Clear skies greeted 17 visitors (9 children and 8 adults) from the 99th London Sparks to the Cronyn Observatory for Exploring the Stars on Wednesday, February 6th, 2013, 6:30 p.m. They were welcomed by graduate students Parshati Patel, Emily McCullough and Ted Rudyk.
Parshati made the digital slide presentation, “Constellations.” This was followed by observing upstairs in the dome. Ted brought his eyepieces case and showed the children and their leaders splendid views of Jupiter in the 25.4cm refractor, using his 20mm Nagler eyepiece (219X). Parshati and RASC London Centre member Bob Duff set up the Observatory’s Meade 8-inch (20.3cm) Schmidt-Cassegrain on the roof patio and Bob soon had it directed towards Jupiter, which made a nice view in the 12.5mm Ortho eyepiece (160X). The visitors lined up to view Jupiter through the Schmidt-Cassegrain. The children thanked everybody for the wonderful views through the telescopes.
Bringing the group back downstairs, Parshati and Emily handed out 9 copies of the book “Mary Lou’s New Telescope.” The visitors were gone by around 7:40 p.m. after a very enjoyable evening of astronomy.
Bob Duff
Higher Education Liaison
RASC London Centre