The Stars Belong to Everyone

The Stars Belong to Everyone

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Friday October 11, 2024

By the time you read this, Earth will have not just one but two comets visiting our corner of the solar system. These objects remind us that our planet is part of a solar system that is dynamic and still has new objects awaiting discovery. With luck, both of these objects will be visible to the average person with the unaided eye.

A close look at an embroidered tapestry showing a small group of people pointing up towards a comet streaking across the sky.

Comets are small, icy bodies in our solar system which are left over from the formation of the solar system, kept “fresh” in the deep freeze of deep space. Occasionally, collisions or the gravity of an outer planet will push one in towards the Sun on a long, looping oval path. Closer to the Sun, the ice melts and releases a long tail of dust that can be seen from Earth. At any given time, there are a half-dozen or more comets in the sky, but most are invisible without a powerful telescope.

 

Image: Bright comets have been seen throughout recorded history, and have often been seen as evil omens. Comet Halley was visible in 1066 and was immortalized in the Bayeux tapestry.

Comet 2023 A3 (Tsuchinshen-ATLAS) was discovered last year and has put on an amazing show in the southern hemisphere in late September and early October. When it becomes visible from Canada in mid-October it should be an interesting sight for Manitobans throughout the fall. Meanwhile, a second comet called 2024 S1 (ATLAS) was recently discovered that may pass very close to the Sun at the end of October, perhaps becoming very bright… or disintegrating in the Sun’s heat.

A star map showing the orbit of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS as it moves through our solar system.

The Orbit of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS dives down from above the solar system (on the left of the image), passes close to the Sun, and then heads back up between Earth and Sun. Manitobans will see it as it passes above the Sun this month. © NASA SSD

A comet with a long, bright tail streaking through the night sky, perpendicular to the ground.

The Sky isn’t just starry wallpaper and Supermoons – there is a lot going on up there. You can find out how to see the planets and other celestial events by following the Manitoba Museum’s Astronomy blog at ManitobaMuseum.ca/Stories or taking in one of our exciting planetarium shows.

 

The stars belong to everyone, so join along as we explore the beauty and wonder of our universe.

 

Image: A sungrazing comet like Comet 2024 S1 (ATLAS) can put on an amazing show if it survives its passage around the Sun. This image shows sungrazing Comet McNaught, also known as “the Great Comet of 2007”.

Scott Young

Scott Young

Planetarium Astronomer

Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

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Bright Comet This October?

Posted on by Scott Young

UPDATED 2024 Oct 10 0915 CDT

Manitobans will have a chance to catch a comet this October (2024). Comet C/2023 A3, a.k.a. Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS, will be visible in our evening sky beginning about October 11. This article will describe how to see the comet yourself and provide a day-by-day description of its period of best visibility.

Based on its behaviour up until October 10, I am tempering my expectations for this comet a bit. It’s still going to be a great sight, but it won’t be as bright as some have been predicting. The comet will likely need binoculars or a camera to spot it while it’s in the bright twilight over the week of Oct 11-16.

However, the comet’s tail is longer than expected, stretching nearly 45 degrees across the sky – that is about the distance from the horizon to halfway overhead. So even though the comet’s head sets soon after the sun, its tail might be visible sticking up above the horizon much later, when the sky has gotten darker. You’ll still want dark skies free of city lights, and binoculars or a camera, to get the best view.

(Note: While written for Manitoba, this article works for anyone in southern Canada, or at roughly the same latitude of 40-50 degrees North anywhere in the world. So, much of Europe and Asia will have similar views.)

(Second note: Comets are notoriously unpredictable. They can undergo outbursts that make them brighten 100x in an hour; they can also fragment or fizzle out without any obvious explanation. This article presents the best predictions available at the time of writing, and will be updated as conditions change.)

(Third note: While another potentially bright comet, Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), was discovered recently, this comet will likely not be visible from Manitoba.)

Coloured circles show the orbits of the inner planets around the Sun. A white oval path dives through the plane of the solar system, showing the orbit of Comet 2023 A3.

In September and early October 2024, Comet 2023 A3 was visible from more southerly locations, with the best views coming from the southern hemisphere. This is due to the angle of the comet’s orbit to the plane of the solar system – it came in from the north when still faint, dove down to the southern reaches as it rounded the Sun in late September, and will now be rocketing northward again. The comet passes almost between the Earth and Sun on October 9, and after that will begin to appear in the evening sky.

There are two factors which influence the comets visibility in October: how far away from the Sun it is, and how far away from the Earth it is. In general, the comet is intrinsically brightest when it is closest to the Sun and closest to the Earth, but that doesn’t mean we can see it. When the comet it “brightest”, it will also be so close to the Sun from our point of view that it will be invisible. We have to wait until the comet moves farther from the Sun in our sky so we have a chance to seeing it in a semi-dark sky.

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 11, 2024.

Oct 11, 2024: First Glimpse

Baring some unusually outburst from the comet, Manitobans will probably get our first view of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS right after sunset on the evening of October 11th. You’ll need a very flat western horizon, with as few buildings or trees in the way as possible; a flat prairie or even the ocean-like horizon of Lake Winnipeg will be perfect. You’ll also want to be away from any local light pollution – outside the city, and away from any streetlights or houselights that will interfere with your view.

Sunset is a few minutes before 6:30 p.m. local time, and as soon as the Sun is fully below the horizon, start scanning the sky along the horizon with your binoculars. Once they sky darkens a bit, you’ll spot Venus, a useful signpost to the comet for the rest of the week. The comet may become visible as a small fuzzy round spot in the bright twilight sky around 7:15 p.m., but the comet is setting so that as the sky darkens, the comet sinks into the murky air near the horizon. Just spotting it tonight will be an accomplishment and a harbinger of things to come.

Don’t give up once the comet official “sets” about 8 p.m. local time – that time is for the comet’s “head”. The tail is extending roughly straight up from the horizon and may become visible as the sky darkens. The geometry of the comet relative to the Earth and Sun changes daily this week, so it’s hard to say how long the tail will be or whether it is bright enough to see on its own – stayed tuned!

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 12, 2024.

Oct. 12, 2024: Easier to Spot

In just a day, the comet has moved higher in our sky. From this point, things just get better in terms of the comet’s elevation, giving us more time to spot the comet before it sets. You’ll be able to see it longer after sunset, which means it will be visible in a darker sky. Darker skies will be required for spotting the comet’s tail visually, but a camera might pull some of the faint tail out of the twilight (see “imaging the Comet” below).

On October 12th, the comet will be higher in the sky than Venus, but you’ll still want a clear western horizon.

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 13, 2024.

Oct. 13, 2024: Getting Better

The comet is more than a binocular field above the horizon tonight, so you’ll have to sweep around a bit to spot it. The comet should still be bright, and you might even see it without binoculars. The image shows the view at 7:30 p.m. local time, but you can afford to wait even later to see if the view improves as the sky darkens. The comet’s tail actually stretches well off the top of the map, and so even after the “head” of the comet has set, the tail may become visible as the sky darkens. Don’t go home too early!

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 14, 2024.

Oct. 14, 2024: Elevation versus Distance

From tonight on, we see how the competing factors of the comet’s elevation above our horizon versus its increasing distance will play out. The comet is actually fading as it moves farther away from us and as the tail appears foreshortened (it’s pointing generally towards the earth, which should make it appear shorter but brighter). Improving the situation is the comet’s greater altitude above the horizon, and the chance to see it in a darker sky after sunset.

It’s still worth getting out early to see how early you can spot the comet, but the best views might come slightly later each night, perhaps as late as 8:00 p.m. local instead of 7:30 p.m. There will be a period of best visibility each night that will probably last for 15 minutes or so as the various factors of sky brightness, altitude, and sky conditions align, but forecasting exactly when that will occur is impossible. The more time you are out observing the comet, the more likely you will get a memorable view.

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 15, 2024.

Oct. 15, 2024: Fading Away

Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS will be visible above the western horizon at sunset until at least December, but at some point it will fade enough that you will need a telescope to see it. It will probably remain visible in binoculars until late October, but the changing angles will mean the tail fades quickly after this date. The comet will be more of a round puffball than the typical “comet with a tail” shape, but may still be fascinating to view. Remember, that puffball has likely never been this close to Earth before and may not return to our vicinity for tens of thousands of years, if ever, so this literally is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Imaging the Comet

As always, imaging will show more of the comet’s tail than is visible to the eyes, so you might see impressive images flooding your social media feed for days or weeks to come. Just remember, electronic cameras, even those in a typical cellphone, can show much fainter objects than our eyes can see. But there is something magical about viewing the actual light from an object, individual particles of light than have travelled millions of kilometers to end up inside your eyeball and stimulating your brain to see them.

If you manage to record images of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS, we’d love to see them! Email them to space@manitobamuseum.ca. We’ll show the best ones on Dome@Home, our award-winning online astronomy show, which runs the last Thursday of every month on the Manitoba Museum’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Scott Young

Scott Young

Planetarium Astronomer

Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

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The Sky for October 2024

Posted on by Scott Young

October is a great month for stargazing. Aside from the cooler temperatures and earlier sunsets, we have at least one reasonably-bright comet expected, and quite possibly two. The planets rise early enough to see before midnight, and the most distant object visible to the unaided eye comes into view.

Comet #1: 2023 A3 (Tsuchinshen-ATLAS)

This is the comet you’ve been hearing about on social media lately. It’s been limited to southern viewers so far, but now that it has rounded the Sun it will be moving into the northern skies quickly.

There is a full article on this comet, with day-by-day details, in preparation, but the short version is most Canadians won’t be able to spot it until after October 10 or so. It is not quite as bright as forecast, and so it won’t become visible in broad daylight or even in the very bright twilight sky. It will become visible in the evening sky after sun is it rockets between Sun and Erath, rapidly moving higher in the evening as it moves farther away.

Click here for more tips on spotting this comet.

Comet #2: A11bP7I (Soon-to-be Comet ATLAS)

This comet was discovered on September 27, and is so new that it doesn’t have a formal name yet – “A11bP7I” is a temporary designation. This comet is a rare kind of comet called a sun-grazer, which gets very close to the Sun and therefore can get very bright. Initial forecasts sound like this one could be even brighter than Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS, but we’ll have to wait and see. It will be at its best (whatever taht menas) around the end of october. More informations as it becomes available.

The Solar System

Mercury remains too low to see in the evening sky this month.

Venus is very low in the southwest in the evening sky this month, and remains very low throughout October. It is quite far from the sun, but the angle of the solar system is very close to the angle of Manitoba’s horizon in the fall, keeping the planet low. it is very bright, though, likely the first star you see in the evening if your southwestern horizon is clear.

Mars rises in the northeast before midnight, in the middle of the constellation Gemini the Twins. Mars is slowly approaching our planet and will be at its best this orbit in January 2025.

A simulated view of Saturn and its rings.

Jupiter Rises in the northeast about 10pm at the beginning of October, betweemn the horns of taurus the Bull. The largest planet stands high in the south at dawn, offering clear telescopic views. Its four largest moons are visible in binoculars as tiny “stars” in a line on either side of the planet; their positions change nightly as they orbit the giant planet.

Saturn is low in the southwest at sunset, and is visible all night. It rises only about 30 degrees up in the south at its best, though, so telescope views are still blurred by the Earth’s atmosphere. The rings are nearly edge-on, but visible in a telescope with more than about 30x magnification./

Sky Calendar for October 2024

Click on highlighted dates for a star chart showing the view!

Oct. 2 : New Moon

Oct. 5 (evening): The thin crescent Moon will be below Venus in the evening sky after sunset (likely invisible except with binoculars and very clear skies).

Oct. 6 (evening): The thin crescent Moon will be to the left of Venus in the evening sky after sunset.

Oct. 7 (evening): The thin crescent Moon will be just to the to the left of the bright star Antares in the evening sky after sunset. Venus stands farther to the right. The sky on October 7, 2024.

Oct. 9 (evening): Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS passes between Earth and Sun, passing just above the Sun from our point of view. The comet will likely be at its brightest today, but not visible because of its closeness to the Sun.

Oct. 10 (evening): First Quarter Moon. Also the beginning of likely period of visibility for Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS. See day-by-day coverage posts .

Oct. 13 (evening): Saturn will be the brightest “star”, far to the left of the waxing gibbous Moon tonight.

Oct. 14 (evening): Saturn will be the brightest “star” to the right of the waxing gibbous Moon tonight.

Also tonight, Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS passes another, much fainter, comet: Comet 13P/Olbers. Olbers is a periodic comet that has been visible in mid-sized telescopes for a while, and the two aren’t physically close4 to each other, but just in our line of sight from Earth.

Oct. 15 (evening): Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS passes near the globular cluster M5, a “faint fuzzy” visible in binoculars. Images of the comet on this night will probably also catch the globular cluster, which is a group of several hundred thousand stars which are among the oldest stars visible.

Oct. 17: Full Moon, the Harvest Moon.

Oct. 19 (all night): The waning gibbous Moon sits between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters tonight, with bright Jupiter nearby to the lower left.The sky on October 19, 2024.

Oct. 20 (all night): The waning gibbous Moon is above Jupiter tonight as the two rise in the northeast about 9 p.m. local time.

Oct. 23 (morning): The nearly last quarter Moon is near a trio of bright stars. From top to bottom they are Castor and Pollux, in the constellation Gemini, and the red planet Mars.

Oct. 24 (morning): A similar view to yesterday morning’s sky, but with the Moon having moved through the trio to sit on the lower left of the scene.

Oct. 24 : Last Quarter Moon.

Oct. 28: The new comet A11bP7I makes its closest approach to the Sun. More updates as they become available.

Oct. 31 (evening): Hallowe’en, a great night to have your telescopes or binoculars out to show trick-or-treaters the sky.

Scott Young

Scott Young

Planetarium Astronomer

Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

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Pawing for Prairie Plants

Posted on by Diana Bizecki Robson
Posted on: Wednesday September 25, 2024

Manitoba’s native prairies are endangered because most of them have been cultivated for annual crop production. As a result, some of the rarest species of plants in the province are found in the prairies. The Manitoba Museum helps to document where the rarest plants grow by conducting careful surveys of the prairies that remain. Some of the rare plants are tiny and can only be seen by pawing through the thick grasses. This summer, I was able to visit two areas in the southwest to examine the native vegetation there: Sioux Valley Dakota Nation and the Nature Conservancy of Manitoba’s Jackson Pipestone Prairie and Wetlands.

Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson on the grassy bank of a hill overlooking vast prairie.

Fig. 1. Dr. Robson conducted surveys along the Assiniboine River Valley at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

A low-growing shrub-like plant with yellow flowers.

Fig. 2. The rare Lacy Tansy-aster (Xanthisma spinulosa) has distinctive grey-green foliage with tiny spines on the leaf edges.

At Sioux Valley, I was able to tour several areas with intact prairie and wetlands with Kevin Tacan and Jennifer McIvor. During the field work, we found several rare plant “hotspots”, that contained multiple species of provincially rare plants. In total, 25 rare plant species were encountered, with one hotspot containing a whopping 12 species within a very small area. Although the plant species encountered are rare in Manitoba, they are more common in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and none of them were legally protected.

The Jackson Pipestone site is a new Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) preserve with both intact prairie and wetlands. Although the site was purchased to help protect the rare birds that nest there, including the Burrowing Owl, I discovered several rare plants growing on the prairie as well.

A low-growing plant with small, green waxy leaves, and clusters of small yellow-peach flowers.

Fig. 3. One of the rare plants found this year was Yellow Buckwheat (Eriogonum flavum) a species that grows on dry, upper valley slopes.

View over low rolling grassy prairie.

Fig. 4. Grassy bank and creek vegetation at the Jackson Pipestone Prairie and Wetlands preserve.

A cluster of small plants growing up individually, but close to each other, with yellow flowers.

The upper banks of the creek that runs through the site contained several of the same rare plants located at Sioux Valley, including Yellow Buckwheat and Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae). However, there were also two unique plants that were found at the preserve: Rocky Mountain Beeplant (Cleome serrulata) and Whorled Milkwort (Polygala verticillata). Both of these species are a bit unusual as they are among the few native annual plant species in the province. It is believed that rare annuals on the prairies were adapted to the disturbances created by wildfires, or the grazing and wallowing activities of Bison and other large herbivores.

Rocky Mountain Beeplant has beautiful spikes of pink flowers that are attractive to a wide variety of pollinators. It is quite a tall plant (hip level), and therefore, not easy to miss. In contrast, I almost missed seeing the nationally rare Whorled Milkwort due to its small stature. It is a short plant, about 10 cm tall, that was completely covered up by the tall grasses at the site. I discovered it only because I got down on my knees to search for some rare plants that form mats on the ground. Whorled Milkwort has tiny spikes of whitish-pink flowers, and narrow leaves arranged in whorls of four. It is a close relative of the more common perennial plant, Seneca Snakeroot (Polygala senega).

Fig. 5. Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) was found at both prairie sites visited in 2024.

A tall, spindly plant with fluffy purple flowers.

Fig. 6. A small population of the rare Rocky Mountain Beeplant (Cleome serrulata) was found at the Jackson Pipestone Prairie and Wetlands.

A small silvery-green plant growing low to the ground. The tips of three fingers are in frame in the bottom right corner.

Fig. 7. The nationally rare Whorled Milkwort (Polygala verticillata) is hard to find amongst the dense prairie grasses, due to its small size.

One of the goals of my research this summer was to provide the landowners at both of these sites with a better understanding of the plant diversity that is present, to aid in species conservation. It’s hard to protect species when you don’t even know they are there!

Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson

Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson

Curator of Botany

Dr. Bizecki Robson obtained a Master’s Degree in Plant Ecology at the University of Saskatchewan studying rare plants of the mixed grass prairies. After working as an environmental consultant and sessional lecturer…
Meet Dr. Bizecki Robson

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Truth & Reconciliation

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Friday September 13, 2024

By Tabitha Harper, Museum Advisor on Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, & Amelia Fay, Curator of Anthropology and HBC Museum Collections

 

As we approach the annual National Day for Truth & Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, folks maybe be curious about their role in Truth & Reconciliation. Many Indigenous leaders and community members have urged that truth needs to come before reconciliation, followed by action to create meaningful impact. Museums have a uniquely important role in changing past narratives and practices to move forward with ReconciliACTION.

Although museums carry a lot of colonial baggage, the Manitoba Museum staff (past and present) have been working hard to make the Museum a safe space to learn about history. In-person visitors to the Museum can choose from various programs and exhibits to engage with difficult histories, we also have resources available on our website and YouTube channel that you can view from home.

A child wearing an orange shirt places an orange sticky-note on a wall alongside dozens of other orange sticky-notes.

The Orange Shirt Day Reflection Wall encourages you to share your thoughts and make a commitment to reconciliation. © Manitoba Museum

Two individuals sit at desks in the Museum's Prairies Gallery Schoolhouse exhibit, engaging with digital material embedded in the top of the desk.

The digital kiosk in our Prairies Gallery Schoolhouse exhibit provides opportunities for learning and reflection about the truth of residential schools. © Manitoba Museum

Not sure where to begin? Below are a few topics that I think are a great starting place, no matter where you are in your reconciliation learning journey.

  • The colonial process in Canada started long before Confederation, so I encourage visitors to reconsider the history of the fur trade, including the early beginnings of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Learn more about the Hudson’s Bay Company Royal Charter in this video on our YouTube channel:

 

  • Take time to learn more about Residential Schools in Manitoba, visit the schoolhouse exhibit in the Prairies Gallery and use the digital kiosks embedded in the desks. You can also click here to see the same information on our website.

 

  • We are all vulnerable and learning when it comes to truth and reconciliation, but by understanding how we are going to engage, learn, and grow with Indigenous peoples, take a look at the ‘Indigenous Connections’ section in the Truth & Reconciliation page on our website, here.
Three individuals wearing Powwow regalia stand smiling with a Museum staff member wearing an orange t-shirt and a ribbon skirt.

During Orange Shirt Days, daily powwow demonstrations by Beautiful Cloud Company provides the opportunity to learn about the resilience of Indigenous culture. © Manitoba Museum

For many non-Indigenous readers, learning more about these topics might bring up a lot of feelings and make you uncomfortable, and that’s okay. The important thing is to not dismiss information that challenges what you knew about Canadian history, but instead sit with the discomfort and think about why you might feel this way. Moving forward, I recommend looking at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s website for ‘ReconciliACTION Plans’ (nctr.ca/reconciliaction-plans) to create your own action plan.

A word graphic. On a teal circle to the right is an orange t-shirt with the words “Every Child Matters” on the front accompanied by a floral motif. Text to the left of it reads, “Orange Shirt Days @ the Manitoba Museum / Every Child Matters / Sep 28 – 30 / 10 am – 4 pm / Complimentary admission. No ticket required.”

Orange Shirt Days @ the Manitoba Museum

Join us for a time of learning, reflection, and response.

Three days of free admission to all areas September 28 – 30. No tickets required.

Tabitha Harper

Tabitha Harper

Museum Advisor on Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation

Tabitha Harper began her role of Museum Advisor for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation in June 2024. In her role, Harper is instrumental in supporting and strengthening new and existing community relationships…
Meet Tabitha Harper
Dr. Amelia Fay

Dr. Amelia Fay

Curator of Anthropology & the HBC Museum Collection

Amelia Fay is Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba (2004), an MA in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Amelia Fay

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The Passing of Grand Chief Cathy Merrick

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Monday September 9, 2024

We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, and offer our sincerest condolences to her husband, children, grandchildren, her home community of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, and all her relations. Grand Chief Merrick offered wise counsel, immense knowledge, and warm kindness to everyone who had the honour of being in her presence. Grand Chief Merrick was a courageous warrior, a truth teller, and an advocate who never wavered in her calls for justice for Indigenous peoples.

When she was first elected in 2022, Grand Chief Merrick met with us at the Manitoba Museum to ensure we understood how to be true allies to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. She generously offered her guidance and support to the changes we would make and returned to sit in circle with us many times as we undertook the work of fulfilling our promises.

“Grand Chief Merrick was direct in her words about where the Museum needed to do better, she was clear about our unique responsibilities, and thoughtful in her expectations. She was also hopeful. When we last saw each other, she left me knowing the monumental tasks that were ahead of us, and that she believed we would do the work needed, that she had faith in us. To me that is who Grand Chief Merrick was, an incredible leader who demanded the world be better while dedicating every moment of her own life to making it so.” – Dorota Blumczyńska, CEO

The Manitoba Museum Board of Governors and staff grieve the loss of Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, our province’s greatest Matriarch, our most resolute Warrior, and beloved Kukum to generations.

The Seasonal Round of Archaeology

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Friday August 9, 2024

By David Finch, Curator of Archaeology

 

I lived in Yellowknife for ten years where the seasons are definitely pronounced. Downtown Yellowknife wraps around a small lake and I used to shop at stores on the other side. Shopping in winter was easier because I didn’t have to go around the lake – I could just walk across the ice. For the rest of the year, I faced a longer trek to reach my destination.

A miniature museum diorama showing a community during three different season of the year, and demonstrating the changes in activities and living.

There is a concept in science called the seasonal round, which is basically how a group lives at different times of the year. Note that I did not say “in all four seasons” because that’s a Western idea of time – one traditional Cree view of the year has six seasons.

Regardless, humans and animals follow seasonal cycles that we see reflected in archaeological sites. Summer fish camps are different from fall hunting sites, and both are different from winter trapping cabins.

 

Image: A museum diorama of seasonal Anishnaabe campsites demonstrates the concept of a seasonal round. ©Manitoba Museum

Archaeologists also follow a seasonal round – it’s hard to dig in frozen ground or to survey when there is snow. In Manitoba, the season for fieldwork is often from May to October, with the winter months spent writing reports.

Shoreline of alake beginning to melt in spring time. Further from the shore there is ice and snow on the surface of the lake, and near the shoreline, which is still covered in snow, pools of water are beginning to show through the ice.

Spring break-up creates challenges for getting around, so it’s the perfect time for reports and a pot of tea. ©David Finch/Manitoba Museum

An individual on a snow mobile from behind, as they travel down a snow covered road lined with evergreens.

Accessing the country near Hudson’s Bay is a lot easier with snow machines. ©David Finch/Manitoba Museum

This summertime focus affects our mobility: recorded sites tend to be near highways and shorelines because most fieldwork is done during summer from trucks and boats. Ancient access was different, and winter sites might be in what we now write off as bogs.

One way around these problems is to think broadly about how, where, and when we can explore the land: oral history and traditional land use can help predict where sites may be (and where we should dig); underwater archaeology and remote sensing can reveal hidden sites; and making community connections and getting to know the land in all seasons can also point us in the right direction.

Looking over the heads of two people on a boat travelling over a body of water towards a treed bank.

Lakes and rivers are like highways, both in ancient times and for archaeologists. ©David Finch/Manitoba Museum

Two individuals seated on the edge of a river bank among trees with fall foliage. Both individuals are wearing high-vis vests.

Doing community-based fieldwork in Labrador (working in fall means fewer bugs. ©David Finch/Manitoba Museum

Did you know that roughly 2.5 million (86%) of the Museum’s 2.9 million artifacts are part of the Archaeology collection? Containing objects dating from the last ice age through thousands of years of Indigenous history and the arrival and settlement of Europeans in Manitoba, the collection represents over 12,000 years of Manitoba’s history. Visit today to explore the Archaeology collection and all the stories it has to tell.

Dave Finch

Dave Finch

Curator of Archaeology

Dave is an archaeologist and ethnohistorian who works with communities in the Canadian Subarctic. He was born in Winnipeg and was raised in northern Manitoba and northwest Ontario. He has also worked in environmental assessment and forensics, and in areas from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. He received a Masters in Environmental Studies from Lakehead University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Winnipeg.
Meet Dave Finch

The Sky for August 2024

Posted on by Scott Young

August brings the return of some planets to the evening sky, the most famous meteor shower of the year, and longer nights than we’ve seen for a couple of months. The Milky Way is on full display, offering an unforgettable view from a dark, moonless sky. Unfortunately all of these benefits will likely be offset by smoke in the air from forest fires across Canada, which has become a fixture of summertime observing for the last several years.

The Perseid Meteor Shower

The annual Perseid meteor shower is the most famous meteor shower of the year, although it is not the best one of the year. Its occurrence in August during summer vacation likely makes it more accessible than the much better Geminids, which occur in mid-December. For a complete rundown on the Perseid meteor shower, check out this blog post.

2024 is a good year for the Perseids, since the peak time occurs with the Moon out of the sky. The thing about meteor showers is, they peak in the few hours before dawn for any given location. So to see the Perseids at their best, you want to observe from about 1:30 a.m. to dawn. There will be almost no meteors before midnight – you might see one or two, and the ones you do see will likely be bright ones, but it won’t be much of a “shower” unless you stay up all night.

To observe the Perseids, get away from city lights. Light pollution will wash out the fainter meteors, and there are a lot more faint meteors than bright ones. Bring a reclining lawn chair and blanket to ward off the early-morning chill, and set up facing the darkest part of the sky (or straight up, if you’re in a nice dark spot). Turn off your electronic devices and your car’s lights – any stray light will make it hard to see the meteors for you and anyone near you. The meteors only last a second or two, so you need to watch the sky continuously – literally, don’t blink or you’ll miss it.

You can also try and take pictures of meteors – set up your camera on a tripod and take a bunch of time exposures of the sky. If you’re lucky, a meteor will happen while you’re taking a picture.

We’d love to show your Perseid pics on Dome@Home, our online astronomy show. Send them to space@manitobamuseum.ca and then tune in to our August 28th show at 7 p.m. Central on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

The Solar System

Finally, some planets are visible in the evening sky! Barely…

Mercury is still on the evening side of the sky, but in August it sets just after the Sun and so isn’t visible for Canadian viewers. Folks farther south still have have a chance to catch it early in the month, low in the west just after sunset.

Venus has appeared in the evening sky, although like Mercury it is still low in the sky; only its great brightness allows it to be spotted very low soon after sunset. The thin crescent moon is nearby on August 5th.

Mars rises about 2 a.m. local time in the northeast, inconspicuous compared to nearby Jupiter and both the Pleaides and Hyades star clusters. Mars and Jupiter pass less than half a degree apart on the morning of August 14th; see the Sky Calendar entry below for details.

A simulated view of Saturn and its rings.

Jupiter is the brightest “star” in the eastern sky after midnight, outshining all the visible stars as it cruises through the stars of Taurus. The waning crescent Moon is nearby on the morning of August 27.

Saturn rises about 11 p.m. local time early in the month, and moves into the south by dawn. The ringed planet reaches opposition on September 8, so it’s coming into its best viewing position for the year. The rings are only tilted about 4 degrees to our line of sight, making them appear very thin from our point of view. The nearly-full Moon is to Saturn’s left on the evening of the 21st.

Sky Calendar for August 2024

Click on highlighted dates for a star chart showing the view!

Aug 4: New Moon

Aug 11 – Aug 12 (morning sky): Best viewing for the annual Perseids meteor shower; see featured article above. Decent rates should occur the morning before and after as well.

Aug 12 (evening sky): First Quarter Moon

Aug 14 (morning sky): Jupiter and Mars are close together in the morning sky, separated by less than the size of the Full Moon. They’re still pretty close the morning before and after this date.

Aug 19: Full Moon

Aug 20-21 (after midnight into morning sky): The waxing gibbous Moon is to the left of and slightly above Saturn. The two are only about 3 degrees (6 Full Moon diameters) apart, fitting easily into the same binocular field-of-view.

Aug 26: Last Quarter Moon

Aug 27 (morning sky): The waning crescent Moon is above Jupiter, rising together in the morning sky about 1 a.m. local time in the morning sky. Mars is below and to the left, forming a not-quite-right triangle. The red supergiant star Aldebaran is to Jupiter’s right along with the Hyades star cluster, with the Pleaides above them all. The morning rising of these star clusters remind us that winter is coming.

Aug 28 (morning sky): The Moon, Mars, and Jupiter form a very squashed triangle pointing downwards in the eastern sky before dawn.

Aug: 29 (morning sky): By this morning the Moon has moved farther on, still forming a rough line with Mars and Jupiter in the early morning sky.

Scott Young

Scott Young

Planetarium Astronomer

Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Manitoba Stories: In the Sky

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A Criddle Riddle

Posted on by Dave Finch
Posted on: Tuesday July 30, 2024

Sometimes objects come in to the Archaeology lab that aren’t really artifacts, but are still interesting in their own right. This happened this past spring when volunteers in the Archaeology department came across some curious objects while processing artifacts. I had asked them to go through a donation made by the Criddle family, and among the arrowheads and scrapers were two weird little blobs that none of us could figure out. Until recently, that is.

The Criddle family came to Manitoba in 1882, and they had a property near Wawanesa that was like a little piece of England on the Prairies. They donated a large collection to the Museum that included everything from photographs to furnishings. (The Museum has covered their collection several times in our social media.) It turns out that the donation included some archaeological artifacts that were collected almost incidentally. Like a lot of farming families, the Criddles picked up artifacts and other objects that they came across in their fields, and these eventually made their way to the Archaeology lab.

Volunteering at the Archaeology Lab

The students volunteering in my lab are just learning about Manitoba archaeology. They’re fast learners, and they are getting a sense of how to sort cigar boxes full of bric-a-brac into organized piles of ancient tools, bone and shell, and so forth. In this collection they found two irregular cylinders of what looked like stony or metallic material. These were non-magnetic, so at first we thought they might be lead scrap or maybe furnace slag. That didn’t explain their irregular-but-oddly-identical appearances. They looked like they might fit together, but fit together into what?

Two segments of fossils, side by side, in front of a scale bar where each square is 1 cm

Two mysterious objects found in the Criddle collection.

Two segments of fossils, side by side, in front of a scale bar where each square is 1 cm.

The objects almost look like they had little legs…

Let’s jump ahead in time a bit. A few weeks ago, Museum staff were working with our new pXRF instrument. That bit of alphabet soup stands for portable X-ray fluorescence, which is a non-destructive technique to determine which elements are in an object. The instrument emits X-rays which contact the target object and then create secondary x-rays, the frequencies of which can be matched to the elements present. The Museum is using our pXRF instrument for research in all of our departments and also to analyze objects under conservation. (We can also do analysis for other researchers for a fee.)

The results came back: a lot of iron, a bit of sulfur… and no lead. We scratched our heads and then it dawned on us that looked a lot like pyrite. Joe Moysiuk, our Curator of Geology and Palaeontology, suggested that our blobs could be ancient shells that had been fossilized and replaced with pyrite. We took a closer look and the two pieces articulated, just like part of a shell. Joe took another look and suggested they might be from Baculites, a type of straight-shelled ammonite that went extinct around the same time as did the dinosaurs. Imagine a squid-like critter with a long, straight, segmented shell behind it.

A fossil segment of an ancient cephalopod, in front of a scale bar where every square is 1 cm wide.

Stories Written in Stone

Baculites segments (particularly the larger ones) are sometimes called “buffalo stones.” These figure in the stories of Indigenous peoples of the Plains, such as the Blackfoot who call them iniskim. The fossil segments have articulation points that look like heads and legs, and resemble little buffalo. As a result, they have a spiritual connection to the larger animals and were used to call them. I am unsure if something similar existed on the Manitoba plains but I suspect that it did. If anyone is willing to share old stories, please drop me a line.

I can’t say if these little fossils were collected or used by Indigenous people in southwestern Manitoba. They definitely stood out as something unusual and were picked up by the Criddles. For me, these are also ecofacts – objects found at archaeological sites that are not made by humans but still tell you things about the landscape. They opened my eyes to questions of palaeontology and ethnography that I otherwise might not have looked into.

Every field, and every object in that field, can tell a story.

A segment of a Baculites fossil from the Cretaceous era, collected near Brandon and now in the Museum’s Palaeolontology collection.

Dave Finch

Dave Finch

Curator of Archaeology

Dave is an archaeologist and ethnohistorian who works with communities in the Canadian Subarctic. He was born in Winnipeg and was raised in northern Manitoba and northwest Ontario. He has also worked in environmental assessment and forensics, and in areas from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. He received a Masters in Environmental Studies from Lakehead University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Winnipeg.
Meet Dave Finch

Museum Stories: Archaeology

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Chinese-Canadian History at the Manitoba Museum

Posted on by Roland Sawatzky
Posted on: Tuesday July 30, 2024

The Museum has a rich collection of Chinese-Canadian artifacts that have been donated over many decades.

Manitoba Chinese Historical Society Collection

One of the largest donations, comprising 51 artifacts, came in 2005 from the Manitoba Chinese Historical Society (1987-2005). It includes everything from hats and shoes to lanterns, tea canisters, and even an acupuncture kit. Their archival collection was donated to the Archives of Manitoba.

Since then, the Museum’s collection has continued to grow, showcasing the complexity and variety of Chinese- Canadian history and experience in Manitoba.

The Ong Collection

This collection, donated in 2022-2023, spans about 80 years and three generations. Chronologically it begins with the story of Yee Chung Yen, who came to Canada in 1917. His story was outlined in my previous blog, The Story of Yee Chung Yen.

Mr. Don Wing Ong came to Canada after fleeing Communist China for Hong Kong in 1949, and he befriended Yee Chung Yen in Portage la Prairie. Don’s wife Anne (Yu Kwan Ying) and son Bill immigrated some years later. Bill Ong attended Grant Park High School, and went on to get his medical degree from the University of Manitoba. He was an anesthesiologist, and was married to Dr. Virginia Fraser. For our May “First Friday” event, we premiered video interviews with Dr. Fraser and son Thomas Rempel-Ong, where they talked about the artifacts and family history.

Yee Chung Yen outside the Subway Café in 1923, where he worked. The Subway Café was managed by Too Yee, and located at 252 Osborne St., Winnipeg (aka Confusion Corner). H9-39-984
Yu Kwan Ying (later Anne Ong) received her certificate from the Jenne Dress Cutting Girls’ School in Hong Kong in 1962. With these skills, she was able to supplement her family’s income when she moved to Winnipeg, working part-time from home as a seamstress. H9-40-81
Don Ong used this calligraphy brush to create the Chinese wedding announcement for his son Bill’s marriage to Dr. Virginia Fraser. The Chinese announcement was sent to Don and Anne’s Chinese relatives. H9-39-243
Anne Ong made this satin-weave silk Chinese wedding dress for her daughter-in-law Dr. Virginia Fraser. Anne had brought the dress material with her from Hong Kong in 1964, when she and son Bill joined Don in Winnipeg. Virginia wore the dress for the Chinese wedding ceremony, and later wore it to annual holiday parties. H9-39-130

Chinese Alcove Bed

We are also conducting research on a Chinese “alcove bed,” which was purchased in the 1950s by a Canadian UN delegate who worked in China. She eventually brought it back to Winnipeg. A volunteer researcher is providing translation and interpretation. This stunning bed, which includes an entrance room (alcove), dates to the 19th century. It is a wonderful entry point to talk about Chinese traditions and symbols, and helps us bring the world to Manitobans. Click here to see a recent video about this artifact.

The exterior of Chinese alcove bed includes gold painted relief carvings of dramatic scenes and wooden screen windows with lifting closures. H4-2-571
The interior of a Chinese alcove bed. The bed is entirely enclosed with a wooden ceiling, and features black and gold painted relief carvings of birds and flowers on panels around the interior.
The interior of the Chinese alcove bed is entirely enclosed with a wooden ceiling, and features beautiful black and gold painted relief carvings of birds and flowers. H4-2-571

Chinese Laundries in Winnipeg

We have also updated the story of Chinese laundries in our 1920 Winnipeg Cityscape gallery, which now features the Sing Wo laundry, formerly located on Euclid Ave. The exhibit delves into the true history of the laundry trade and the incredible workload this entailed. To quote King Ho, the late Winnipeg laundry owner, “Words cannot adequately express how painful the work is.”

 

Little Restaurants on the Prairies

The Museum is currently in early production of a new Prairie Perspectives video with a rural Manitoban Chinese restaurant. From the perspective of the owner, we will learn more about this widespread Prairie institution and the role it plays in local communities. The video will be available for viewing in our Prairies Gallery, and released on our YouTube channel.

And of course there is so much more to the complexity of Chinese-Canadian history, from the traditions of the 19th Century, to the early immigration to the Canadian West, the disgraceful Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Immigration Act, and the consequences of the Chinese Communist Revolution of the 1940s, including increased immigration to Canada. All of these historical events are, though vast in scope, linked to the individual lives of people who have enriched the province.

Dr. Roland Sawatzky

Dr. Roland Sawatzky

Curator of History

Roland Sawatzky joined The Manitoba Museum in 2011. He received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Winnipeg, M.A. in Anthropology from the University of South Carolina, and Ph.D. in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Roland Sawatzky

Museum Stories: History

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