Got to show a Non Astronomer the sky last night

[Alan White]

My Daughter and her friend were at home last night, when a 'Dad can we have a look through your telescope' was asked, how could I refuse?

I set up the 150mm f5 Newtonian and left it to cool for a few minutes.

Our tour was very basic, buch much enjoyed by all :

Lunar, with lots of wow, would you look at those craters and the inevitable where is the Lander questions.
Then up to Pleiades with the wow, that's amazing.
Across and up to Cassiopeia and the surrounding wonders, was pleased that the Double Cluster was well received.
Then across to Orion and of course the Nebula and then Betelgeuse and other stars to look at the colours.

By this point they were now cold and had reached saturation of the Celestial Wonders for now.

It made my day that I was asked to show them something and it was enjoyed, wonderful stuff indeed.
I love showing others the sky and the wonders we enjoy, really enjoyed myself.
A great end to 2019, which for me has been a rough old year in part.


 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

One of the joys of this hobby is showing others what they're missing. If one can ignore the occasional eye rolls and bored looks from some, there's lots of pleasure to be had enjoying the wow moments. Nice one Alan!

 

[John]

Great report Alan

Since joining my local astro society I've been able to participate in lots of outreach type sessions and have found that showing the sky to others, especially others who have not looked through a telescope before, is probably the most enjoyable aspect of the hobby for me now.

I think John Dobson hit the nail on the head when he said "....the importance of a telescope is not how big it is, it's not how well made it is, it's how many people less fortunate than you got to look through it..."

 

 

[AdeKing]

I was doing loads of public events with our local society and enjoyed them immensely but didn't really do much in 2019.  

However, I do plan to get more involved again in 2020 as it is an absolute pleasure showing others the astronomical wonders that we all enjoy. 

[Alan White]

1 hour ago, John said:

I think John Dobson hit the nail on the head when he said "....the importance of a telescope is not how big it is, it's not how well made it is, it's how many people less fortunate than you got to look through it..."

I think that is wonderful and so true.
 

[knobby]

20 minutes ago, Alan White said:

I think that is wonderful and so true.
 

I think he also said that it is our duty to let others without scopes see through ours 😅

Glad you shared Alan 👍

[City9Town0]

... and whilst setting up my telescope/mount/camera I've just now pointed out a string of 39 satellites passing over IP12. I'm led to believe that these are just the start. My neighbour was more impressed with the satellites than the prospect of a quick whiz around a few constellations. Each to their own...

Personally I felt disappointment/sadness at what we are losing rather than joy at what we are gaining... but then I'm fortunate to live in a nice place with easy access to all the internet 'goodies' etc.... I know that not everyone is so lucky.

[niallk]

8 hours ago, Alan White said:

My Daughter and her friend were at home last night, when a 'Dad can we have a look through your telescope' was asked, how could I refuse?

I set up the 150mm f5 Newtonian and left it to cool for a few minutes.

Our tour was very basic, buch much enjoyed by all :

Lunar, with lots of wow, would you look at those craters and the inevitable where is the Lander questions.
Then up to Pleiades with the wow, that's amazing.
Across and up to Cassiopeia and the surrounding wonders, was pleased that the Double Cluster was well received.
Then across to Orion and of course the Nebula and then Betelgeuse and other stars to look at the colours.

By this point they were now cold and had reached saturation of the Celestial Wonders for now.

It made my day that I was asked to show them something and it was enjoyed, wonderful stuff indeed.
I love showing others the sky and the wonders we enjoy, really enjoyed myself.
A great end to 2019, which for me has been a rough old year in part.


 

Very nice!!