Regrettably, MonSFFA’s Website began experiencing numerous intermittent disruptions on the very day of our January 2024 meeting, Saturday, the 13th!
The site went down for much of that morning, preventing us from posting material related to our meeting, as is our custom. Only one post was put up before the site went down for a good stretch, effectively disrupting the online part of the meeting. Fortunately, we were still able to live-stream proceedings on ZOOM for our online participants.
Note that we have posted, below, some of the links and information on solar eclipses that our two guest speakers had on hand at the meeting, including this map of the Montreal area showing the path of the solar eclipse expected on April 8 of this year—scroll down for more related information.
As for the Website disruptions, we initially speculated that the problem might be connected to local power failures, or the far-reaching winter storm blanketing Ontario, Quebec, and the Eastern U.S. that day. But the disruptions have continued since, and the issue has not yet been resolved.
If you are reading this, obviously the site is up and running, but we caution that it may well go down again at any moment! If it does, try again in 20 minutes.
In the meantime, we have contacted the appropriate technical support services to report the problem so that a remedy may be found and implemented as soon as possible. We eagerly await word, and a return to normal functionality!
Astronomy specialists David Shuman and Paul Simard guested at our January meeting, presenting their documentary short, “Shadowchasers.” If you missed the meeting, find the film here:
Here are links to other resources that our guests recommended. Astronomy sites will be updating as the April solar eclipse date draws near.
https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse-simulator/2024/1504?elevation=47
Safe, approved solar-eclipse viewing glasses may be purchased at these sites:
EclipseGlasses:
https://www.eclipseglasses.com/collections/eclipse-glasses-stock
Daystar:
https://www.daystarfilters.com/glasses/Glasses.shtml
Rainbow Symphony:
https://www.rainbowsymphony.com/collections/eclipse-glasses-safe-solar-viewers
Here, also, is a NASA link showing how to build a safe pinhole viewer:
https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/safety/
Eclipse glasses may also be found at astronomy stores in our region:
LA MAISON D’ASTRONOMIE (Montréal)
ASTRONOMY PLUS (Longueuil)
DAVID ASTRO (Boucherville)