Two Enthusiastic Young Cousins!

[cloudsweeper]

This evening (Thursday) two young cousins of mine (8 and 11) came round with their parents to look through a telescope.  

They were very interested, and managed not to grab hold of the 'scope.  We looked at The Pleiades, and they were thrilled to see so many more stars than naked eye.  Made me feel really old when I could barely spot the cluster at all, but they saw the main stars clearly!

We then took in Jupiter - two clear belts and three moons, all to one side.

I briefly mentioned some points about astronomical times and distances, which enhanced the experience.

They were delighted with what they saw and heard, and keen to talk about it at school tomorrow.  And I was pleased to share my passion and bring some new stimuli to youngsters.

Doug.

[DirkSteele]

A great age to start stargazing. I gave a 30 minute unprepared presentation about the solar system to my class when I was 8 as I was obsessed with the topic and knew far more about the planets than I do now over 35 years later but this was the age when I started using my dad’s binoculars to look at the night sky and I never stopped.