200 feet from top, to this very misty bottom!

Beautiful sunset tonight, I'm hoping we may get our second aurora, with KP 6 expected. Clouds...hold off!

Skógafoss Falls

Having a blast in Iceland, though the clouds at our rental have kept me from using the telescope. We did have one evening where the kids got to enjoy aurora while in the hot tub, but it clouded over before we got in. Not complaining though!

My former "best fish and chips" list was Fishcotheque (London), Berties (Edinburgh), and Fergies (Winnipeg). I have a new one that now sits at the top - Kaffivagninn in Reykjavik. ❤️

Iceland bound.

This has been our busiest year, in over 20 years. A bit over 250 kids by 8:20! Fortunately, we have help - Salt and Ghost Pepper! 😁

We're a week out from draw date, and with less than 200 tickets sold, your odds of winning are excellent. Support employment inclusion and throw your hat in the ring! www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/come-...

We bathed our dogs last night, this morning its "de-hairify" their coats day. Its snowing Pippin! 😳

Dinner and a show. Lames Ave. Pumphouse, and Life of Pi.

Pretty happy with first light with the new scope, I took pics of 4 targets to test it, gathering minimal data on each. In order: Comet C-2025 A6 Lemmon, the Andromeda Galaxy, the North American Nebula, and I finished with the Heart Nebula. For such a little scope, I'm impressed!

Robert Clothier was known across Canada as Relic on The Beachcombers. But long before that show premiered, he was a decorated Second World War pilot who flew over 50 combat missions in Europe and had to learn to walk again following a crash. This is his amazing story. 🧵 1/11

P.S. that time wasn’t randomly chose, my cloud app shows that we will have some sky clearing around that time which may continue for a few hours. I’ll update close to that time to confirm, but if anyone is interested in meeting up to head a bit West of us to try to get a comet view, reply here.

I confess. The rain these past few days…that was me. After my post about the beautiful clear night sky last week, I decided to to buy a smart telescope to take advantage of the viewing conditions those opportunities present. It arrived, so too predictably, did the rain and clouds. 😭

Drove out to the cottage this AM to pull the pontoon out of the water and tarp it, then worked on the spa to fix a leak. Thinking I *really* need to widen one of the lifts so the ‘toon doesn’t need this removal process! Just made it back into to the city now at 9:30 - long day!

I had a stunning evening relaxing on my cottage rooftop last night. There was zero wind and crystal clear skies. I could easily see the Milky Way core, 2 meteors, and even had a naked eye view of the Andromeda Galaxy! Phone camera pics don't do it justice, so mostly I just lay back and enjoyed. 🙂

Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you’ll never watch again, and one song you can’t stand. Pufferfish. Montenegro. I was young, it was a blind date… 😂 Jack White. Period.

Today was a day to work off a bit of yesterday's meal, and check my shoe choice for our upcoming Iceland trip in 3 weeks. We took the dogs for a 5.3 km hike around Beaudry Park. A great place for a stroll with varying length trails, and no mosquitoes! 5 stars

Cathrin is a legit artist who does remarkable space-themed art, with no use of AI. Anyone who is seeking art of this nature, her work is well worth the look!

Well this was an interesting read. The world may not be quite as bleak a place as it is sometimes currently looking. cmarmitage.substack.com/p/its-time-f...

True story: while staying there one night, my wife and I awoke around 3AM to a hauntingly beautiful whistling. We looked out our door but no one was down the hall, though we still heard the whistling, which gradually faded.

Life can be complicated.

Well, I've got 2.5 hours to kill at The Forks. What shall I do?

I got a notification the Aurora was building last night and figured I’d wait a bit and finish up my show first. 15 minutes later that storm rolled in! Does this count more as an opportunity missed, or experienced gained? Either way, I’m sure both were spectacular! Wish I was at the cottage though…

If only I could find out how positive my posts are. Oh wait, I can ask this guy: @sentimentbot.bsky.social?

Date night at The Forks tonight, it has been too long! Hmmmmm...Fergies? Or? Definitely a walk there after, though. 🙂

I was saddened to hear of the passing a few days ago of Dr. Darren Markland. He was one of the reasons I stayed on Twitter as long as I did. At a time during Covid, when news reports were talking death as numbers and statistics, Dr. Maryland did a edmontonjournal.remembering.ca/obituary/dar...

Want a chance to win 2 tix anywhere Westjet flies? Want to support employment inclusion for Manitobans with developmental disabilities? Buy a few tickets and support SCE LifeWorks!

Beaverton, as per usual, hitting bangers. 😂

Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life: 1. Snuggling in bed with someone you truly love 2. Sitting under a clear night sky with the Northern Lights dancing and crackling 3. “Connecting” with an animal, eg. horse 4. Holding your child 5. Doing a needed job well

Today is the day we move my MIL (but not FIL) into an Alzheimer’s care facility. It’s been a challenging roll leading up to this for the past week, I expect an emotional/hard day. 🙁

2 reasons why we use only Canadian milk and cream in our ice cream. 🐄🥛 1. Over 98% of Canadian dairy farmers are family owned. We are proud to support Canadian farmers. 2. Canadian milk is free from antibiotics and produced without artificial growth hormones. #Canada #CanadainDairy #CanadaProud

In no world does it make sense that any one individual has $200B. It doesn’t even make sense that one person has $1B. I’m all for individuals being able to excel in their earnings, but those $ don’t magically appear, they come from a limited pool of money. This imbalance isn’t sustainable.

“Enshitification of the internet” is a phrase we’re hearing more and more often these days, and I wish it weren’t so. But as much as there are safe spaces where the internet works as it should, there are definite areas where the dangers of misinformation and free posting are causing increasing harm.

Today was also clean up day, brushing off the cobwebs around the cottage and up to the observatory deck. Finished just in time - this storm rolled in 15 minutes later!

Finally had time to look at the issue with the pontoon that resulted in a misadventure 6 weeks or so ago. IAC valve replaced, it purrs like a kitten again!

Sitting at the lake, enjoying my coffee, when this beauty flies by not 6 metres from where I sat, to land on a tree 15 metres away! ❤️ A few videos as well.

My disc is back in, but my back is still pretty sore. Despite that, I decided to vacuum out the pool yesterday afternoon and clean the acorns off the deck. This morning, the new batch of acorns (this is one small portion of the entire deck). It's a bumper year!!

Police are searching for items stolen from a downtown church after someone broke in by throwing a large chuck of concrete through a stained-glass window.