Sidewalk astro just now at primary school
Thesedays, I use eyepieces for people who already knows astro, knows scope and knows what to expect when they see through an eyepiece.zong wrote:But I also think it's the thrill of looking into the eyepiece that really gets people hooked! Video might be nice, but it probably might never replace the real image in the eyepiece for getting anyone hooked onto astronomy.
My biggest issue of using eyepiece with public is focus point. People come in different eyesight and there is no way I can tell if what they see is at good focus for them. There was once a guy who operate the scope was wearing glasses and when I look into his scope, I was seeing blur because I don't wear glasses. For me, I know how to focus it get it sharp, but I bet all those member of the public who are not wearing glasses see a blur smudge on that day. Will they walked away hooked? I don't think so.
The queue is another issue but that's probably secondary. The other problem is to describe the object. Very hard to be educational at the eyepiece. Firstly the guy may be already seeing blur and asking him to imagine "4 stars that formed the trapezium" when he was seeing blur is extremely hard.
And finally of course, the very demoralising statement from members of the public all the time is "So small only? No colour?" How come different from books?
So....to solve it once and for all for members of public who probably just want thrill, education and colour ---> in goes the video. When Orion nebula is filling up sharply on a 10" monitor in colour, it's hard to miss out the Traps, it's hard not to wow, and it's hard not to see it sharply by everyone.
Normally, I will put on my specs and focus to perfect eyesight and tell the viewers that it is focused for perfect eyesight, so those who should wear specs, need to put on their specs.
Photo Album:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14113965@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14113965@N03/
I think it's part of the 'experience' to look into the eyepiece at the end of a telescope. I was at Palomar and they had a monitor showing a view from one of the scopes, but everyone queued for the view through the eyepiece instead. Somehow psychologically, viewing through monitors is not as 'attractive' to the public because their impression is that a telescope should be used that way. One visitor even asked if the picture at the monitor was 'pre-recorded'!
I think the public has been influenced by old TV/movies showing scientists peering through the eyepiece.
I think the public has been influenced by old TV/movies showing scientists peering through the eyepiece.
[80% Steve, 20% Alfred] ------- Probability of Clear Skies = (Age of newest equipment in days) / [(Number of observers) * (Total Aperture of all telescopes present in mm)]