Last week was busy. We had two late nights of astronomy; Thursday was the monthly meeting of Canberra Astronomical Society (CAS) and Friday was a joint CAS/Stromlo public night. CAS provides lots of telescopes and astronomers and Mt Stromlo Observatory provides the site and AV gear. The Scope Cafe is kept busy doing coffee and fodder. We always help on public nights. This year there have been huge crowds attending, between 500 and 800 on most nights, over 1100 one night. The lawns between the cafe and the ruins of the 74" telescope (destroyed in the firestorm of 18 Jan 2003) are absolutely packed with people looking at the Moon, planets, nebulae and star clusters. The top picture shows some of the telescopes being set up during twilight, before the crowds arrive. The Oldies have special jobs. Mum is head of the "sheepdogs", CAS members who escort visitors safely between the cafe and the telescopes. Dad gives non-stop talks about the Universe and there is usually standing room only during his talks. Mind you, I think the old guy is being a bit clever. He is inside in the warmth while the CAS guys are out in the freezing Canberra nights. What do I do? I watch out for kangaroos on the roads and sit in the car and count people.
Labels: astronomy, Canberra, telescopes
# posted by Bart Bear @ 5:33 pm
