[Chaos-l] Chatam Co. Cubscout Observing Session

[Mark South]

Hi,
Wanted to report on last Friday's Cubscout Observing Session my wife Kara and I hosted.  
I began with a short talk about how I became interested in astronomy, shared a little about my grab-n-go telescope (6" Orion Skyquest XT) and answered a few questions. 

After the talk, I brought the entire group outside for sky tour of the constellations--Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Pegasus and Perseus.  I told them the ancient Greek myth behind these 4 constellations.   Then we broke into different "stations" with one group left outside to observe.  For each group we observed the Double Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy and companion, and the Pleiades.  The oldest group had a chance to also take a quick look at the Ring.  For each observation, I set up a "challenge".  For the double I asked them to find brightest star in the cluster and see if they find any "red giants."  (to find red giants in open clusters is fun, b/c typically open clusters have younger, hotter blue stars).   For M31, I gave them the challenge to find the elliptical companion galaxy.  Everyone seemed to able to find the challenges.  

I also found out how facinated some of the parents and leaders were with the stars.  Two dads had lots of questions and really enjoying observing.   One dad was floored to know that the Andromeda galaxy was much larger than the full moon!  He told me to recommend a scope to use in his dark sky home site... so I recommended the scope I have-- the 6" (or 8") Orion Skyquest XT Dobsonian for lower cost, ease of use, great focal ratio, and great views.  

I hope that maybe we will have some new astronomers to join CHAOS.  In addition, I created a "spark" of interest for future professional or amateur astrophysicists! 
Mark 


Mark South
500 Market Street Ste. 204
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
http://web.mac.com/md_south