The Deep Sky Eye Observatory in Nova Scotia is Coming to… Social Media?
As I'm sure you CYY freaks know by now, some DJ comrades and I had an awesome little weekend trip over to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia last weekend! We did so much in the day and a half we were there that it would be impossible to fit it into one or two posts, so I've been focusing on one cool thing at a time. In this round, it's the
The Deep Sky Eye Observatory is located on the outskirts of town, right where the light pollution dips off to it's lowest point. For those who didn't know, Nova Scotia is actually home to a Starlight Reserve, and has become a tourist destination for those wanting to get a good look at the milky way.
Upon arriving, I met the man behind the project, Tim Doucette, who works in tech by day and runs the observatory at night. Amazingly, Doucette is legally blind, which might make you think he wouldn't be a good astronomer... Well, you'd be wrong. When he received correctional eye surgery as a child, Doucette had his eyes' protection against ultraviolet light removed. What that means is that he can actually see more looking through a telescope than any normal person should!
The telescope located in the dome atop the building is seriously impressive, and can get mind-blowingly good pictures of planets and stars that are farther away than you could possibly imagine. Perhaps the coolest thing about this telescope, though, is that it's making it's way to social media. To echo most of you right now: "Huh?"
The telescope will soon be able to take commands as to what to look at via Twitter. It will even take a picture of your request, and send it to you! How cool is that?!
Keep your eyes on Deep Sky Eye's website and Twitter for this cool new feature to go live. In the meantime, head to their website if you'd like to book a visit, which I highly recommend. Thanks to Tim Doucette for giving us a tour!