Confusion reigns!
Plans go awry! !
Fireflies appear!
Success!
If I had to write the headlines for last night’s first session under the stars with the Webelo Scouts from New Bedford, they would read like the above.
I had great plans – really I did – but I didn’t come close to executing them as planned. What did happen was both the Scouts and their parents seemed enthusiastic and involved for nearly 90 minutes as they moved from telescope to telescope, sometimes using them to find things on their own, sometimes calling friends over to share a discovery, and sometimes looking through the two computer-controlled scopes in the Observatory and on the Observing Deck at objects I had found.
Did they enjoy it? Sure seemed to. I heard “awesome,” several times and one Scout said to me, with awe in his voice: “I would like to do this every night.” But my favorite reaction came from a Dad. I can’t remember now which scope he was using at the time, but he was looking at M45, the Pleiades cluster, for the first time. As he lifted his eyes from the telescope he said in a tone of wonderment : “It looks like a swarm of fireflies!” I told him Lord Tennyson would agree with him, but I doubt that he got the reference. It’s from one of my favorite poems from the 19th Century, Locksley Hall, and in it Tennyson has this beautiful description of the Pleiades:
Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro' the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of Fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.
Hmmmm. . . rereading those lines I have to think Tennyson used a telescope at some point. With good eyes and clear skies –and, of course, no light pollution which would be the case in 1850 – the Pleiades could look like a “swarm of fireflies” to the naked eye. But I really think you need a telescope – and a pretty powerful one at that – to see them as “tangled in a silver braid.” I assume this is a reference to the faint nebulosity that surround this beautiful, open cluster of youthful, blue stars.
OK – deep breath – now, what worked, what didn’t work.
What worked
The Telescope Garden – I had the 80mm and 150mm alt-az refractors, the 90mm and 200mm catadioptrics, the 4.5-inch Orion Dob and a pair of 10X50 binoculars set up for them to use, pretty much on their own, with coaching from me.The Observatory – The 200mm LX90 was locked on M27, the Dumbell to start, and one of the parents, Jeff Washer, was in charge. His job – to make sure the one Scout/parent combination at a time got a chance to look through the telescope and study the object . This meant adjusting the observing chair for the person using the scope and making sure they knew how to focus – then asking them a couple question to make sure they looked carefully at the object. That certainly seemed to work. Later I shifted the scope to M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, and everyone filtered through again, getting a look.
The Observing Deck – Here the 375mm Obsession was aimed at M57 to start - and at the conclusion, Mars. Jeff’s wife, Veronica, was in charge of this scope and again her assignment was to make sure each person knew how to focus the telescope and how to climb a ladder – if necessary – to look through it without touching the telescope itself. Seemed to work. I first went through the drill with Jeff and Veronica, since it was all new to them. They were great and this freed me to spend most of my time in the Telescope Garden helping others use the scopes there.
Fist-as-a-Yardstick and Polaris – Yes – this worked. That is, using the Laser pointer I was able to direct them to the North Star, then have them hold their fist at arms length and count the number of fists high the star was – 4 in this case and they all got it right. I also pointed out the Summer Triangle, Lyre and Cygnus.
Finding Vega – I think most of them were able to use the telescopes to find Vega on their own. What I discovered, though, was they frequently didn’t know when they had the focus correct and sometimes the boys were more interested in the out-of-focus star image – especially in the catadiotric scopes where it looks like a dougnut. But that fascination lasted only briefly. So they gained some very basic knowledge in how to find things and how to focus. Later, either Scouts or parents found Mars and the Pleiades on their own – but I had to train the scopes on Albireo and the binoculars on the Coathanger for them to then get a peek. All of these scopes are manually controlled and once I had found something, theyw ere able to move it and keep the object in view.
Christmas lights – I had five strings of tiny, outdoor, red Christmas lights running just above ground height set out in such a way as to define the borders and thus preventing folks from straying without ruining night vision. It worked. I started the session with the small barn’s white outside light on. That let them see the layout. But I turned it off after the first five minutes. I had a fresh handout – a sort of log sheet – for them and with the white light on they all pulled out their 3-ring binders and added the new page and did so with an enthusiasm that surprised me.
What did NOT work
Telescope Garden - Any sort of systematic approach to using the telescopes in the Telescope Garden failed. While folks went in good order to the big telescopes, taking their time, the Telescope Garden was chaotic throughout the session. I know each person got a chance to use more than one scope. I’m not sure everyone used every scope and I’m not sure everyone used any single scope to really find something as simple as Vega on their own. They assure me they had – but that was a general response – not a show of hands, or anything more trustworthy. Parents did get involved and were a big help here, but, of course, they were learning as well, so they were limited in what they could do.
I really have two categories of learning experience going at once – one is just “eyes on” – that is, they look through the big scopes at things I have locked the scopes on. The other is a combination of a hands and eyes and that’s what broke down.
Journal-keeping – I think this worked in a very limited way. I need to set up a table with proper red light and dew shielding and pencils and encourage them to go over to that table periodically and make notes on the form I supplied. A little of this may have happened. And it perhaps it happened when they got home – or the next day. But I am trying to make the point that all astronomy – well, just about everything – involves three steps – preparation – doing it – and reflecting on what you did. I’m not sure that’s working yet, except in a very superficial way.
Bottom line – They were plugged in and really seemed to enjoy themselves – and I’m sure they learned some things. It was immensely successful in that respect – and I can’t remember when I have enjoyed myself more, so it was certainly successful for me But . . .
- I need to reduce the chaos in the Telescope Garden and get more productivity out of that aspect of it.
- I need a better grasp of tasks I can expect people of various ages to carry out and in what time span. Finding Vega or Mars was well within the beginner’s grasp. My idea that they would find M27, M57, or the Coathanger was way beyond them – at least under these circumstances. If I were working with just one or two the whole time that might have happened.
- I need to get them to focus more energy on reflecting on what it is they have seen – more field notes emphasis.
- With this group – and probably others – I have to see this as an introductory session. Next session I have to go over everything they may have learned in this session, then build on it with a few new things. In fact, I think every session I will be reinforcing basics while adding some new things.
Oh – one parent did ask me about buying a telescope and I think I helped to start them on the right track – and they veered away from buying a pretty expensive model at a local discount store. But I really couldn’t spare much time to discuss the subject.
Hmmm – and I now have two parents who can take responsibility for a scope and a couple of others – I’m not sure which they are – who I can also have take responsibility. That will make a big difference next time. I need to develop a balance between what is the most effective use of my time and what responsibilities I can farm out to others.