NWGAA Cherokee, First Sidewalk Astronomy Event

Name: Ed (Ookii Mamoru)
Observing Site: Wal-Mart Canton Parking Lot
Observing Date: 3/3/2007
Observing Time: 6::20 pm to 8:00 pm
Seeing: 4
Transparency: 3
Equipment: 80mm Refractor, 5 In Reflector, 10x50 bio

Interest:

30 odd looks by drivers by, gave up counting after dark

Number of Inquires "What are you looking at?" by drivers buy - 10

1 Smart Donkey question. Do you see it yet?

Number of guest to look through a scope - 7.

2 wanted contact information, one wanted a business card.

Equipment, One Meade 80mm refractor, One Celestron 5 In Reflector. Both using a 25mm eye piece. One pair of 10x50 Binoculars.

Skies were moderate to heavy overcast, and the wind chill was bitter.

6:35 PM The equipment has been set up for about twenty minutes. The Sky does not look promising.

7:02 PM Greg and I were both about ready to give up, there had to have been something. The clouds most be too dense. Two guest arrived. I was explaining that Greg and I were waiting form the Moon to come over the Horizon, and that we had yet to see it. We were going to wait a few more minutes before packing the equipment away. One guest exclaimed while pointing "Is that it?", and sure enough it was. Obscured by clouds, a razor thin crescent moon. With no other features visible to the naked eye. I quickly got both scopes set aimed and pointed. Very little detail could be made out. I’m uncertain m but I think I was looking at some Mt. Ranges, could have been the optics. I could barely make out any of the moon.

The Moon was darker, way darker than I was expectation. For about the first 20% the moon was a dirty brown. Not the red I was wanting to see. At this point the disk final became prominent. No real deatil was available until after 30% of the Moon was out of eclipses.

Had a lot of fun teaching Greg how to point the Meade. I could not get the finder scope to work properly.

8:00 PM The reflective light of the moon was getting to be too much, and the ambient light pollution was to much to even try using the laser pointer to look at any other object.

Goals for the future, need a larger sign for sidewalk astronomy with Public Viewing promptly displayed. I think such a sign would have gotten more cars to stop. Business Cards for the group.

Ed