Total Takes Edmontonians on a 'Cosmic Journey'
Between midnight on April 2 and 11:59 p.m. on April 5, 2009, people from the greater Edmonton area experienced the wonders of astronomy and the importance of dark skies – just as Galileo first did.
100 Hours of Astronomy
As part of Total’s commitment to the environment and education, the company sponsored Cosmic Journey’s 100 Hours of Astronomy in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy.
Cosmic Journey Inc. staged a free public experience under the skies at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre with a 100-hour astronomy marathon. One of the organization’s goals was to have as many people as possible look through a telescope echoing Gailileo 400 years ago.
The event took place when the Moon went from a first-quarter moon to a gibbous moon, which rides across the sky for most of the night and is still above the western horizon at sunrise. Both are good phases for early evening observing.
There were a number of children’s events offered for all ages and large telescopes were brought in for stargazing. The night skies were shared around the world by podcasting stargazing from other parts of the world into the Centre during the daylight hours and podcasting out to other parts of the world during our night hours.
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