Great outreach session

[John]

I had the pleasure of helping out at a Bristol Astronomical Society public viewing event this evening.

Around 30 members of the public turned up and we had some nice clear skies for a couple of hours to show them some of the Autumn sights.

Around 10 members bought their scopes along and I bought my 12" dob. We were allocated a couple of targets each to show people (I had M57 and the M81/82 galaxy pair) but some errant cloud patches meant that we did go "off piste" from time to time ! (in my case to the wonderful globular cluster M15 and to M31/32 of course)

It was so nice to show people these objects and to see their reaction to seeing them in the eyepiece, usually for the first time. I've seen the objects we viewed many times but sharing them with others and talking about what we were seeing really re-ignited my interest for them and the night sky as a whole

It's a really nice change from observing in the garden on my own. I think I'm going to do more of this sort of thing If I can

[NigeB]

Hi John,

Nice report - it sounds like a great night! I think these things are not only enjoyable but important to do. I like to think that I still get the same buzz out of observing that I did when I was a kid - but there's nothing like watching (and hearing) an 8 year old looking through your scope and seeing Saturn for the first time, to remind you of why you got into this in the first place. There aren't many public observatories around, so these events represent a rare chance for people to look through decent sized telescopes.

I remember one night very clearly - I was working with Ibbo! in Derbyshire doing a Sheffield Star Centre star party. We were standing by our telescopes diligently talking to each visitor as they came to peer through the eyepiece. I looked behind me and saw what must have been about 600 members of the public filling the observing field. Fabulous.

I decided that the most important measure of the worth of my telescope was not the images I took, or the things I saw, but the number of other people who had the opportunity to look through it.

I'm involved in organising a star camp for the Leicestershire Brownies group next spring. It's a pity you live quite a long way from here, or I'd have been asking if you'd like to volunteer!

Nigel

[John]

....I decided that the most important measure of the worth of my telescope was not the images I took, or the things I saw, but the number of other people who had the opportunity to look through it.

I'm involved in organising a star camp for the Leicestershire Brownies group next spring. It's a pity you live quite a long way from here, or I'd have been asking if you'd like to volunteer!

Nigel

Thanks for the comments Nigel

On the 1st one above, I can remember reading John Dobson's thoughts on scopes not too long before he passed away, and they made an impact on me. It was similar to what you say in terms of the value of the scope being the number of people that have never seen the night sky who look though it above anything else.

On the 2nd one, when my daughter (now 24 years old !) was in the Brownies.  She heard of the Astronomy Badge that they could get. Her pack (is that the right term ?) could not cover this badge but I found that a Cardiff based pack was doing it in association with the Cardiff Astrononomical Society so I took her over to the Techniquest in Cardiff one evening to go through the programme. She got the badge

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice report, John. These outreach events are almost always great fun

[Piero]

Nice one John.

I am glad you enjoyed your evening and I am sure with all your skills and knowledge you transmitted a lot of enthusiasm to them.

I believe these events are very important for potential newcomers in this hobby and a good mentor, even if for just one night, is really important.

Nowadays a lot of information can be retrieved on the Internet and this is wonderful! However it cannot replace the impact that a successful night out can bring into us!

[rockystar]

^{Hi John,}

^{was this looking down over the Avon Gorge?}

^{I went to one of these events a couple of years ago (before I got my first real scope), it was a really well organised event and great to see everyone get so enthused (seasoned observers and newbies alike), and a really nice, convenient location for a dark site.}

^{Wish I could've attended, but I moved away from the area last year; glad to see they are still hosting these.}

^Lee

[JamesF]

I decided that the most important measure of the worth of my telescope was not the images I took, or the things I saw, but the number of other people who had the opportunity to look through it.

I seem to recall a John Dobson quote along similar lines.  Ah, yes, here it is:

"The importance of a telescope is not on how big it is, it's not on how well made it is - it's how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."

Very nice report too, John

James

[laudropb]

lovely report. These outreach events are so important to the future of our hobby. Let's hope you attracted at least one visitor to take up star gazing.

[RobertI]

Sounds like a great evening was had by everyone. Just out of interest, which objects(s) do you think created the greatest 'wow' with people?

[rockystar]

I'll let John answer the question from attendees at last night's session. But for me (when I went to my first one - pre-telescope days), it was seeing the range of colours in the stars, and looking at Jupiter through a 12" Newtonian - that blew me away, and I never thought that I would be able to see it that well (along with it's larger moons) through an amateur scope - that really inspired me.

I found that expectations were too high for nebulae and galaxies, as too many people expected Hubble quality images. In my own experience I had similar feelings the first time I saw them too, but now that I've started "hunting" for them, the chase is rewarding and then starting to think about what I'm actually looking at, through a piece of equipment that I own, viewing from my back garden, that was when I really started to appreciate and be awed by them.

And I think it was coming away from one of these sessions where I said to myself: "I'm definitely getting one of those"

[Stu]

Sounds like a lovely evening John. It is always great fun to see the reactions in people totally new to it. We have had fun showing some of the Esher rugby players the planets after their training sessions. Best of all though was being at the Royal Holloway event for SGL Live. I lost count of how many people looked through the scope then! Certainly two to three hundred!

[John]

The event I helped out at was at the National Trust property, Tyntesfield House. The BAS have been running public star parties here for a couple of years in association with the Trust.

Of the objects that I showed people I think the Ring Nebula and M31 caused the most interest, probably because most folks had heard of them and / or seen photos of them. M81 and 82 were not at their best because some skyglow in that direction made them a little indistinct. M15 looked excellent to me but I think 1st time observers were finding that it looked rather similar to M81 and struggled a little to see that it's outer regions were resolved into stars wheras the galaxy was not.

We had a flyover of the ISS and 3 bright meteors during the session as well so they provided more wow's and discussion.

I stayed with the same eyepiece throught the session (20mm TV plossl) and that seemed to do a decent job although some folks found it diffifcult to work out where to put their eye. I didn't want to mess around with changing eyepieces or using higher power because I think just seeing something through the scope was enough for most.

[Special K]

There's nothing quite like newcomers' reactions to looking through a telescope. I love it! Even butch guys will let themselves be impressed. It feels like being an optometrist when catering for everyone's different eyes and glasses or no!

[pipnina]

I stayed with the same eyepiece throught the session (20mm TV plossl) and that seemed to do a decent job although some folks found it diffifcult to work out where to put their eye.

Difficult to work out where to put their eye?

Actually, I've shown two people jupiter and the moon through my 5" newt, their first question was "Where do i look through" as well.

They probably were expecting a frac, though.

Hearing people's reactions to the moon was pretty good. They tend to be slightly less impressed with the planets. (my scope isn't very hgih quality, spherical mirror and observing over a city)

[Paz]

Great post!