As the Skootamatta “Lights Out” – Dark Sky event gets closer we have an exciting online Zoom webinar presentation, hosted by Gary Colwell.

Gary is an accomplished amateur astronomer and astrophotographer with 58 years in this field (complete bio below).

Gary will be discussing:

– The impact of light pollution

– What we can do to preserve the “Dark Sky”

The Skootamatta Lake “Lights Out” Dark Sky Event – August 9, 2025 and why it’s important every night.

What we can expect to see – Perseid meteor showers!

The Zoom event will be on Aug 6, 2025 – 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Log into Zoom and enter the following information:  Meeting ID: 7665127385     Passcode: 751577

In addition, Gary will be bringing some of his equipment to the Skootamatta Lake Festival and would love to share his passion for the night sky in person with our members.
We hope everyone will get a chance to enjoy this insightful session and a great Dark Sky event!

More details about the Dark Sky Event (Saturday August 9th, 2025) will be coming shortly.
SDRA

Gary’s Bio:

Gary is an award winning Astrophotographer and also the recipient of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Award for his research on Comet Kohoutek 1973f. Gary is a twice winner of the Peel Regional Science Fair in High School and represented Peel Region at the Canada Wide Science Fair National Championships. Gary has twice been the President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Hamilton Centre, and is currently the President of the North Frontenac Amateur Astronomy Club. Gary played a key role in the development of the North Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve, and has built 2 Observatories on the Preserve housing a 16” and 14” telescope respectively both of which he has refurbished. Gary resides in Ardoch, Ontario and has 6 private observatories on his property which he makes available to fellow observers and astrophotographers.