Kung-Fu Kitty

Yesterday evening, I went with my Astrophysics class on a field trip to Mont Megantic. We took a schoolbus, which was funny for me, because after I finished high school, I said to myself, "I will never have to ride a schoolbus again!" Hahahahaha! The irony. The best part was that on the bus we got snacks. The bad part was that the sandwiches they were handing out had meat in them, and I, being a more or less devoted vegetarian, depending on my mood, couldn't eat it. The good part was that I got extra cookies, granola bars, apples, etc.

We arrived at the Astrolab about an hour after our departure, which was supposed to be at, but was, in fact, a bit later than, 5:30 pm. We watched a little film about Life, the Universe and Everything, but 42 didn't come up at all. Still, it had some neat animations. I was filled with wonder at the vastness of it all, as I usually am, when I contemplate such things. Then, we were taken a little higher up the mountain (or mount, as some in rockier places would argue) to the research observatory, where we saw a very big telescope (the best in Canada, as those working with it would argue). The people working there explained to us how everything worked, and I think I might fulfill their hope that one of us would someday work there.

Then, as the wind started to pick up and the sky was fully dark, we stepped outside and looked up. The sky was probably the clearest, lack-of-light-pollution-wise, I've ever seen it. The sky clouded over later in the night, but for a while, it was perfect. We eventually went to the visitors observatory, which has a much less cool telescope that is still much better than my dad's, and looked at things. We went outside to look at some things through a smaller telescope, which had a mirror diameter of maybe 8", because the guys who worked there couldn't seem to get the bigger one working at first.

I haven't mentioned yet that it was very cold. I was regretting not having brought my winter coat. Anyway, we saw a really cool and large spider at some point. My new friend Andra first noticed it and we watched it for a while. Then we looked at the Andromeda galaxy (or M31 for those who care) through both the small telescope and the one in the observatory, once they got it working. At the very end of our visit, we were showed a presentation on the Cassini craft and we were shown random images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. That was probably the least interesting part. Anyway, we then got back on the bus, and by this time it was about 10:30 pm. I slept the whole way home.