RAS had three telescopes at the latest skywatch for the Petersburg National Battlefield Park Service at City Point in Hopewell. And it’s a good thing we had as many scopes as we did, because we were surprised by a sizable group of scouts that had come for a rocket and astronomy activity earlier in the day. With parents, we probably had 100-125 viewers in attendance.
It was a beautiful, clear night, with an almost full moon (technically gibbous), and we got lots of ooh’s and aah’s from the audience over the moon views. And one “it looks just like the pictures.” And it did.
Terry Barker, John Raymond, and Purnell Johnson furnished their telescopes. We also showed Albireo (double star), Jupiter, Venus and the Mizar-Alcor pair in the Big Dipper.
The temperature was perfect, and the peeps gave us lots of compliments. It was a great night for us, and for RAS.