[Chaos-l] Tuesdays 4-H observing session

[Young, Randy (Public Safety)]

Well said, Jayme....

   And to wit, the same young lady that was running from telescope to telescope eventually just laid down in the grass with a set of binoculars I had in my back seat.  Stayed there 30 mins.  By night's end, she was literally BEGGING her mom for a telescope.  That's where it begins.  Neat to be there for it.

Randy B. Young

From: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org] On Behalf Of Jayme Hanzak
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 11:07 AM
To: CHAOS
Subject: [Chaos-l] Tuesdays 4-H observing session

Randy Young, Steve Andrews and myself had a great time at the 4-H observing session. We had a beautiful night of observing. Steve came to the session with information that an Iridium flare was to happen at 7:39. Funny thing, everyone waited for the flare and the telescopes stayed unused until after the flare.

Steve, Randy and I l waited nervously because we were asked where it was going to happen and we were told 10 minutes before, 9 minutes before and it continued until 1 minute before. Was the Internet correct????? Thankfully we watched a satellite approach the part of the sky that we said it was going to happen and low and behold, it happened. The satellite flared as predicted and we looked like geniuses. Well, Steve did.

The telescopes then became the main interest for the 4-H youth for a while until some partook in chasing each other around the yard in the moonlight.

However, many of the older and very young hung around, hungry to look at the next object. One young lady was grabbing anything she could to look at the skies, and one of the youngest members was doing the same.

The parents enjoyed the session more so then the kids. A gentleman was told by his wife, "You're going to a 4-H meeting tonight."
"Why am I going to a 4-H meeting?" was his reply
"There's going to be telescopes and an Astronomy club there."
 "Cool! Let's go."

One parent said,"This has been the best meeting we've ever had. Thanks for coming out."

These comments and the excitement in the eyes of the kids when they see the object in the eyepiece, makes these events worth it.

Clear Skies!

Jayme
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