Clear skies greeted 14 lady visitors (including 12 girls) from the group GEMS for Exploring the Stars at the Cronyn Observatory, Thursday, March 6th, 2014. Graduate student Dilini Subasinghe made the digital slide presentation “Our Solar System” beginning around 7:25 p.m. Dilini immediately followed this with the activity “Kitchen Comet”, making a comet from dry ice and other ingredients on a table at the front of the lecture room.
RASC London Centre was represented by Everett Clark and Bob Duff. Everett set up the London Centre’s 25.4cm Dobsonian on the Observatory’s roof patio and directed the big 25.4cm refractor (32mm Erfle eyepiece, 137X) in the dome towards the 2-day-prior-to-first quarter Moon. The visitors were delighted to view the Moon and Jupiter through the 25.4cm refractor, using the 32mm Erfle eyepiece (137X). Everett also showed them another view of Jupiter as well as the star Sirius through the 25.4cm refractor using the Meade 28mm Super Wide Angle eyepiece (157X). Bob showed them Jupiter, the Orion Nebula (M42) and the Moon through the 25.4cm Dobsonian, using the 17mm Nagler eyepiece (66X).
Several leaders took pictures of the Moon with their cell phone cameras through the 25.4cm Dobsonian. Dilini also took pictures of the Moon through the big 25.4cm refractor after the visitors left around 8:45 p.m. It was a very enjoyable and informative evening of astronomy under a very clear sky.