I got talked into giving a little basic class on unaided and binocular observing for the volunteers of Environmental Traveling Companions, a charitable outfit that does river trips for disadvantaged/disabled folks. We've found over the years that many, many members of the groups coming up (esp. the youth groups) for rafting have never seen the Milky Way, nor enough stars to recognize most constellations. With a little training, it was hoped the volunteers would be able to give some introductory information about the sky and myths/stories of the constellations.
The class itself was a fairly simple affair on paper. Everyone got a 5" planisphere (to keep...courtesy of donation by Orion T&BC) and the first part of the class was learning how to use it. I have never seen a bunch of adults (the volunteers are mostly in their 20's) so intent on figuring something out. They formed little knots about the red light (memo for next time...bring more red flashlights) all trying to adjust the planispheres and then looking at it, the sky, it again, the sky again...then, "Oh, yeah! There it is!"
After everyone had found Lyra and Ursa Major for practice, each student found a constellation on his or her own and pointed it out to the group. Draco got found, then Ursa Minor, Bootes, Hercules, Scorpius, etc.
Next, we went on to facts/figures and stories about the sky. They were introduced to some books (now in the camp library), and we had a fun session where anyone who knew a good story told it to the group. There was some discussion on what stories are right for what groups. (No racy Jupiter ravishes so-and-so stuff for kids).
The class closed with a brief introduction to binoculars, what you could expect to see with them (we looked at M13 and the Sag. star clouds as examples). An informal survey of the class members revealed that almost everyone has access to some sort of reasonable binoculars, and--now sensitized--they all said they'd just add them to the list of items to bring along when they come up to the river.
Class dismissed. This took longer than I thought! I figured I could talk for maybe 15 minutes and that'd be it. There were *lots* of questions. Not to mention a mass of confusion...teaching in the dark is an interesting experience. Afterward was a general observing session (a one-C8 star party) for the class participants. This was mostly for fun, but also served to acquaint them with a number of celestial objects in a little more detail.
The sky was really fine. Clear, very dry, and steady with little or no wind at all. You couldn't ask for better temperatures. After the beatly heat of the day, it was down into the low 80's, high 70's and very comfortable. Lots of things I can never find in or near the city were visible, even M109--a particular nemesis of mine that I have never been able to see before. Also looked at M101, which was very obvious and even showing hints of spiral structure. M8 (visible naked eye very easily) served as the example stellar nursery/nebula/open cluster, with M20 added in for extra zest; the trilobed arrangement of M20 was clearly evident. Mizar/Alcor was the representative multiple star. Arcturus' spectrum was the color spot of the evening. The Ring was the night's planetary nebula (a request from someone who'd seen it before and wanted to again), M's 4, 13, 22 were the globulars displayed. The session ended with comparative looks at the great Andromeda Galaxy in both scope (evidence of spiral structure seen) and in 9X63 binoculars, to show the complete 5 degree view vs. the partial 1.4 degrees of the scope.
It was by then well past midnight and the group finally faded away. Jupiter was up, but not visible in the scope due to trees. But I was able to maneuver with the binocs to get a good peek through a hole in the leaves. Couple of more ogles at Andromeda Galaxy and I packed it in. Fun evening.