by Phil Chambers
Well, I did the Moon TV thing last night for the kids. The only view of the moon I have in the early evening is down the road in front of the house so I set up on the edge of the road at my driveway with flashing red lights to stave off the cars.
Interesting time. A lot of the kids could tell me this was the first full moon on HW for 40 yrs and the next one will be in 20 yrs. The interest was split at about 50 50 for parental interest and kid interest. One lady walked over and said "is that New York". And, she was serious. I had several internal responses like "yes, they did more damage this time", but I just explained what it was and she looked definitely uninterested and moved on.
I found a couple of parents who had been thinking of getting telescopes but didnt know anyone who had them and they are local residents. (I dont observe out front much). So, maybe there are a couple of potential additions to the hobby.
Some of the kids were fascinated and I had to remind them that the candy was inside and they had to go ring the doorbell as I wasnt trusted with it.
Some of the kids could have cared less. Too many, in my book. No interest in science at all. I believe that is because most teachers are liberal arts oriented and have no real interest in science at the grammer and mid school levels. Too bad.
I will admit that the full moon is a lousy time to try to show anything as there is no surface contrast or "3d" effect at all.
I used the 5in Apex Orion Mak on the cg5 with the ss2k. With that I could show the moon landing spots. And, James, this was a 1 point align.
I did "get" to eat dinner out there (had folks over for dinner) and didnt participate inside.
Started as soon as I could see the moon and quit about 9pm.
While tearing down, I took a look at mars. 7mm barlowed 2x for 440x in that little mak. I believe I was seeing surface detail that I havent seen since June. The storms must be clearing a little. Hard to believe the crisp views I was getting over my house (havent turned on the heater yet this year) with that scope pushed so hard. The more I use that little Mak, the better I like it.
With the vidcam on the Mak at prime focus (C mount lens, removed) I could see about 1/3 the width of the moon on the screen of the TV. So that would be about 10 arcmin but I didnt analyze it ......
It was fun and I am glad the sky cleared up so I could do it.