Partly cloudy skies greeted 17 members (9 children and 8 adults) of the 86th Girl Guides for Exploring the Stars at the Cronyn Observatory, Tuesday, April 3rd, 6:30 p.m. Graduates student Tyler Desjardins made the digital slide presentation, The Scout / Guide Astronomy Badge.
RASC London Centre member Bob Duff directed the big 25.4cm refractor, with the 28mm Meade Super Wide Angle eyepiece (157X), so that it was tracking with its clock drive on the gibbous Moon, visible between clouds drifting over from the west. Bob also set up the London Centre’s Dobsonian, with the 17mm Nagler eyepiece (67X), on roof patio, directing at the Moon in the still-near-daylight eastern sky. He later redirected it towards the weathervane on the Engineering building as cloudiness increased.
After giving a tour of the dome Tyler invited them to view the Moon between obscuring clouds, through the big 25.4cm refractor. Tyler also showed them the weathervane on the Engineering building through the Dobsonian. The sky was eventually completely clouded out. Everybody left around 8:15 p.m. after an informative slide presentation and some impressive views of the Moon, despite the clouds.