Chinese-Canadian History at the Manitoba Museum

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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Meteor Showers in Summer (2024 Edition)

Posted on by Scott Young

Meteors

A meteor (a.k.a. falling star, shooting star) looks like a bright streak across the starry sky that lasts for a second or two before fading away. Most people believe they are rare enough that you should make a wish when you see one, but they are surprisingly common if you watch the sky a lot. On any given night with no Moon, if you get away from city lights and watch the sky continuously, you’ll see up to a half-dozen meteors per hour. Any light sources – the Moon, city lights, you phone – will reduce that number to near zero.

Each meteor you see is actually a tiny piece of dust about the size of a grain of sand which is burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Space isn’t empty, you see – it’s dusty, with all the dust leftover from the big construction job that was the formation of the solar system. As the Earth orbit the Sun, it plows through the dust at over 100,000 kilometers per hour. It’s a one-sided collision, and the poor speck of dust disintegrates in a flash of light that we can see from the ground as a meteor.

A diagram of the solar system showing the Perseid meteor stream.

Meteor Showers

So far, so good – you can see these little specks of dust as they vaporize, and they pretty much occur randomly all the time, we just don’t usually notice. But, it turns out that space isn’t evenly dusty. There are spots, just like in your house, that have more dust than others. In my house, these dust bunnies congregate under the furniture and anyplace the air vents push them; in the solar system these dust bunnies remain where they were shed, in the orbital paths of comets. The solar system is crisscrossed by trails of dust left behind by various comets (and a few asteroids). If the Earth’s orbit intersects one of those trails, we will fly through an interplanetary dust bunny every year around the same time. That’s a meteor shower.

The name “meteor shower” makes you think you can see a lot more meteors than on other nights. But here’s the thing: “a lot” can mean different things. Forty times the normal rate sounds like a lot, until you remember it’s forty times about one meteor per hour. There are over a hundred meteor showers catalogued, but there are only a couple of meteor showers a year that produce more than forty meteors an hour. Even during an official meteor “shower”, you can probably only expect to see a half-dozen meteors per hour, and that’s under perfect skies with your eyes watching the sky 100% of the time.

The Perseids for 2024

So, most meteor showers don’t produce many meteors; that’s the bad news. The good news is, the Perseids in August is one of them, which makes them probably the most famous meteor shower of all. And, in 2024 the Moon will be out of the sky during the crucial morning hours. If you can get away from city lights under a clear, dark sky, you might see up to 60 meteors an hour – one a minute – in the early morning hours of August 12.

That’s pretty specific timing, but luckily the Perseids “dust bunny” is more than one day wide. The Earth actually enters the outer edge of it in late July, and each morning the rates will increase until the peak on the 11th-12th. So, we have several chances to see a decent Perseids display this year.

The key point to remember is that all meteor showers are best between about 1:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time. Pre-midnight observing might be 1/10 or less of the morning rates. Really, you have to stay up all night to see this.

To get the best view, get as far away from city lights as practical, and set up a reclining lawn chair or blanket so you can lean back and see as much of the sky as possible. Keep all the lights around you off, especially if you are in a park of other spot with other observers. One peek at your phone will shut off the natural night vision of your eyes for up to ten minutes, so you really need to avoid looking at any lights. (If you need to keep your car running, cover the headlights with a blanket or something so you don’t blast the whole park with your lights!) If you have any lights nearby, put them behind you out of your view, and just watch the sky. You don’t need a telescope or binoculars – in fact, those instruments restrict your field of view so much that you probably won’t see any meteors through them at all. The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, and they only last a second or two – literally, don’t blink or you can miss them.

Meteors and Cameras

You can take pictures of meteors, but it involves a little luck, and some understanding of your camera. If you have a DSLR or mirrorless camera, you can put it on a tripod and set your exposure manually for something like 5 or 10 seconds – you’ll get a lot of pictures of stars, but if you’re lucky a meteor will happen while you’re shooting, and it will show up in one picture.

If you’re using your phone camera, you might need to download a better camera app than the one your phone came with – check out the app store for one that is designed for night or sky photography. The same tactic applies – take lots of pictures, and hope you catch one. Make sure the light from your camera doesn’t interfere with your vision, though – just take the pictures now, and look at them later.

One thing to watch for: satellites. There are piles of satellites that will show up in your images as streaks of light. You can tell satellites by the trail being the same brightness and thickness throughout; meteors tend to start faint and narrow, get brighter and wider, and then trail out again.

Other Summer Meteor Showers

While technically there are other meteor showers in July and August, in practice these are not noticeable to the average observer and are scientific designations only. They’re named after the constellation or star that the meteors appear to radiate from, but most of them produce a meteor every couple of hours or so – not even a spritzing, let alone a shower. Even the bigger South Delta Aquariid meteor shower, which peaks in late July, only produces about 5 meteors an hour at best. If you are interested in these minor meteor showers, there is backyard science that can be done by tracking them with a camera, though; visit the International Meteor Organization for some great information on getting deeper into the science of meteor observing.

tl;dr: The morning of August 12th between 1:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. you will probably see quite a few meteors. The morning before and after, you’ll still see a good number. The rest of the summer, you’ll hardly see any, but you might see one anytime you are looking at the stars.

It’s Science! Let’s make a rocket

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Tuesday July 23, 2024

Do you know the three things that are needed to make a rocket? In this video, join Science Communicator Rhianna in the Explore Science Zone to learn about rockets, and to make one of our own!

Catch Forward to the Moon in the Planetarium this summer!

Plan your visit today

Meet the Criddle Family!

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Thursday July 18, 2024

Have you ever heard of the Criddles of Manitoba? They immigrated to Canada in 1882, but they weren’t your typical farming family. Learn more about Percy Criddle and his family in this video with Collections Technician of Human History, Cortney Pachet.

Foraging for Wild Fruits

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Tuesday July 16, 2024

Manitoba has many wild plants that produce edible fruits. These can make for a nutritious snack while out on a walk or hike, and can also be a great addition to your garden – keeping that tasty fruit nearby! In this video, learn about some of the berries, cherries, and “faux” berries of Manitoba with Curator of Botany Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson.

Note: Before consuming any wild fruit, remember to consult with a field guide, to ensure you can correctly identify both edible and dangerous fruits.

Prairies Before the Plow

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Friday July 12, 2024

In the 1800s the prairies of Manitoba had experienced limited settlement and looked vastly different to what we see today. Join Tashina Houle-Schlup in the Prairies Gallery for a look back at what those grasslands would have looked like.

Pick up your own copy of this map at the Museum Shop!

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Foraging for Wild Fruits

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Friday July 12, 2024

By Diana Bizecki Robson, Curator of Botany at the Manitoba Museum

 

There are many plant species with edible fruit in Manitoba. Wild fruits make a nutritious snack when you are out hiking but you may also want to consider growing of these shrubs in your yard to ensure easy access to their delicious fruit.

Berries

Berries are fleshy fruits with several seeds inside them. The most popular ones to eat are Saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia) and blueberries (Vaccinium spp.). Saskatoons are tall shrubs typically found in the prairies and parklands, while blueberries are low shrubs common in the boreal forest.

A cluster of small blue-purple berries growing among green leaves on a bush.

Saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia) are often found along river valleys in southern Manitoba. © Manitoba Museum

A low growing plant with small white flowers growing on it.

When in flower, Velvet-leaved Blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides) attracts many insect pollinators, including bees. © Manitoba Museum

Cherries

Fruits that we commonly call “cherries” or “plums” are actually drupes, a fleshy fruit with a hard, inedible pit inside. Manitoba has five species of wild cherries including Wild (Prunus americana) and Canada Plum (P. nigra), Chokecherry (P. virginiana), Pin Cherry (P. pensylvanica) and Sand Cherry (P. pumila). Wild plums and cherries can be pitted and dried or turned into jam, juice, or jelly.

Clusters of dark blue chokecherries growing on a branch.

Chokecherries (Prunus virginiana) are common, tall shrubs with edible, dark purple fruits. © Manitoba Museum

Small red Pin cherries growing along a leaved branch.

Pin cherries (Prunus pensylvanica) are tall shrubs with bright red berries occurring in clusters. © Manitoba Museum

A red raspberry growing among green leaves.

Faux Berries

Some fruits are called “berries” but are structurally different from real berries. The fleshy part of wild strawberries (Fragaria spp.) is actually a fleshy petal; what we call “seeds” are the fruits. In raspberries (Rubus idaeus) and dewberries (R. pubescens) the fruit is a whole bunch of tiny fruits clustered together.

 

Image: Dewberry (Rubus pubescens) produces a raspberry-like fruit that is highly nutritious. © Manitoba Museum

A berry consisting of red drupes growing low to the ground among green leaves.

Fatal Fruits

Edible fruits typically grow on shrubs, and are red, bluish, or purple in color. If the fruits are white, or if the plant is a vine or herb, it should not be eaten. The plant Baneberry (Actaea rubra) produces poisonous berries that can be fatal if eaten.

 

Image: Baneberry (Actaea rubra) is a forest herb that has deathly poisonous red or white berries. Do not consume this species’ fruit! CC-BY-SA-2.0

Before consuming any wild fruit, remember to consult with a field guide, to ensure you can correctly identify both edible and dangerous fruits.

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

Winnipeg 150: Experiences of Immigration

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Tuesday July 9, 2024

Adapting to life in a new city or country can come with many challenges and successes. This video with Dr. Roland Sawatzky in the Winnipeg Gallery looks at how the experiences of immigrants to Winnipeg in the last 20 years or so compare to the experiences of immigrants 100-150 years ago.

This series celebrating Winnipeg’s 150th anniversary is ongoing throughout 2024, so keep an eye out for more #Wpg150 videos!

Plan your visit to the Winnipeg Gallery today

Manitoba Museum welcomes Museum Advisor on Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation

Posted on by Rebecca Watson
Posted on: Monday July 8, 2024

Treaty No. 1 Territory – Winnipeg, Manitoba: July 8, 2024 – The Manitoba Museum is pleased to welcome Tabitha Harper in the role of Museum Advisor on Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation (M.A.I.R.R.).  In this new role, Harper will be instrumental in supporting and strengthening new and existing community relationships, developing a framework to guide the Museum’s implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and will meaningfully contribute to advancing Indigenous reconciliation efforts with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.

Harper was raised on Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation, located on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg, and attended high school in Winnipeg. She graduated with a diploma from Red River College Polytech’s Social Innovation and Community Development Program, with a major in Indigenous Social Entrepreneurship. Harper also draws on an informal education through lived experiences, such as ceremony and being an active helper in her community. Harper notes these experiences have helped her to remain humble and prepared to be ready and willing to support those in need.

Harper has held roles as Child Development Worker and Assistant Case Manager for Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation Jordan’s Principle and was the first Indigenous Cultural Program Instructor for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy (APC). Although her role at APC allowed Harper to reconnect and embrace her culture confidently, it also served as an often-painful reminder of her ancestors who were not able to legally practice their cultures and traditions.

“Through my schooling, I studied the lack of Indigenous representation and perspective within institutions and organizations in Manitoba, specifically about the interconnections between microaggressions, high turnover rate, and hesitancy on both sides for reconciliation. My passion is for overall wellness of Indigenous peoples so that they may thrive, heal, and strive towards self-determination and self-governance. Managing difficult conversations that support vulnerability and respect is an environment needed when discussing reconciliation; I feel my new role at the Manitoba Museum supports Indigenous inclusion, perspective, and reconciliation in a good way.” – Tabitha Harper, Museum Advisor on Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.

In 2022, the Manitoba Museum introduced a 5-year Strategic Plan intended to guide the Museum’s way forward to becoming a more impactful and transformative institution. Highlighted in this plan was the necessity to acknowledge the role the Museum played in colonization, and to demonstrate its commitment to advance decolonization, reconciliation, and repatriation in all facets of the Museum’s work.  This new role was in part created to ensure the Museum’s decisions and actions were properly informed, and to maintain respectful and collaborative relationships with Indigenous communities.

“I want to be a bridge not only for Indigenous people, but also non-Indigenous people, to provide support and engagement opportunities for transparent communications. I believe that my work in this position will help Indigenous peoples feel more welcome to attend, connect, and interact in Museum spaces, and I’m looking forward to developing relationships and connecting with Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples – because I feel the most rich and fruitful connections happen through meaningful and respectful relationships” – Tabitha Harper.

The Canadian Museums Association’s ‘Moved to Action: Activating UNDRIP in Canadian Museums’ Report is a direct response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #67. The Manitoba Museum uses this vital resource as a guide to determine their compliance with UNDRIP and identify what work is still needed. With Harper’s guidance, the knowledge and support of the Indigenous Advisory Circle to the Manitoba Museum, and the expertise of museum colleagues from coast to coast to coast, the Manitoba Museum will develop an implementation framework to ensure museum policies and practices uphold the Articles of UNDRIP related to museums and heritage institutions.

“While Tabitha brings invaluable knowledge and wisdom to this role, the Museum as a whole carries the responsibility to repair relationships with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. As the Museum Advisor on Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, Tabitha will work together with colleagues across our institution to dismantle existing systems which fail to uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, and control and authority over their own heritage, tangible and intangible.” – Dorota Blumczynska, CEO of the Manitoba Museum.

The Manitoba Museum, as a steward of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis artifacts, has a profound responsibility to partner with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities in sharing their stories, stories that are at the heart of Manitoba’s history. In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, cultural revitalization, and knowledge and language reclamation, the Manitoba Museum recognizes its larger commitment and responsibility to honour the unique relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Museum. This conscious recognition endeavors to support the practice and revitalization of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis cultural traditions—past, present, and future.

-30-

 

Media Contact: 

Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
Manitoba Museum
BHayberg@ManitobaMusuem.ca

The Sky for July 2024

Posted on by Scott Young

The Visible Planets

For planets, early morning is the time to observe. Although Saturn rises shortly after midnight, it stays low until the early morning hours. For unaided eye viewing you can catch it anytime after midnight, but telescope viewers should wait until it rises out of the thick murky (and probably smoky) air near the horizon for the clearest views.

Mercury moves into the evening sky this month, but the geometry keeps it very low to the horizon. It will be very difficult to catch even with binoculars, probably lost in the bright twilight after sunset. The best time to try for it is on the evening of July 7, when the thin crescent Moon will act as a pointer (see Sky Calendar below).

Venus reaches perihelion, the closest point to the Sun in its orbit, on July 10, but the same geometry keeps it very low in the west after sunset. What is the first day you can spot it with the unaided eye?

Earth reaches aphelion, the farthest point to the Sun in its orbit, on July 5. The slight change in the Earth-Sun distance doesn’t cause the seasons, but it does influence how long they are – this is why northern hemisphere summer weather (which occurs in July and August) is less pronounced than southern hemisphere summer weather (which occurs in January, when the Earth is closest to the Sun).

Mars spends the month in the morning sky, edging closer to the famous Pleiades star cluster and the planet Jupiter. It rises about 2:30 a.m. local time at the beginning of July and by 1:30 a.m. local time by month’s end. Still distant, it appears too small in a telescope for very good views.

Jupiter rises about 3:30 a.m. in the east-southeast, the brightest object in this part of the sky and just above the V-shaped star cluster that marks the face of Taurus the Bull. By month’s end it rises before 2 a.m. and forms a pretty triangle with Mars and the bright star Aldebaran.

Saturn is getting high enough this month for decent telescopic views, but you’ll have to get up early. The ringed planet rises shortly after midnight in early July and by 10:30 p.m. at the end of the month, but it will be at its best telescopic view when at its highest, in the early morning sky a couple of hours before dawn. Saturn’s 29.5-year orbit around the Sun gives us a differing angle to views the amazing rings of Saturn, and this year we see them almost edge-on. While this makes it less impressive than other years, they are still an amazing sight in any telescope. This geometry also opens up a series of events for Saturn’s 146 moons, several of which will transit across the planet’s disk or cast their shadow onto the cloud-tops.

The Outer Planets

All of these objects require binoculars or a telescope to spot. Due to their distance, they appear as tiny spots or star-like points, and will require a good star atlas or app to positively identify them. Try Stellarium’s web version or the free Stellarium program for PC.

Uranus is near Mars in the morning sky, but you’ll need binoculars to see it as a tiny faint “star” among a sea of other stars. Your best chance will be in mid-July, when the two planets pass within a degree of each other – that’s about twice the apparent size of the Moon int he sky. See the Sky Calendar entry for July 15th for details.
Neptune is near Saturn in our sky, but you’ll need large binoculars or a telescope plus a good star chart or app to track it down.
Dwarf planet Pluto reaches opposition on July 23, whicvh usually means a planet is at its brightest and most visible. That’s true in this case, however for Pluto, “best” is relative. It’s so small and distant that you’ll need a good-sized telescope to be able to identify it.
Star chart showing the positions of Comet Olbers in July 2024.

Comets

In July there is one comet within the range of binoculars. Comet 13P/Olbers was last visible from Earth in 1956, and takes 69 years to orbit the Sun. On this pass through the inner solar system (called the comet’s “apparition”), Comet Olbers passed closest to the Sun on June 30th and is now slowly swinging back into the depths of space. It is visible in July in the evening sky low in the northwest after darkness falls, travelling slowly through the little-known constellations of Lynx and Leo Minor (down below the feet of Ursa major the Great Bear).

Comet Olbers is probably visible in binoculars only from a dark sky as a faint fuzzy spot without a tail. Recent images of the comet show a detailed blue ion tail and a wide diffuse dust tail, but these will only be visible in long-exposure telescope images. Still, spotting one of these celestial interlopers on their uncommon passes through the solar system reminds us of how many small bodies in the solar system are out there, just below the limit of our visibility.

For a printer-friendly version of the star chart click here.

Sky Calendar for July 2024

3 Jul 2024 (morning sky): The crescent Moon sits to the upper left of Jupiter in the east-north-east, both fitting comfortably into a binocular field of view. The two form the base of a triangle with the Pleaides at its apex. Mars is farther east and higher.

5 Jul 2024: New Moon occurs at 5:57 p.m. CDT.

7 Jul 2024 (evening sky): The crescent Moon and Mercury are in the same binocular field. Mercury is to the lower right of the Moon, but sets soon after the Sun so you’ll need a very clear horizon and good timing to spot them.

13 Jul 2024: First Quarter Moon occurs at 5:49 p.m. CDT.

15 Jul 2024 (morning sky): Bright Mars passes close to distant Uranus, so close that they’ll be visible in the same field of view of most telescopes for several days centered on the 15th.

17 Jul 2024 (evening sky): The waxing gibbous Moon is to the left of the bright red star Antares, very low in the south. The Moon actually passed in front of (or occulted) the star about 2pm this afternoon, but it wasn’t visible on this side of the Earth.

21 Jul 2024: Full Moon occurs at 5:17 a.m. CDT.

23 Jul 2024: The dwarf planet Pluto reaches opposition, the point when it is opposite the Sun and visible all night. Unfortunately, its position in the southern sky makes Pluto a difficult observation from Canada this year without electronic imaging or travel.

24 Jul 2024 (morning sky): The waning gibbous Moon is to the right of Saturn this evening, but far enough away that they won’t both fit into the field of view of typical binoculars. The Moon will occult (pass in front of) Saturn later today, but it is not visible from Manitoba.

27 Jul 2024: Last Quarter Moon occurs at 9:51 p.m. CDT.

28 Jul 2024 (morning sky): Technically the peak of the Pisces Australis meteor shower, but it is not really a northern hemisphere event.

30 July 2024 (morning sky): The South Delta Aquariids peaks in the pre-dawn hours this morning. See “Meteor Showers” below.

A family looking at the stars.

Other Events

Meteor Showers

This month there are two meteor showers (although neither is a “big” one). The one perhaps worth watching is the South Delta Aquariid meteor shower, which is slowly building throughout July to a peak on the morning of July 30. Patient observers may spot a dozen or more meteors per hour from this shower in the pre-dawn hours of the 30th. (Compare this to the typical 2 or 3 so meteors per hour you can see on any summer night.)

Technically, the Piscid Australis meteor shower also peaks in July, and you’ll see it listed in several sky calendars, but it will contribute less than 1 meteor per hour to Manitoba skies at best, so it is mentioned here only so you don’t get too hyped up over a listing elsewhere.

“The Blaze Star”

A note that T Corona Borealis, the so-called “Blaze Star”, is expected to go nova sometime this summer, brightening to about 2nd magnitude (about the brightness of the stars in the Big Dipper). It is located just beside the “crown” or Corona Borealis, and is normally too faint to find without a telescope. It is a double star system that has a massive eruption in brightness every 80 years or so, and observations indicate it could go at any moment. Watch for an upcoming blog detailing how you can see this rare event, and how simple observations anyone can do can contribute to our scientific understanding of this amazing star system.