"We're still overwhelmed by the view of Saturn!"

April 17, 2012; 08:28 by Jim Crawford, Bob Forgiel & Glenn Jackson

Tuesday, April 17th 2012
Brownie troop visiting Seagrave
Scout Program / sunset @ 7:29
Presentation at 7:15 and viewing at 8:15

Bob F.
Glenn Jackson
Conrad
Jim Crawford
John Leonelli
Rick Arnold

The night was mild with some high thin clouds but the night turned out better than forecasted. The group consisted of around 10 Brownies and several adults and siblings for a total of around 17 to 20 people. As everyone was arriving and gathering, Jim Crawford was demonstrating how to use binoculars to the kids. We all then moved inside while I ran  through some basic material from the Cub Scout program while we waited for the sky to darken. Conrad had opened up the Clark and was on Venus so before it dropped below the tree line we hurried everyone through in  two groups while John Leonelli had the 12” dob on M42 for the kids to try. Rick Arnold brought out the societies 10” Meade and setup in front of the meeting hall for a view of Mars while Glenn Jackson opened up the 16” Meade for viewing Saturn. By the end of the night everyone had seen Venus, Mars, Saturn and M42 as well as a few other objects.


The presentation was just bits and pieces of the scout program.  If I recall correctly we covered the following:
•       What makes a prime location for an observatory
•       Three major observatories, the location and what makes the location special.
•       Illustration diagram and light path of two basic types of telescopes.
•       What Is The Universe
•       What Is A Galaxy
•       What Is A Planet
•       Lunar phases
•       The North Star (Polaris) and its significance
•       Finding the North Star