Introducing kids to Astronomy

[cv01jw]

Not sure where to post this, so opted for the Astro Lounge - mods please feel free to move it if it fits better elsewhere.

At the weekend we all went out in my wife's car, parked at a local dark sky spot, put the roof down and looked at the Milky Way.  I am getting to know my way around the sky a little, but my wife, son and daughter are complete novices.  I was trying to point out major constellations/asterisms to them but it was difficult in the dark.  Does anyone on here have a clever way of helping them find a particular star to start from?  They can all find the plough, and from that Polaris, but from that point they got stuck.  I tried to get them to see the summer triangle - to me it was shouting at us - but they couldn't seem to pick it out.  As everyone really enjoyed the trip out I am hoping to make it a regular thing, but need to go next time with some idea of what to show them and how to show it.

Any pointers (pun intended) welcome.

Thanks

[tooth_dr]

In my head, a green laser pointer seems like a great way to pin point a particular target.

[MarsG76]

4 minutes ago, cv01jw said:

Any pointers (pun intended) welcome.

Green laser pointer....

 

[Knighty2112]

How about the safer option of an Astro app like Skysafari (or similar) that shows the sky as you move a phone/tablet around? That way also you’ll get more information out of it also if they are curious. 

[tooth_dr]

7 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

How about the safer option of an Astro app like Skysafari (or similar) that shows the sky as you move a phone/tablet around? That way also you’ll get more information out of it also if they are curious. 

This is a great idea, and kids all love tech stuff.

[cv01jw]

Thanks, I like the idea of stellarium (I have that already).  I had forgotten it has the 'live' view option.

Laser pointers are something I did think about, but I am a little uneasy about given I live underneath the a flight corridor from the Atlantic into London.

[PhotoGav]

12 minutes ago, cv01jw said:

Laser pointers are something I did think about, but I am a little uneasy about given I live underneath the a flight corridor from the Atlantic into London.

Laser pointers are the easiest way to point out things in the night sky. Are you a responsible adult? Are you capable of not pointing the laser beam at any flashing lights passing by in the sky? I am presuming you answered 'yes' to both those questions, in which case you really don't need to feal uneasy about anything at all! I use one of these: https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rother-valley-optics-5mw-green-laser-pointer.html - it works really well, but does suffer a bit in the cold. I have a special up-the-sleeve technique to keep it warm enough to stay bright! The only thing I would say is that it isn't a toy and be careful who you let use it!

[Anthonyexmouth]

+ 1 for green laser, got mine for £6.50 on ebay and its brilliant. needs an 18650 cell so if you dont have one and a charger its about the same as the rother one but i would suspect longer lasting. 

also skymap on android is very good when out and about. 

[PhotoGav]

3 hours ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

+ 1 for green laser, got mine for £6.50 on ebay and its brilliant. needs an 18650 cell so if you dont have one and a charger its about the same as the rother one but i would suspect longer lasting. 

Do you have a link to your laser pointer please? How does it cope with the cold? I’m always on the look out for the ‘best’ laser pointer available. Thanks.