Member of the
NASA Night Sky Network. 
On August 9, 2008, we had a pretty good turnout -- around 70 San Angeloans -- wanting to explore the night sky. The weather was nice, although a few clouds were in the sky. Our visitors were treated to a viewing of the video "Cosmic Voyage" narrated by Morgan Freeman and projected on our big screen.
Boy Scout Troop 321 (working on their Astronomy Merit Badge) helped demonstrate some of our Night Sky Network activities. Three Scouts, Tanner Vance, John Switalski, & Garrett Horner, demonstrated and helped participants make a CD scale model of the Milky Way galaxy. About 8-10 elementary age children participated. The Scouts also drew out the radius of several popular telescopes, using chalk on the large concrete slab. They used this large set of drawings to talk about some of the telescopes that astronomers use, including Hubble, Keck and Palomar. The Scouts also demonstrated Gravity and the Fabric of Space, allowing our visitors to participate in the hands on activity.
Several members had their telescopes set up. We looked at Saturn while it was still up; also Jupiter and the double star Mizar-Alcor. We pointed out constellations, answered lots of questions and generally had a good time.
Using an ETX-90, CCD camera and a TV, Fred Johnson set up on the Moon for visitors to get a close-ups of different features on the Moon. Visitors really seemed fascinated by how the moon really looked close-up with the number of craters, mountains and the overall shape of the moon’s surface.
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On Saturday, October 4th, we celebrated the beginning of World Space Week with a star party behind Fannin Elementary School . With over 100 guests, several telescopes, the Night Sky Network activities, the big screen and all the supporting club members, the Neighborhood Astronomy Night defiitely ranks among our top events. Our visitors all seemed eager to take a look through the telescopes and see what we see. The weather was even cooperative!
Fred had set up his telescope and video to display on a TV screen. Lots of positive comments came in about that! Walt, Billy, Brian and Mick had telescopes set up for viewing. I noticed that several visitors had brought their own binoculars. Others brought lawn chairs and blankets to make themselves comfortable while watching several videos on the big screen. In between videos, I directed our guests over to the telescope area.
Several of the kids participated in our Night Sky Network activities with Susie, making CD versions of the Milky Way and experimenting with the “Fabric of Space.” During one break, I pointed out some of the constellations that were visible and had a star talk with questions and answers. Bob kept track of our visitors, who were spread out and kept coming and going. Jim helped with PR and helped keep things going. Good job and pats on the back to everyone!
Even though we don’t normally have our star parties in town, the attendance of this event seems to say maybe we should be in town more often. We have had a couple requests already for another Neighborhood Night.
World Space Week, October 4 - 10
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