ASCC members gathered at the fountain in the Custom House Plaza of Monterey for some sidewalk astronomy last night. This is between Fisherman's Wharf and the Monterey Conference Center. This event was to promote public awareness of astronomy and MIRA.

The weatherman from KMST 46 TV showed up at about 5:00 pm with a camera man and did live coverage of our setting up. He interviewed a few people and did his weather report from there. He hung around and did the 6:00 pm broadcast from there as well.

As a result, we had quite a few people who saw us on the news and came down to take a look at the planets. Early in the evening we were showing Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon. Later Saturn was also shown. The public was quite enthusiastic. Saturn elicited exclamations of unbelief. One person passed his hand in front of the scope to see if the image would be affected. For another, I blocked the front of the scope with my head. Many people were quite impressed that they could see it, naked eye, and then see it through the scope. So much more real than photos in a magazine or book.

I had the Intes 6" Mak, there was a 14.5" Dob, a 10" LX200, a 10" Newt, an 8" orange tube SCT, and a few other scopes. I stayed until the crowds thinned around 9:30 pm. We had announced that we would be there until 9:00. A few others stayed longer.

We will be doing this again tonight (Saturday, Oct. 8). If you would like to join us, feel free. If you have a scope you can drive through the service entrance to the plaza and park close by.