The David Dunlap Observatory was one of the world’s leading facilities in Astronomical Research.  Situated in Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto, it provided Canadian researchers the ability to explore the universe since the 1930’s.  A lot of real scientific discovery went on at the 74 inch reflector telescope, once considered a Goliath.  Now, it is a victim of progress.  Light pollution from urban growth coupled with more advanced and more capable designs made the DDO less and less important.  It’s hard to justify spending $800,000 per year to operate something that now offers minimal returns.  The shame here is that we could have had gone further with the present facility if the political will existed on all levels of government to use better municipal lighting.  Still, it had to happen eventually.

The facility was a gift to the University of Toronto from Jessie Dunlap in memory of her husband.  The university recently announced that it has reached an agreement with the grandchildren of Jessie and David which allows the closure of the facility and sale of the lands and equipment.  A new facility built with the proceeds will be called the Dunlap Institute.  It will support future astronomical research from the U of T’s St. George Campus.  Final vote is expected in October.

It is sad that this jewel will go missing from Richmond Hill.  A piece of history will be lost.  Progress is like that though; some good with the bad.

It’s been in some ways a very short summer. A backlog of material and not enough time to edit and post. Tonight, the finishing touches go on the “Beach Episode” of News in Space. We had a lot of fun filming this one and I liked the humor in it. If it’s not up, it will be posted shortly. Take a look and please comment. We want to know what you like about our productions and what we could improve upon.

We’re still working on a number of episodes to be released throughout the fall. I hope you will enjoy them as much as we did making them.

As of Monday, September 3rd, membership on the site is over 425 people now and rising. Thanks for making us a web destination. Don’t be shy posting to AstroShorts. We want more video from our members. Remember…it’s all about sharing with each other.