A sky with hazy clouds greeted visitors to the Cronyn Observatory Open House, Saturday, May 26th, 8:30 p.m. Graduate student Parshati Patel made her digital slide presentation, “Beyond Planets in Our Solar System,”—about asteroids, comets and moons in the solar system—while faculty member Dr. Aaron Sigut operated the big 25.4cm refractor in the dome. Aaron directed the big 25.4cm refractor towards the crescent Moon, visible through hazy clouds. RASC London Centre member Bob Duff set up the London Centre’s 25.4cm Dobsonian and the Cronyn Observatory’s Meade 8-inch (203mm) Model 2080/LX3 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope on the roof patio, directing both at the crescent Moon.
In the 25.4cm Dobsonian, Bob showed visitors the Moon, using the 17mm Nagler eyepiece (67X) and Saturn, using the 17mm Nagler (67X) and 6mm Orthoscopic (190.5X) eyepieces. The Schmidt-Cassegrain was used with the 12.5mm Orthoscopic eyepiece (160X) throughout the evening.
As people came upstairs into the dome after the slide presentation Bob supervised the two telescopes on the patio and was soon joined by Peter Jedicke, who took over the Schmidt-Cassegrain. Dale Armstrong also arrived and also assisted with the Schmidt-Cassegrain, directing it towards Mars, Saturn, Antares and Arcturus. Richard Gibbens came upstairs after listening to the slide presentation.
In all, there were an estimated 35 visitors throughout the evening. They left around 11:00 p.m. and the Observatory was closed shortly thereafter.
Bob Duff
Higher Education Liaison
RASC London Centre