From: "daffyddsant" <usenet@davidillig.com>

Date: June 11, 2012 7:10:23 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: sidewalk astronomy

Well done! People who are inexperienced at looking into telescope eyepieces frequently see nothing. It's great to project an image when a bright object permits.

When I participate in a public event with a bright solar-system object I always have some sort of camera on my 'scope that can send a live view to my MacBook Pro display. I get out of the way so that lots of people can gather round to look. I even try to pick a young person who is accustomed to being told "Don't touch anything!" and ask her or him to please ensure that the telescope doesn't lose focus. "Here's the focus knob. Turn it slowly and watch the display for maximum sharpness." They are delighted to be direct participants in astronomy. And on average, they are as good at focusing the telescope as I am!

David

--- In Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com, "Howard" <howard.fink@...> wrote:

First, the images posted here on the astro iidc site have been breathtaking.  Day after day the scenes of Venus silhouetted leave me in awe. I don't recall such exquisite imagery after the 2004 transit.  

I participated in a public event at the High Line park in New York.  I made the Sun Gun (on Sunday) so everyone with a camera or phone could take their own picture of the transit simultaneously, rather than one at a time with a sun funnel.  It was a great success, with hundreds of people snapping away in the brief intervals when the clouds parted.

finkh.wordpress.com has some pictures.