Cloudy skies with wet snow flurries greeted 39 visitors (22 children and 17 adults) from the 1st Kintore/Thamesford Cub Pack for Exploring the Stars at the Cronyn Observatory, Wednesday, March 27th, 2013, 7:00 p.m. Graduate student Parshati Patel made the digital slide presentation, “Cubs and Scouts Astronomy Badge,” and followed this with the activity “Crater Experiment” in which flour and cocoa was poured into an aluminum tray, set out on the floor, and objects were dropped into it to demonstrate how craters are formed.
Everett Clark and Bob Duff represented the RASC London Centre. Parshati brought the group upstairs into the dome and Everett had 2 of the Cubs distribute 26 “Star Finder” planispheres to the children and several adults. Parshati showed everybody how to assemble and use the planispheres. Wet snow flurries ruled out opening the dome and Everett set up the London Centre’s 25.4cm Dobsonian with the 8 X 50mm finderscope and 17mm Nagler eyepiece (66X) installed and directed it out the door to the roof patio towards the wind vane, part-way down the mast of the weathervane, on the Engineering building. Bob showed the visitors the spinning wind vane and later also the weathervane through the Dobsonian.
Parshati demonstrated the big 25.4cm refractor in the dome and then took everybody back downstairs for a question and answer period. However, everybody immediately came back upstairs again when it stopped snowing and Everett observed Jupiter through thinning clouds from the roof patio. Everett took the Dobsonian outside and Bob showed them Jupiter, which appeared as a small featureless light in the clouds, through the 17mm Nagler eyepiece (66X).
One man asked Bob about choosing binoculars and Everett spoke to another inquiring about telescopes. Everybody was gone by around 9:00 p.m. after and enjoyable evening of astronomy, despite the unfavourable weather.
Bob Duff
Higher Education Liaison
RASC London Centre