Astronomy Night, May 2006

On Friday, May 5th, I held the third Astronomy Night of the year at Rolling Hills Country Day School (RHCDS). I'd planned to start the evening with a presentation in the school's auditorium, using slides and animations driven by my laptop through the excellent audio-video system installed there this year. Unfortunately, in my haste to get to the school with all the necessary components, I managed to leave the laptop at home. Without enough time to retrieve it, I was forced to "wing it".

Luckily, I did manage to remember printed sky charts. So, I gathered those in attendance in the science lab for a little "whiteboard" talk before going out to view. I explained how to use a full-sky star chart and pointed out the objects of primary interest for the evening - Saturn, Jupiter, The Moon and the Schwassmann-Wachmann (73P) comet gracing our skies this month.

In the telescope field on the basketball court, we had the usual collection of Dobsonian telescopes - two made by RHCDS students last year (8-inch and 10-inch) and my own 10-inch. In addition, Mr. Mattocks brought his 8-inch Celestron, so it was a telescope-rich evening for the 30 or so students, parents and friends in attendance. Although a nearly quarter moon was high in the sky, the views of Saturn (low in the west) and Jupiter (rising in the east) were acceptable. All 4 Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) were visible, draped around Jupiter like so many lovely pearls.

Judging by the enthusiasm shown and the requests for a follow-up party over the summer, I think this was another successful event. These wonderful families never fail to inspired me to continue exploring the heavens with them. Stay tuned for a summer Astronomy Night!

References

You may download the forgotten presentation slides if you like. I also recommend the Hubble Site as the ultimate source for photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.