On September 17th and 18th, 53 senior IB students got the opportunity to visit an observatory on Mont-Megantic, the only National Dark Sky Reserve in the region. The observatory is one of the largest and most powerful in North America. Part of the day was spent at the Astrolab at the base of the mountain, which allowed students to develop a better understanding of the Big Bang theory, our solar system, our galaxy and beyond.
That evening, we were treated to a perfectly clear sky which allowed the students an opportunity to observe through powerful telescopes such celestial bodies as Jupiter and 4 of its moons, the Andromeda galaxy, and several stars up close. As well, we spotted the space station orbiting the earth and found out how to identify the North Star when looking up at the sky. The evening was very cold, the temperature being barely 3 degrees Celsius, but the students quickly forgot the cold air when they were treated to the sight of several shooting ‘stars’! All were in awe of what they saw and learned during the outing, and for a brief moment our group felt very small in this very big universe.
