Guest guest Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 I guess I do have something to report... In case you do not know, I am heavily into Amateur Astronomy, in the past 8 years I have built four telescopes, the largest being the 30 " monster scope for our Astronomy club Pres. It stands 12' tall when pointed at zenith, and yes, it takes an 11' ladder. So my point is, our club is putting on a three part astronomy series for the public. We set up our scopes and show the general public what it looks like to look through " real " (as opposed to dept. store) telescopes. The aforementioned 30 " scope cost around $14,000, so these are no toys. This gives the young kids a really good look at things up there and may spark interest, I wish I would have had this exposure when I was a kid. So anyway, I have volunteered for all three events, although I missed the second one due to an out of town trip, but next Friday is the third one and I plan to be there (I made the first event also) to help and show the public the moon, Jupiter, Saturn and possibly some of the brighter nebulae and star clusters. It's in very light polluted areas so we can't see too much, but this is a necessary evil in that the GP wouldn't travel way ou tin the sticks where we typically go to observe. Deep breath, so, that's my story, I helped for the first event, and the kids' reaction when first looking at the moon or Jupiter through my scope is " WOW " , that is priceless. and then of course they launch into all sorts of questions, which I usually can handle most of, lol. I used to be afraid to participate in these events (a couple of years ago) because I lacked confidence in my own knowledge, but have become more and more comfortable and even now look forward to them because I know it benefits many each time. For those interested here is a link to my astronomy story, with pictures detailing construction of three of the four scopes. My current scope (the 24 " ) is the only page I need to finish. http://www.mitchellsportsphotography.com/telescopes.html Thanks for listening, Love, Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Hi Bill, I went to your site and am amazed by what you built! Incredible! That's a wonderful form of service. I have this little telescope that I take out with me on my trampoline sometimes and have such a great time looking at what I can. Of course I never know what it is I'm looking at! ha (well besides some obvious things) Once I found these people that spend the weekend nights star gazing with their telescopes. They get together and meet and have a campfire and look at the stars! I wish I could find them again! (: It was soooo fun! So thanks for everything you do - what a great hobby!! Deb , " astronutski " <astronutski wrote: > > I guess I do have something to report... > In case you do not know, I am heavily into Amateur Astronomy, in the past 8 years I have built four telescopes, the largest being the 30 " monster scope for our Astronomy club Pres. It stands 12' tall when pointed at zenith, and yes, it takes an 11' ladder. > > So my point is, our club is putting on a three part astronomy series for the public. We set up our scopes and show the general public what it looks like to look through " real " (as opposed to dept. store) telescopes. The aforementioned 30 " scope cost around $14,000, so these are no toys. This gives the young kids a really good look at things up there and may spark interest, I wish I would have had this exposure when I was a kid. So anyway, I have volunteered for all three events, although I missed the second one due to an out of town trip, but next Friday is the third one and I plan to be there (I made the first event also) to help and show the public the moon, Jupiter, Saturn and possibly some of the brighter nebulae and star clusters. It's in very light polluted areas so we can't see too much, but this is a necessary evil in that the GP wouldn't travel way ou tin the sticks where we typically go to observe. > > Deep breath, so, that's my story, I helped for the first event, and the kids' reaction when first looking at the moon or Jupiter through my scope is " WOW " , that is priceless. and then of course they launch into all sorts of questions, which I usually can handle most of, lol. > > I used to be afraid to participate in these events (a couple of years ago) because I lacked confidence in my own knowledge, but have become more and more comfortable and even now look forward to them because I know it benefits many each time. > > For those interested here is a link to my astronomy story, with pictures detailing construction of three of the four scopes. My current scope (the 24 " ) is the only page I need to finish. > http://www.mitchellsportsphotography.com/telescopes.html > > > Thanks for listening, > Love, > Bill > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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