Oak Bay carves its own identity from Victoria

...Continued

Lee dropped by to walk us through the phenomenon of sunsets, explaining that as the sun sets the shadow of the Earth rises in the sky, the first indications occurring at the horizon, where the unlit atmosphere turns a rich blue as the sun's rays are obscured by the edge of our planet.

Diffused light often mixes with the still-lit area of the sky just above the Earth's shadow, producing the delicate pink area known as the Belt of Venus, which we now observed between us and Mount Baker.

Passionate about astro-photography, Lee whet our appetites with laptop shots of comets he had photographed locally, explaining that a comet is a snowball made up of ice and dirt, not to be confused with the Messier List of 106 other named objects in the night sky. (Mid-17th-century astronomer Charles Messier drew up this list to rule out these objects as comets.)

Lee also told us that people are increasingly bringing their telescopes to Oak Bay's Cattle Point to observe the night sky.

Sooke, the Malahat Drive lookout and the interpretive centre of the universe at the National Research Council facility on Little Saanich Mountain are popular with the rapidly growing band of night-sky enthusiasts.

Next morning, while we breakfasted before heading out to catch a ferry back to the mainland, an Anna's hummingbird flew in to feed just outside the window.

"Lucky bird, it gets to stay," quipped my pal. Indeed.

USEFUL WEBSITES

- www.oakbayguesthouse.com

This site describes the facilities, rates, and availability at Oak Bay Guesthouse.

- www.oakbaybeachhotel.com

The hotel has plans for redevelopment -- a $25-million proposal to expand the premises from its current 40 rooms to a seven-storey, 120-room destination resort hotel -- but is open for business as usual.

- www.seds.org/messier

This site contains a wonderful collection of photos of Messier Objects.

- www.spaceweather.com

This NASA-sponsored website tracks the potential for beautiful aurorae and issues alerts.

- www.oakbaytourism.com

General information on the attractions, activities, and facilities of Oak Bay.

Ran with fact box "Useful Websites", which has been appended to this story.

© The Edmonton Journal 2004