Saturday, March 7, 2009

3-07-09 Bulging Moon - Skinny Venus Street Astro

A family day out at the Sparks, Nv Marina Park. What do you expect to see - various water fowl parading about, all kinds of folks out for the day running, walking, biking trying not to collide with each other, dogs walking their people, maybe spend some time at the kids play area. The Anastassatos family stopped by and got the unexpected - how about a little astronomical refreshment that ended up as a gourmet meal! After feasting on the wonderful lunar sights offered by the bulging moon such as sunrise on the Humorum Basin with crater Gassendi in tow - it was onward down the buffet line to the delights of a razor thin Venus sliced to perfection! George was blown away by it all and Jackie was all smiles! How about workable easy to remember definations of a Star, Planet, and a Moon. Active modeling of a scale model Earth- Moon system and a Cd to take home finnished this adventure. Thanks guys for stopping by - you have a wonderful family!

I had a total of 63 visitors over the course of 3 hours. It was non stop discussion, modeling, and viewing! I planned a personal observe time at home but all this activity has wiped me out - a good astronomy book and bed for me!

10 comments:

square729wax said...

Good stuff - it is great when you give someone new their first look at the sky through a scope!

Sidewalk Universe said...

Thanks Ian - it is truly a joy to do outreach and bring a bit of cheer to the lives of others.

Geo said...

Hi Richard,
Thank you for your time on Saturday, we really enjoyed the sights and the mental stimulation. Diego wants to get a telescope just like yours so we can look at the planets and the moon.
Thank you!
George and the Family

Sidewalk Universe said...

You are very welcome! There are so many quality medium priced scope put there - just about anyone can get started in astronomy for a modest price. The used market is flooded with excellent buys!

Let me know if I can help in anyway!

Astronomy Rocks at the Valley said...

Richard, I'm very jealous of those clear skies in the background of your photos. From following your blog you have me motivated to do even more public observing sessions. It's just too much fun. I just have to figure out how to avoid going to work. Wonderful astronomy outreach --Bravo!

Astronomy Rocks at the Valley said...

Oh BTW I love the APOD image. What a magnificent mosaic. It was my wallpaper on my computer at work today!

Sidewalk Universe said...

You have a wonderful occupation keeping people healthy - without folks like you my neck would spin 365 degrees and I would be in a world of hurt! My local DC has really improved my life and he is one person I really admire! I am very healthy and strong because of his care, and my wife's healthy eating and nutrition coaching!

Take advantage of any sky you can get. Even if you have one bright star in the telescope that is a major lesson and educational opportunity for someone. Most folks would be impressed by any view thru a scope. Everything I do is backed by some brief inquiry lesson, poster presentation, astro pic book discussion, or modeling exercise. Heck one time just after I had set up the weather shifted to total clouds - So I showed my visitors the mountains surrounding Reno and gave them a lesson on telescopes! Believe me and you know - people are curious - just be there with something creative.

I understand the desire for clear sky - but don't let that stop you!

Sorry - I did not mean to ramble on like this - I am very impressed by your efforts and I am truly glad that my little blog is encouraging you!

Astronomy Rocks at the Valley said...

Glad you found a great chiropractor--We do subject ourselves to rather significant postural strain peering through our telescopes all night! BTW, another cloudy night a the Valley Community Center. We still had fun and started working on our exoplanet spacecraft as well as our paper mache moons. Have a great rest of the week. Our club does also have our yearly dinner banquet this Saturday which should be quite nice. Check out one of our press releases: http://www.avertedimagination.com/BAA/IYA_press_release.pdf

Astronomy Rocks at the Valley said...

Let me see if this works better

http://www.avertedimagination.com/
BAA/IYA_press_release.pdf

Sidewalk Universe said...

Hope you have a super banquet. Are you going to have a chance to share about your outreach efforts?

Good food and astronomy - awesome combo!

Yes astronomy has way of tweaking the body in all sorts of different ways!