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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - More than 100 downtown pedestrians enjoyed an opportunity to commune with the cosmos on Saturday night.

They happened upon amateur astronomer Steven Bedingfield and his SuperBall telescope, which he aimed skyward from the vantage of the sidewalk along 53 Street and Franklin Ave throughout the late evening twilight.

Adrian Bohlander peered through a telescope set up downtown by amateur astronomer Steven Bedingfield on Saturday night. His vision was magnified 122-times, allowing him to see craters, ridges and other textures on the shiny grey surface of the moon. His brother, Erik, said the experience was "pretty cool." - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

"On clear nights I'm trying to get out downtown in high traffic areas during the first quarter moon to introduce lots of people to the sky," Bedingfield said. "I'm trying to bring the universe to them."

Bedingfield is a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Founded in 1868, the society is made up of professional astronomers, educators and enthusiastic sky watchers across the country.

The society is trying to expose a million Canadians to the wonders of the universe as part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy as declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

On Saturday night Bedingfield trained his telescope on Saturn and the moon. The device allowed viewers to see Saturn's rings and the moon's craters, ridges and other textures in fine detail.

The telescope measures almost six-feet long. It uses a 12 and-a-half-inch mirror to focus light into a cone diverted through a magnifying lens.

Bedingfield handed out lunar cards to everyone who peered through the eyepiece. The cards included a website where folks could record their experience and learn more about astronomy.

"The big thrill for me is hearing the delight that people express when they look through a scope for the first time," he said.

"When people actually start understanding what they're looking at then intellectually their experience goes up. Some people become very emotional. That's the wow factor."

Bruce Davidson was one of about 120 people who viewed the lunar landscape through Bedingfield's lens over the course of the evening.

"It was nice to see a scientific theme promoted for the common good of people's understanding," he said.

"A lot of the things we see about the moon and space are through the TV but to see it right there through that lens makes you feel closer to the astronomical part of the world."

This was the fourth night Bedingfield shared his telescope downtown this spring.

In August he will join hundreds of other astronomers for an annual gathering at Cyprus Hills in Saskatchewan that he attends every year for workshops, lectures and to stargaze during the new moon.

Bedingfield's astronomical interests do not end at dawn. In 2008 he visited Cambridge Bay to view a total solar eclipse and in 2006 he travelled to Sarir, Libya, to watch a total solar eclipse from a spot 400 km into the desert.

During the next solar eclipse, on July 22, Bedingfield will watch the sky from the deck of a cruise ship off the coast of Iwo Jima, Japan. He will present images and observations from that astronomical adventure during a presentation at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre later in the summer.