A mostly clear sky greeted 13 visitors (6 children and 7 adults) from the Knox Presbyterian Church Youth Group, for Exploring the Stars at Western University’s Cronyn Observatory, Friday, November 3rd, 2017, 7:00 p.m. Graduate student Jeff Vankerkhove presented the digital slide presentation “Constellations” and fielded questions. This was followed with the “Constellations Activity,” with Jeff distributing 13 “Star Finder” planispheres and helping the visitors put them together with adhesive tape. Jeff showed the slide “Reading a Star Finder” followed by 2 slides of constellations to help them learn how to use the planispheres.
RASC London Centre was represented by Everett Clark, Bob Duff and Dale Armstrong. Everett directed the big 25.4cm refractor (52mm Erfle eyepiece, 84X) in the dome to show visitors the nearly full Moon in the eastern sky. (Full Moon was on November 4th, 1:23 a.m.) Everett later swapped in the Meade 28mm Super Wide Angle eyepiece (157X) to show the visitors the Ring Nebula (M57) through the 25.4cm refractor.
Bob Duff set up the London Centre’s 25.4cm Dobsonian on the observation deck outside the dome and showed the visitors the “Double-Double” star system Epsilon Lyrae (6mm Ortho eyepiece, 186X). Bob also directed the 25.4cm Dobsonian towards Albireo (18mm Radian eyepiece, 62X). Dale Armstrong and Everett set up the observatory’s 8-inch (20.3cm) Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain on the observation deck. Dale showed visitors Albireo and the globular cluster M15, through the 20.3cm Schmidt-Cassegrain (15mm Sky-Watcher Ultra-Wide eyepiece, 133X). The visitors were gone by around 8:50 p.m. after expressing their appreciation and thanks for a very enjoyable and informative evening of astronomy.