HUDSON BAY — Jeanine Holowatuik has quickly become an expert on aurora chasing and astrophotography and recently took over a Saskatchewan tourism promotional campaign for a week.
Holowatuik said she was approached by the current full-time Saskatchewanderer, Andrew Hiltz.
“I was honoured to be asked and included in such a great tourism project for Saskatchewan,” she said.
Her responsibilities included creating a week’s worth of content, to showcase how beautiful the night sky is in Saskatchewan. Her week was from Oct. 23 to 29, led by Tourism Saskatchewan.
The Calgary Royal Astronomical Society (RASC) also recently asked Holowatuik to provide an aurora presentation in Alberta. She was brought in to present at the Telus Spark Infinity Dome on Oct. 17.
“The venue was absolutely incredible, with a huge dome to project my aurora videos and photos,” she said.
The event was put on by the Telus Spark and Calgary RASC group. Holowatuik’s presentation, “There is No Aurora Season: Chasing the Northern Lights all Year in The Canadian Prairies,” highlighted how and why the Canadian prairies are the best place to view the northern lights.
Holowatuik also attended a pilot project in September in Bamfield, B.C. She was one of the presenters for the three-day event, called “Three Stars Dark Sky.” This is a new event the Huu-ay-aht First Nation hopes to host annually to celebrate the dark skies and bring people together, she said.
“Much like the Jasper dark sky festival that I have been involved with for the past three years, I presented on capturing the wonders of the night and ways we are at risk of losing our night sky.”
One of her aurora photos was also selected as the cover photo for the RASC national calendar.
Holowatuik said she has been taking astrophotography photos for almost 10 years. She established her photography business in 2017 after deciding she wanted to share what she was seeing.
“I fell in love with capturing the night sky and taught myself how to do it through countless hours and nights out practising. I’ve always been focused on the northern lights as my main subject,” she said.
During the fall and spring equinoxes, changes in the Earth’s magnetic sphere can allow more energy from the sun to get through, which produces the northern lights, Holowatuik said.
“It’s not a guarantee, but this time of year can have more large shows. During the winter there are more hours of darkness and therefore more chances to catch a show. We are currently at a solar maximum on an 11-year cycle, so we are seeing bigger and stronger shows as a result of the increase in activity on the sun. This can last another couple of years as we head toward the next solar minimum.”
Holowatuik is a member of the RASC and Dark Sky International, two important organizations for protecting the night sky in Canada and around the world.
Holowatuik is scheduled to host an aurora photography and space weather workshop in Hudson Bay in March.
Nicole Goldsworthy is based at SaskToday.ca. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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