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r . WATERLOO CHIONm-Wednesdly. March is. zoti a e -_ ___________,. .7 . . . . V‘ ‘ :r " ‘ ) S ' . r w ‘s V ; V V fl . f l A 4 4 ~ A A A ushflsLL'lUi 1” l'l,1,(,‘!l39,\”(<Lll . - A arr or the sun - - because of the media's attention funky bus system with open sections Don’t let “810““ 5 against it. to stand or sit in. suchm in San Fran- A: it took was one look at the sun through a solar tele- plan be shelved Michael'mrmnn cisco. A direct route straight down cope, and lwas hooked. ’ Waterloo King St. would be a good start. Not It was at KW Telescope in recent weeks where l discover Ihare been living in Waterloo for Mk), u beat only would they be more of a colour- the astonishing beauty of sunspots and solar flares the last eight years. . ' p ful city attraction with some The sun. appearing like an angry. red, gigantic fireball After graduating from the Uni- buses needed ambiance. but it could bequite lum- through the eyepiece of a Coronado PST (Personal Solar Tele- versity of Waterloo. this is where l liveaswell. SOOpe). I could only muster an awestruck “Wow." found my first real job. I knew that While having a family discussion Dr. Brady Johnson. co-owner and education director of KW KW is a place I'd want to live. about the obvious expense and Sam Mam Telescope, explained to me how solar telescopes work in the Now that We just been married. drawbacks to a light rail transit syS» Waterloo parking lot of his Kitchener astronomy store, his Coronado it's a place where my wife and l tern. we tossed around a few ideas mailed dilly), “"2331“:- l I d th intend to settle down. such as the Skytrain that Vancouver ' ' is a "’80"- P so a! ‘9 eSCOPer an M it You The lifestyle we dream of in the has, orawell laid-out subway system. m a lame‘bmin look only at the sun. You don't use it for any other kind of next 25 years does not include hour- such as in New York City. Getting idea astronomy,” 331d BEW- ‘And basically what you have is a set or long commutes stuck in traffic, driv- back to reality though. does it not filters, up at the from end (of the telescope). and they reduce ing across town. We are excited make sense to have a well laid- out, pie. we need LXI like a hole in the “Mil?” faCtOI'Ofaboul 10.000." about the planned light rail transit, more upbeat bus warn? Never tak- I the head. . . or shall I saya hole in 'l'he Coronado PST- BfldY said, was the first commercially and want to see it built. “‘8 the bus, 1 can only rely on my our pockets? Let's utilize our current available personal solar telescope on the market. costing No matter what. there will be children's perception ofthe length of resources to the max first â€"â€" before around $3,000 lovemaso costs associated with the growth of time in the current out-of- the-way we buy into this lame-brain idea. NW4 you can buy one for around 3700- l was also filmed our city and Our region. Initiatives routes they would have to take to get LRl' must be coming to us fwm to learn about white-light glass solar filters, which Brady like the LRI” will help us to grow the from one central point to another in the same clever people that screwed explained '5 one 07 the safest and more 0031 effective ways for city in a way that looks different the existing bus system. Since the up traffic flow on Davenport Road amateur astronomers '0 study the sun. from another carschoked Toronto. cities (in my opinion) are becoming and Bearinger Road. What a total . k {"35 thr 0‘18". a Sky-Watcher “fir *m- .. Th3! future is P0$sible. and has fairly upbeat. would more upbeat waste of good travelable realestate. Elthn‘Eh Dobsonran reflector tele- \ l j i N l l ~. j i just as high costs associated with it buses/transportation not go over [fit was done for traffic calming. 50°93! “kc the one l own. that we ‘ 1 ‘ ‘. I ‘ ' as the LRT ~ ifnot higher. well? There is a stigma in tltis area all it did was snarl traffic. observed sunspots “5318 a WWW“ l 2 l \ Let's not allow this visionary plan with riding the bus. Perhaps this sole-1r filter. to be shelved because of fears about could be turned around and appeal Bob Konnrdd Sunspots are areas 0" the surface the investment costs now. nor to everyone in the area with a more Waterloo 0‘ the 5““ “‘3‘ are cooler than 0th“ ,‘ areas." explained Brady, as l marvelled ‘ ‘ . . . atf df‘dgltailkin the irregt'rilar structure 5 a o t e ac spots. " e sunspots .. . _. Shangn-La a Sign of sprtng ctmaahonehtmompwpr - enjoy is counting them and monitor- You can keep your groundhogs. Your robins. Your denTV channel. It seems every one of those decora- ing the cycles over a long period of fuzzy caterpillars. I know the one true sign of tors finishes off their masterpiece with a mammoth time." 4 spring. investment in cushions and other squishy things The sun. 1 learned, has a natural It's when the Minister of Domestic Affairs and It looks like a classic distraction to me, but my cycle with a period of approximately MARSHALL ; Paint Colours decides something needs to bedone. wife says such things make the room cosy and 11 years. as the number of sunspots WARD And in this particular case, it was the love nest. warm. Personally, I have other ways of making a vary. Prominences (solar flares) also i aka. the master bedroom. room cosy and warm, but perhaps sur- arise as part of the solar activity cycle, said Brady. 1 The bedroom has been a particular H prisingly to you, this is not accepted as Peering through the eyepiece of the Coronado solar tele- ‘ shade of pale yellow (probably named l I l l l l l l much as it should be. scope. l was overjoyed to witness a distinct prominence occur- something much more artistic â€" like I“ H I RKl My only real contribution to the ring practicallyin real time. Chilean Sunset) for about nine years. ‘ artistic side of the process. was my An absolutely beautiful sight. the solar flare exploded from And just two weeks ago the woman who . .. k suggestion of painting an “accent the surface of the sun. reaching far out into space. “It really . l runs everything was announcing how .iA wall.” blew me away the first time I saw one too," said Brady, estimat- ! much she liked that comm, 2‘. ' ‘ My use of that term almost snapped ing the prominence we observed to be about 25,000 km in I So much, that she decided to change if? ' someone's neck off, she did such a lengthâ€" threeto four times the diameter ofEarth. . ‘ it. 3. j if quick double take. ”mat was a pretty good size one." added Brady. "And the i l Which is okay. Painting is one of the A ‘ ' . “How do you know of accent walls?" flame change quite rapidly. 1 1 things l actually enjoy. fa? . she said. as ifl had unlocked some “When a flare erupts. over the course of 10 minutes. you i i And i have no interest in selecting the é a. 4‘ ancient secret of decorating. can see it go from next to nothing into a very large flare. some- 1 colours or the accessories or anything - g “- 1 may have absolutely no interest in times hundreds of thousands of miles off the sun’s surface it i else that goes along with a new paint ‘ HGTV, but I still have the capability of will reach out. . colour. i am quite content to nod up and absorbing information, and using it in “When you realize how big that is compared to the Earth's . down and agree with whatever choices BRIAN situations which will either make me diameter. it's a huge thing. And these prominences are hap- . ‘ are made. This is not because I don't BOURKE look smart. . . or panicularly artistic. pening all over the surface.” . i care. ldon't have to be believe it. Observing sunspots and solar flares through the safety of a ‘ It is more because I have come to ‘ So an accent wall it is. l think it’s solar telescope or white light filter was a powerful and unfor- terms with my station in life, and also recognize l do purple. But someone else says it's Shangri-la Silk. gettable experience. And a reminder that the sun is one of the not have any taste. That was my next guess. most awe-inspiring and fascinating mysteries of our solar sys- ' So out with the old â€" all the accessories and art- Anyway. after three days of filling nail holes, tem. . work 7 and in with the new. Which includes at least painting and accessorizing, the room is complete. KW Telescope. located at 100 Victoria St. N. in Kitchener. 2m) pillows on the bed. Enough so that it takes a Diana says ifl'm really good. we can maybe sleep offers free Night Sky Orientation seminars for beginner good 20 minutes to unpile them and give the two of in it sometime next year. stargazers To receive upcoming seminar notifications, e-mail us a place ll) sleep. lohnson at bradyié’kwtelescopecom. phone 519-745â€"5757. or ()n the plus side, this means I no longer have to visit the website at www.kwtelescope.com. ‘ make the l‘K‘d. because I have not figured out the rather complex system that decides which pillow '" ' 3 goes where. Brian Bourke. a member ofthe I 05.3 KOOL FM 0-- . l‘he pillow industry must have received an awful morning new. can be reached by e-mai'l at Marshall Ward is a visual artist and wrestling reporter L big boost in recent years from the Home and Car l)l)ourke@koolfin.com. E-mal'lr‘s welcome at marsha11_ward@honnaime -0 Mi