by Rich Neuschaefer
Last Saturday night was the last of this seasons Summer Visitor's Programs. Three or four us volunteer to have our telescopes outside the observatory for the visitors to look through while they are waiting to hear a lecture or look through the 36" and 40" telescopes.
Friday night had been outstanding. We had very clear skies. On Saturday we had a few stars and a hazy moon. I showed the visitors the moon, until it went behind the dome of the observatory. Then I aimed Roland (6" f/7) at the Double Double. A little later, I looked at Gamma Amdromeda. Most of the time, after the moon, I had the scope looking at Uranus. It showed a nice little disc through the clouds.
There was a young couple, early 20s, in the group of visitors. The young man would look through my telescope, then the young lady would look through my scope. She would ask a few questions, step back from the eyepiece and give her boy friend a big hug and kiss. A long and very friendly kiss. It progressed to mutual groping. I thought it might go a good deal farther than that. This happened three times. That is, they came out to look through my scope after the lecture, after looking through the 40" and after looking through the 36". I had no idea looking through a telescope could have such an effect. ;-)