Showing Off The Night Sky

By Rich Bohner and Bob Carruthers

I find that one of the most fun aspects of amateur astronomy is public outreach. Don’t think that you have to be an expert and have a big fancy telescope to do it. Every time a kid looks though my scope at the moon and says “Oooh  That’s cool,” something inside does a little dance and says “ Yes, that’s cool!” That’s about as complicated as it has to be. Soon you will be known as the astronomer guy or gal that will let you look through their telescope. That’s exactly how John Dobson got started.

You can start at a club star party to get your feet wet. Then tell your son’s or daughters or nieces or nephews boy or girl scout troop that you could show off the night sky at one of their upcoming meetings. You can team up with other astronomers if you like. Soon other opportunities will present themselves. You can even show up downtown some night and show off the moon with your telescope. You will be amazed at how well accepted you will be.

One thing to remember is the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) approach. Only show objects that are easy to find and knock your socks off. The two best, I’ve found are the moon and Saturn, after that Jupiter and Venus. Everyone wants to see Mars but they are usually unimpressed when they do. A few big easy open clusters are good like the Pleiades, the Beehive Cluster or Coma Berenices. The Orion Nebula is a good target as is the Andromeda Galaxy. Other than that a few double stars such as Alberio, in the head of Cygnus the Swan, Alcor/Mizar(horse & rider), in the handle of the Big Dipper or Gamma Andromedae make good targets.

Remember most people will not even be able to see most of the "faint fuzzies." They need something big bold and bright. Also you will soon learn that most people are not very impressed by watching you waste their time while you are struggling to find some faint obscure galaxy in the Virgo Cluster.

Being polite and mindful of the people looking through your scope always helps things go well. It helps to bring a small step ladder so the little guys can reach the eyepiece. Don’t take things too seriously. A little humor is always welcome.

Above all Have Fun and others will too.