The Madawaska Highlands Observatory Visitor Centre
The Madawaska Highlands Observatory aims to deliver a high value experience
to its guests. The concept at its core is designed to appeal to
one of the fundamental quests of humanity by asking the question:
"What is our place in the universe?" The location and
offerings of the facility are optimized to deliver a unique experience,
that of exploring infinite space and time.
Indeed the facility will offer a completely REAL and unpretentious
direct experience. The facility is set under an extremely spectacular
night sky with the bulge of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, with its
500 billion stars readily visible as a soft mist and bright enough
to cast a distinct shadow!
Very large visitor 40" telescopes will be available to view
deep into the universe. Visitors will be able to view galaxies
some two billion light years away, the light which has been traveling
40% of the Earth's existence. Views of hundreds of galaxies in
a single field reveal our place in the universe, for we find ourselves
in a sea of galaxies, literally hundreds of billions of galaxies,
only the very nearest and brightest are visible in these telescopes.
These large telescopes will deliver the best visual telescopic
views to the visitors in the world. The views will be significantly
better than telescopes twice their size due to their state-of-the-art
design, extremely dark night sky, topographic and site setting.
Individual stars in the Andromeda galaxy 2,500,000 light years
away can actually be glimpsed in these very powerful telescopes.
There are clusters of stars so dense 50 thousands stars can be
seen in a field.
A special high performance camera will be setup to take very
rapid images of the planets and freezing rare moments of atmospheric
stability to yield extremely high resolution details at the limit
of the telescope in real time, with details on some of the larger
Jovian satellites visible and the motion of rotation can of Jupiter
is apparent in under a minute. The technique reveals planetary
detail that not even the largest telescopes in the world could
deliver directly and approaches the resolution of the Hubble Space
telescope. This view of the planets will likely be the most detailed
and spectacular one could expect in a lifetime, and is expected
to be a highlight of any visit to the facility.
The facility will host the most powerful telescope in Canada
and a well equipped Visitor Centre. The Visitor Centre will host
several display areas for astronomy, cosmology and a lecture theater
where professional astronomers will be invited to lecture on research
conducted at the Madawaska Highlands Observatory as well as recent developments in astronomy.
It will also include a boutique, snack bar and washroom facilities.
The Visitor Centre will also contain the Madawaska Highlands Observatory control room and
large LED displays with spectacular images from the Madawaska Highlands Observatory, a 'live'
3,840 x 2,160 pixel displays will show recent images taken by
the Madawaska Highlands Observatory telescope.
A comprehensive document that describes the tourism
experience is available here.
Facility Highlights
Geographical Setting: The Highlands of Eastern Ontario
feature a spectacular Precambrian landscape and offers some of
the highest elevations in the Province. The facility will be located
on peak with ~450 meter elevation with sufficient space for the
entire facility including a star festival. The site will have
an unobstructed 360º view of the entire sky and a superb
view of the surrounding terrain. It will be accessible from a
short drive off a major highway.
Night Sky: This particular region host the darkest night
skies in southern Canada and is a perfect venue for the facility.
City folks will be particularly amazed at the awesome spectacle
of a natural sky full of stars and a very pronounced Milky Way.
The Madawaska Highlands Observatory: World class and state-of-the-art,
it will be the most powerful telescope on Canadian soil by a wide
margin. Built of carbon fibre, giving it superb dimensional and
thermal stability and able to produce an instrument that is 1/10
the mass of a classical telescope. Equipped with the largest CCD
image sensor in the world measuring, with 112 million pixels and
cooled to -100ºC , active optics and host of other advanced
technologies makes it highly desirable telescope for professional
astronomers. It's highly corrected 5 degrees2 (25X the area of
the moon) monolithic field-of-view gives it a huge advantage for
a broad range of research projects.
Science Discoveries: The facility will be capable of discovering
Earth sized planets. Cutting edge science will be conducted at
the facility. The Madawaska Highlands Observatory will contribute to a broad range of science
research areas including cosmology, solar system science, the
study of dark matter, the evolution of stars and of our nearest
companion galaxies, the list is extensive. The latest discoveries
will be showcased at the facility.
Guided Tours: Knowledgeable interpreters will offer guided
tours of the Visitor Centre, visitor observatories and of the
One-Metre telescope, they will explain the exhibits, displays
and able to answer questions related to the facility, the night
sky and astronomy in general.
Visitor Telescopes: Two large 40" state-of-the-art
telescopes will be dedicated for visitor use. These powerful telescopes
will give extremely impressive views of the universe; galaxies
well over a billion light years away will be plainly visible,
over a hundred thousands of stars can be seen in a single view.
In the rich galaxy clusters hundreds of galaxies can be viewed
at the same time. The view of nearby galaxies like the Andromeda
will be surreal and extremely detailed.
Star Parties: The Visitor Centre will host star parties
on every clear night from April until October, which is on the
average 2-3 nights a week. 30" compact high-performance telescopes
will be provided for excellent views of the night sky. Guests
may also bring their own telescopes.
Evening Twilight talks: 1-hour introductory presentations
in the multimedia theater and/or the amphitheater on such subjects
as identifying the constellation, finding the planets and the
Milky Way.
Planetary Viewing: The large visitor telescopes will be
equipped with high performance high frame rate cameras. These
cameras will be able to take many frames per second thereby catching
the rare instances where the atmosphere is calm thus producing
extremely exquisite views at the limit of resolution of the telescope.
Vast amounts of detail will be visible on the planets and detail
on Jupiter's largest satellites can seen!
Technology Display: Behind the Madawaska Highlands Observatory are some very advanced
technologies including the ultrahigh performance 1-metre open-back
cellular mirror, carbon fibre construction, world class optics,
largest CCD imager in the world, Calotte observatory building,
active optics; a display will showcase the technologies.
Algonquin Peoples: Within the Visitor Centre a display
exploring the deep cultural meaning that the local natives' peoples
have with the stars. Important spiritual and cultural legends
are etched in the constellations, with a particular importance
placed on Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
Amenities: The Visitor Centre will have a boutique for
souvenirs, snack area, ticket kiosk, washrooms, a multimedia theater
seating ~120, offices and the telescope control room.
Green Efficiency: The Facility will be 100% powered by
the sun through solar cells. Water will be supplied by a well
with heating and cooling through a heat exchanger with the well
water. It will feature a LEEDS AP Platinum construction to maximize
energy efficiency. Communications will be provided with a 100
Mbps wireless link. All appliances including the HVAC will be
ultrahigh efficiency with the facility having a minimum carbon
footprint.
Star Festival: The facility will have sufficient area
to host a major star festival, where interested people from all
over North-America meet to share their passion for the night sky.
People will bring their telescopes to take advantage of the awesome
views, presentation by both amateur and professional astronomer
are given, there will be swap tables, vendors show off case their
latest products and special events such a astronomical imaging
symposiums are given. Such an event is typically held in August
or September. The facility will be equipped with all the amenities
to handle the Star Festival. Of all the large star festival in
northeast North-America this one will have the most spectacular
night skies by a large margin.
Educational and Remote Telescope Bookings: Some time on
the science telescopes will be available for bookings all across
Canada and internationally for educational purposes. The instruments
will be an excellent tool for science curriculums. Any interested
party will be able book [queuing] time on the telescopes.
Phase 2: A digital planetarium and expanded facility is
planned for phase II.
The facility in summary:
- Most powerful telescope in Canada
- Visitor Centre ~1000m2, 1-story building
- Most powerful dedicated visitor telescopes in the world
- 40" f/3 visitor telescopes, folded design to keep eyepiece
height to 5'
- 30" f/2.5 star party telescopes, 5' eyepiece height
- Open year round
- Star Parties from April through October on every clear night
- Twilight talks in the amphitheater
- Several display areas (astronomy, cosmology, technology)
- Audio available for displays through Wi-Fi and mobile apps
- Boutique, washrooms, ticket kiosk
- Solar powered with LEED AP Platinum compliance with well water
heating/cooling
- Offices and control room for observatory
- Astronomers quarters
- Snack room and cafeteria
- Multimedia lecture area ~140 seats
- Invited guest lecturers
- Algonquin star lore display area
- 4,000 x 2,000 pixel 'live' display of images
- Several 36" x 48" LED lit boxes of spectacular images
from the One-Metre telescope
- Guided tours of the visitor centre
- Guided tours visitor observatories
- Guided tours the One-Metre telescope
- Area set aside for major star festival - up to 3,000 people
- Natural night sky [no light pollution] the best views southern
Canada
- 140 seat digital planetarium in phase 2
- Educational packages
- 100 minutes from Ottawa
- 3.5 hours from Toronto and Montreal
- 2.5hours forn the USA
Madawaska
Highlands Tourism Experience January 2012.pdf
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