Introducing First-Timers to the Night Sky

[Hayduke27]

Last night I was invited to my parents' house for dinner, and they asked me to bring along my scope so they could see what all of the fuss is about.  My sister was in town as well, so I had to opportunity to introduce my whole family to night sky views through a telescope.  We live in an area with very little light pollution, so they are all familiar with a dark sky full of the Milky Way and stars.  However, they are not accustomed to looking through a scope, and I didn't want them to experience either a let-down or a feeling of being overwhelmed by everything there is to see.

 

It took me some serious practice with my scope before I learned to look around the night sky without just being lost in an infinite maze of glorious stars.  I also know all too well how the Hubble images have ruined telescope views for so many newcomers.  I had been out observing the night before, and had spent a lot of time thinking about how and what to show to my family.  In the end, I think I came up with a pretty good method.

 

I started by gathering everybody into a group in the back yard, away from all artificial lights.  As everyone settled in and made to obligatory comments about how cold it was and how I was crazy for going out to do this for hours on end, I explained to them that it is best to give your eyes some time to adjust to the dark.  After a minimal eye adjustment period, I began by pointing out to them the Double Cluster, and we all stood and worked on seeing this object with our naked eyes.  Everyone but my mom was able to pick it out.  Because my mom has poor eyesight and was having trouble, I sat her down at the telescope (already set on the Double Cluster) and let her "ohh and aww" at the sights while I got on with the rest of the group.  Once everybody had managed to pick out the object with their naked eye, I passed around the binoculars and let them all have a go at finding the Double Cluster using those.  It took a few minutes for everybody to be able to acquire the object in the binoculars, but everybody managed and took a good hard look, each being astonished that the little smudge in the sky was actually so many stars so near to each other.  Now I had them primed, and I let them take turns looking in the scope.  Having a new familiarity with how the object looked both to the naked eye as well as through binos, the sight in the eyepiece really blew them away!  I think it's safe to say that all were astounded, which was exactly my intention. 

 

By the time everybody had taken a good look, there was a new found enthusiasm in the air, and the shivering and talk of the cold had subsided for the moment.  I jumped on the opportunity and repeated this whole process over again, but this time with Andromeda.  Once again, the reactions were very enthusiastic and everybody was really impressed with the telescope.  Now everybody was remembering that they were getting chilly, but I talked them all into taking one more quick peek through the scope so I could show them Albireo.  Not only was it fun pointing out the Cygnus constellation, but showing everybody the beautiful binary that is the head of the swan was another hit!  If only I had been able to show them M13 as well...  Oh well, another time!

 

In the end, it was a very highly successful night of showing a bunch of noobies the sights through my scope.  I thought I'd pass along the methodology just in case anybody might find it helpful.  Have fun out there, folks!  

[estwing]

Brilliant!...a great read!...clear skies to you!

[Astro Imp]

Great report, sounds like you had a lot of fun. 

Unfortunately we don't all have the great skies that you obviously have but nevertheless it's always fulfilling to share this great hobby with others.

Thanks for posting and good luck.

 

[Nyctimene]

Great report, Alex, and a really sophisticated two-fold step-by-step approach to the celestial targets (naked eye - binos - scope, and three different types of objects)! More than that, you've taken the challenging route not to start with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn, as I usually do. So, you have some easier targets kept in reserve for the next session (that will be demanded inevitably on a cold, clear winter evening - then include M42, 35, 44, Rosetta nebula).

Enjoy the outreach; it will bring you some more understanding and support of your family for this "peculiar" hobby.

Stephan