I just wanted to let fellow astronomers/star gazers know the Green Bay astronomy club (which I've yet to join) had a public viewing of Mars with a speaker from Astronomy magazine. I arrived late but apparently the lady from Astronomy gave her lecture twice due to the overwhelming attendance. She was to give it a third time but apparently her voice went.
I arrived at 9:30 and thought there would be only a few people and no need to set up my telescope. I could barely find parking so that was the first sign many people were there to view Mars. The telescopes were set up along the Fox River in front of our public museum. The club meets at the museum once a month. There were lines for the set up telescopes 30 to 50 people long each. I quickly found out another telescope would help things out. As I set up a line quickly formed and many people enjoyed watching me polar align, find Mars and start the tracking. I should have started with my Vixen 140 refractor but instead started with an 8" Orion eq reflector. I couldn't believe all of the questions from each person - how does it track, how long does it take Mars to orbit the sun (I don't know), did Mars have oceans (yes and civilizations but I just said nobody knows either way) and many others.
It was pretty cool and I'll join the club and do more events such as this. I would estimate at least 500 people observed at one time or another from 8 to midnight. It was featured in the Green Bay Press Gazette the day before so I thought it would draw a few people but wow. I even had people asking why they could see the Milky Way as a kid but not now. I just pointed to the nearby streetlights, building lights, bridge lights, etc. They understood.
Lastly, television crews were there filming live for the 10pm news. Just as I was finishing setup, one of the producers asked me if a tv camera could film mars through the ep. I said not mine, maybe another but because of the long lines, he didn't want to attempt it. People booed when the camera lights came on for live reports but cheered when one of the lights toppled into the fountain and blew the fuse. Good times.
Happy Mars viewing to all. Peace!!!!
I arrived at 9:30 and thought there would be only a few people and no need to set up my telescope. I could barely find parking so that was the first sign many people were there to view Mars. The telescopes were set up along the Fox River in front of our public museum. The club meets at the museum once a month. There were lines for the set up telescopes 30 to 50 people long each. I quickly found out another telescope would help things out. As I set up a line quickly formed and many people enjoyed watching me polar align, find Mars and start the tracking. I should have started with my Vixen 140 refractor but instead started with an 8" Orion eq reflector. I couldn't believe all of the questions from each person - how does it track, how long does it take Mars to orbit the sun (I don't know), did Mars have oceans (yes and civilizations but I just said nobody knows either way) and many others.
It was pretty cool and I'll join the club and do more events such as this. I would estimate at least 500 people observed at one time or another from 8 to midnight. It was featured in the Green Bay Press Gazette the day before so I thought it would draw a few people but wow. I even had people asking why they could see the Milky Way as a kid but not now. I just pointed to the nearby streetlights, building lights, bridge lights, etc. They understood.
Lastly, television crews were there filming live for the 10pm news. Just as I was finishing setup, one of the producers asked me if a tv camera could film mars through the ep. I said not mine, maybe another but because of the long lines, he didn't want to attempt it. People booed when the camera lights came on for live reports but cheered when one of the lights toppled into the fountain and blew the fuse. Good times.
Happy Mars viewing to all. Peace!!!!
