Potential target for binoculars or small telescopes–CPL
Space Weather News for July 28, 2026
A SPACEX ROCKET IS ABOUT TO HIT THE MOON: On Aug. 5th, a dead SpaceX rocket will slam into the Moon near Einstein crater. The explosion itself will be hidden in lunar daylight, but a new study says the debris plume could rise above the Moon’s edge, visible from Earth for as much as 10 minutes. https://spaceweather.com/
3) THANK YOU, CLOSINGWe thank all of you, our members, for joining us today; we hope you enjoyed the chat. Thanks, as well, to the usual culprits who helped to put this Virtual Picnic together!
The 2026 Virtual Picnic is now officially ended. Don’t forget to comment on today’s event (www.MonSFFA.ca).
Genre fans are often avid crafters; “fancrafting” is a term we’ve coined to describe the act of a SF/F fan creating a SF/F-themed craft! And that is what’s on our agenda in two weeks’ time, on Saturday, August 15, as we return to our downtown meeting hall at the Nouvel Hotel for our August Fancrafting Workshops!
The afternoon will be dedicated to several, hands-on, how-to workshops on SF/F-themed craft projects, including the making of simple, construction-paper dinosaurs or sci-fi movie monsters, and the fashioning of genre-themed jewellery. See how it’s done, learn a new craft, and try your hand!
Also, MonSFFen are encouraged to bring in, for our display table, examples of their own fancraft, completed projects, those in progress, or both! Share your SF/F-themed creative undertakings with the group!
Thank you all for taking part in our 2026 Virtual Picnic. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves this afternoon. As always, we appreciate the enthusiastic involvement of our members, and look forward to getting together again next month, both in person and online, for our Fancrafting Workshops! Until then, have a good evening and keep well.
1) MonSFFA’s 2026 Virtual Picnic!MonSFFA’s 2026 Virtual Picnic will officially begin momentarily! Welcome, one and all! This post has gone up 30 minutes before the official start of the Picnic to allow folk to settle in online.
A little background on the Virtual Picnic, which is held every year following the club’s Barbecue-in-the-Park:
During the pandemic lockdowns, MonSFFA was unable to safely hold its physical meetings and opted to move online, using ZOOM as a means of continuing with our meeting schedule. Post-pandemic, as we returned to our downtown meeting locale, we also chose to carry on with our online activities, offering out-of-town members in particular the opportunity to continue participating from afar.
Because our out-of-towners cannot attend the Barbecue, we host a Virtual Picnic online, via ZOOM. Folk are invited to prepare and enjoy their own picnic lunch at home while taking part in our ZOOM-Chat as a means of touching base with their many MonSFFriends! The conversation is casual, the topics varied, and the camaraderie congenial! We also take the opportunity to briefly update everyone on the latest club business and preview our upcoming meetings and events.
And so, we gather online this afternoon for this year’s Virtual Picnic.
To take part in Sunday this afternoon’s Virtual Picnic online, join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout. Simply click here and follow the prompts: 2026 Virtual Picnic on ZOOM
If you’re not fully equipped to ZOOM, you can also take part by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799.
Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to provide it:
Meeting ID: 868 4746 3035
Passcode: 715868
Virtual Picnic Tomorrow Afternoon! For out-of-town club members in particular, who cannot attend our Barbecue-in-the-Park, MonSFFA hosts a Virtual Picnic online, via ZOOM. Folk are invited to prepare and enjoy their own picnic lunch at home while taking part in our ZOOM-Chat as a means of touching base with their many MonSFFriends!
Our 2026 Virtual Picnic will take place tomorrow, Sunday, July 26. Hailing frequencies will be open from 1:00PM to 4:00PM; all are invited to take part; we hope to connect and chat with as many of you as possible! The conversation is always casual, the topics varied, and the camaraderie congenial!
And, we’ll take this opportunity to look ahead to our upcoming August “fancrafting” workshops, and firm up plans.
Virtual Picnic Just Days Away! For out-of-town club members in particular, who cannot attend our Barbecue-in-the-Park, MonSFFA hosts a Virtual Picnic online, via ZOOM. Folk are invited to prepare and enjoy their own picnic lunch at home while taking part in our ZOOM-Chat as a means of touching base with their many MonSFFriends!
Our 2026 Virtual Picnic will take place this Sunday, July 26. Hailing frequencies will be open from 1:00PM to 4:00PM; all are invited to take part; we hope to connect and chat with as many of you as possible! The conversation is always casual, the topics varied, and the camaraderie congenial!
And, we’ll take this opportunity to look ahead to our upcoming August “fancrafting” workshops, and firm up plans.
Virtual Picnic Just One Week Away! For out-of-town club members in particular, who cannot attend our Barbecue-in-the-Park, MonSFFA hosts a Virtual Picnic online, via ZOOM. Folk are invited to prepare and enjoy their own picnic lunch at home while taking part in our ZOOM-Chat as a means of touching base with their many MonSFFriends!
This year’s Virtual Picnic will take place on Sunday afternoon, July 26. Hailing frequencies will be open from 1:00PM to 4:00PM; all are invited to take part; we hope to connect and chat with as many of you as possible! The conversation is always casual, the topics varied, and the camaraderie congenial!
And, we’ll take this opportunity to look ahead to our upcoming August “fancrafting” workshops, and firm up plans.
This past weekend at Westercon 78 (combined with BayCon 42) in Santa Clara, its Business Meeting ratified the motion from last year which dissolves the convention. This means this year’s was the last Westercon to host a Business Meeting, but the convention itself will persist for two more years.
Westercon 79 will be combined with BayCon 43. No bids had been filed for Westercon 80 as of two weeks ago, but two were presented at the meeting: one to combine it with BayCon one more time, and one to combine it with Loscon, the Los Angeles science fiction convention run by LASFS, the organization that created Westercon.
The Loscon bid was accepted, meaning that Westercon 80 will be held Thanksgiving weekend in 2028.
As the official announcment says:
The first three Westercons were held in Los Angeles in 1948-50, with Westercon 4 being held in San Francisco in 1951. These final two Westercons symbolically retrace the convention’s steps from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles area, and are a sort of “Retirement Tour” for the convention. Both BayCon and Loscon are expected to include programming about the history of Westercon.
Westercon has been held every year since except for 2020.
Only a few conventions can claim to be as old as Westercon or older. The UK’s national science fiction convention was also first held in 1948. Boskone in Boston, Philcon in the Philadelphia area, and the World Science Fiction Convention are the only other survivors from that era.
MonSFFA’s 2026 Barbecue-in-the-Park is scheduled to take place today, Sunday, July 12, in Parc Maisonneuve! The weather forecasts predict sunny skies, so the club confirms that the event is a “go!” Parc Maisonneuve is located next to the Botanical Gardens complex and across the street from the Olympic Stadium, in the city’s East End (major bus routes along Sherbrooke Est, Viau, or Pie IX; Metro Viau or Pie IX).
Bring family, bring friends; all are welcome to join us for a relaxing afternoon of fresh air and sunshine, food and refreshments, and fun with fellow sci-fi fans!
As always, individuals are responsible for bringing their own soft drinks, juices, or other libations, as well as any hotdogs, hamburgers, or chicken fillets they may wish to grill—the club will supply a gas barbecue. Folk may also contribute a snack item or two—potato chips, cookies, Timbits, apples, a vegetable plate, etc. You may also cart in your own lawn chair or picnic blanket, should you wish. Feel free, as well, to bring along an outdoor game, such as lawn darts, horseshoes, a kickball or Frisbee. And remember your sunscreen!
BARBECUE-IN-THE-PARKThis year, our annual MonSFFA Barbecue-in-the-Park is scheduled to take place just days from now, on Sunday, July 12, in Parc Maisonneuve, which is located next to the Botanical Gardens complex and across the street from the Olympic Stadium, in the city’s East End (major bus routes along Sherbrooke Est, Viau, or Pie IX; Metro Viau or Pie IX).
We expect to claim a picnic table or two around our usual spot, so look for us there, along one of the lines of trees separated by open field, not too far from the park’s chalet, which houses convenient and well-maintained washroom facilities.
Bring family, bring friends; all SF/F fans are welcome to join us for a relaxing afternoon of fresh air and sunshine, food and refreshments, and fun with fellow sci-fi fans!
As always, individuals are responsible for bringing their own soft drinks, juices, or other libations, as well as any hotdogs, hamburgers, or chicken fillets they may wish to grill—the club will supply a gas barbecue. Folk may also contribute a snack item or two—potato chips, cookies, Timbits, apples, a vegetable plate, etc. You may also cart in your own lawn chair or picnic blanket, should you wish. Feel free, as well, to bring along an outdoor game, such as lawn darts, horseshoes, a kickball or Frisbee. And remember your sunscreen!
RAIN DATE
Should inclement weather roll in on our chosen date of Sunday, July 12, we have selected a back-up, or rain date: Sunday, July 19. That’s the following Sunday, one week later, same place and time. Check the club’s Website morning of for the “go, no-go” notice should rain threaten.
For out-of-town club members in particular, who cannot attend our Barbecue-in-the-Park, we’ll also host a Virtual Picnic online, via ZOOM, on Sunday, July 26, from 1:00PM to 4:00PM.
Folk are invited to prepare and enjoy their own picnic lunch at home while taking part in our ZOOM-Chat as a means of touching base with their many MonSFFriends! The conversation is casual, the topics varied, and the camaraderie congenial!
Space Weather News for July 7, 2026
Free Space Weather Newsletter
A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SUNSPOT: A big new sunspot emerged during the 4th of July weekend, announcing itself with an X-class solar flare. Today, it topped that by hurling a million-kilometer loop of plasma into space. Earth is entering the strike zone of this active sunspot, bringing a chance of geoeffective solar activity later this week. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.
Did you miss the 4th of July aurora outburst? Next time get a personalized real-time alert from our new Backyard Astronomy Alert Service.
Above: An eruption from sunspot 4482 on July 7th. Image credits: GOES-19 and Maximilian-Vlad Teodorescu