It's not what you see! It's what your looking at!

[meteoriot]

Hi all, just wondering about the difference between yourself or who you have shown things through the scope and how they reacted? Was it a 'wow' moment or a 'is that it?' moment? I know alot of people expect Hubble views through a home scope yet some are brought to tears by saturns rings.

[Demonperformer]

Did an evening with the cubs last summer. Attached Canon to 102SLT and displayed pics on the screen (easier than having them grab the scope as they try and look through/focus the eyepiece). Showed them some really easy objects (Albireo, M31, M39, Jupiter) and they absolutely loved it, so I would say it was a definite 'wow'.

[RikM]

Yes, I have had more people say 'wow' than not. Of course at the public events I have helped with, people have had an interest at least, and that might have influenced their reactions. I generally use a mid/low power eyepiece and bright objects: the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Pleiades, M37. At home with friends the biggest 'wow's have been high power views of Saturn and the Moon.

The most negative comments have been 'it doesn't look real, sort of like a hologram', or 'it's very wobbly' (as he hung off the diagonal like a chimp )

I did one with the DSLR hooked up to the lap top and watched the subs roll in on M51 and M81 & M82. That got a good reaction.

[Ags]

I've had mostly 'wow' responses, at least when sticking to planets and the moon. But I've had lots of 'I can't see anything' responses on fainter objects like M13.

[star_chaser]

living in central london i view from a public park(well largish green area)and im always having people stop and look ive lost count at the number and wow is mostly what i hear.i used to enjoy having them stop look but its getting beyond a joke now so im looking for a new site so i can get on in piece

one night i had someone walking past about 7;30 was still light and i was setting up he was still there about midnight when i was packing up lol he had forgotten were he had been going.

tho i have only shown views of saturn and the moon

[tbird]

I invited a neighbour and her grandson round last week and they were impressed with Saturn although conditions were poor.

Saturn has been frustrating for me down to poor conditions but the Mrs had the proverbial 'Wow' moment but the daughter has been un- impressed.

My daughter was more excited about M13, her younger eyes being able to pick out more stars around the fuzzy glow.

[twotter]

Friends & family have all been 'wow'

[ollypenrice]

Since folks come to my place to do astronomy they are prone to go Wow. I do have my tricks for the less impressable, though. M13 at 200x in the 20 inch has never ever failed. It is Wow all the way... M42 likewise, at low power.

Olly

[WayBig]

I like the subject name, that very eloquently describes this hobby.

I've had biggest wows sticking to the moon, Saturn, jupe and andromeda.

The last time my wife saw Saturn, it got a wow, and a "that's amazing, because most of the stuff you look at is just dots" (I might use that in my sig!)

[Dave]

I arranged for some friends to come round and have a look through the scope and down a few beers some time ago when it was freezing cold with snow on the ground. I thought they would get fed up after 15 minutes or so, but we were out for over an hour and got loads of "WOWS!". They were so captivated the time went so fast. It was me that finally pulled them all back in when I got cold. When it's good it's fantastic. Blooming Marvellous!