Richmond Hill David Dunlap Observatory — Attraction in Richmond Hill

We booked a night with the stars through the Richmond Hill website.

We were greeted at the front of the observatory by a volunteer from RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada or Rascles lol). Upon entry we learned about the dome, its history and why it's built the way it's built.

(Accessibility is limited because of the age of the historical site, so stairs are you're only option.)

As we enter up to the telescope landing, you're greeted by a red light (allows you to still see, but isn't as aggressive as white light. (As a nightshift worker I had a deep appreciation for this.) and standing in the middle of the room is the colossal telescope weighing in at literal tones.

Lucky for us, the night was clear, so the dome was open and before we had entered the building the team of volunteers had trained the telescope for us.

We learned about the equipment used, and the mechanics of the telescope (From the concrete rebar foundation sitting 30 feet underground, to the mirror tip,) as they maneuvered it from its first train to the second. (Communication is integral).

We also learned about the history of the people who built it, and used it to make it the historical land mark it is today. We were taught about constellations, star clusters, black holes, lightyears, planets, light pollution and my particular favorite diffraction gratings. (No spoilers, you'll have to go yourself).

Overall a once in a lifetime experience, the volunteers from RASC were knowledgeable, and eager to talk about their passion.

I find myself looking up more than I used to, so thank you to the volunteers from RASC who...

Don't really know where to start. But what an experience this was! Amateur astronomer to experienced astronomer, this place really is for the nerds of all kinds. We came a bit early, so we got to tour everything before anyone else. First and foremost, the volunteers, staff and fellow astronomers there who preserve these two buildings were all wonderful, warm and kind. We weren't even part of their crew but they treated us like we were. Felt that was oddly thoughtful. They have a very small but spacious library that holds some very old astronomical books dating back to the 30's. On this night, we all got lucky to have clear skies! So we got to peer through the telescope, which was an awesome experience and worth trying at least once in your life (as they say, it's the largest observatory in Canada). We got to see M15, which is located in the northern constellation Pegasus. Down below, the staff had 8-12" telescopes which were stationed in front of the observatory. So we all got to see Mars, andromeda and many more. I highly recommend this visit even if you're not...

It was just plain, simple pleasure. The presentation was very informative and interesting, but even more appealing was the willingness of the the presenter to answer the questions and engage in the discussion with the audience related to the topics and some that strayed away a bit. The observatory was an experience of its own kind, in its own right, mind blowing at times. With so much history behind it, so many stellar achievements, so much expertise at hand, it is almost unbelievable the whole facility has been retired and decommissioned. I fully understand that the urban growth and the glow that it brings significantly impacted the research abilities of the observatory, but I'm sure there are enough many black/dark spots within 10-20km around the city that a feasible one could have been found and everything moved to, had there been enough will and foresight. This way, it sadly looks like another AVRO. Still, we'll go there again, at least once more, but I suspect it will be more...