Mostly clear skies greeted 22 visitors, including 18 students, 3 staff members and one volunteer, from the Summer Academic Writing Clinic for incoming first-year students, for evening observing at Western University’s Cronyn Observatory, Wednesday, July 18th, 2018, 8:30—10:30 p.m. Before the slide presentation, RASC London Centre member Henry Leparskas met the group outside the Cronyn Observatory at the sundial, and presented a brief history of the sundial and the observatory.
Graduate student Viraja Khatu presented the digital slide presentation on “Astronomy and Space Research at Western” and fielded questions. They were then divided into 2 groups with graduate student Shannon Hicks taking one group of 11 visitors downstairs to show them the “Transit Demonstration” in the “Black Room.” Viraja brought the other group of 11 visitors upstairs into the dome. The 2 groups later changed places.
RASC London Centre was represented by Henry Leparskas, Bob Duff, Heather MacIsaac, Norm McCall and Peter Jedicke. Henry made ready the big 25.4cm refractor in the dome (17mm Nagler eyepiece, 258X) and set up the London Centre’s home-built 30.5cm Dobsonian (Meade 28mm Super Wide Angle eyepiece, 54X) and the observatory’s Meade 8-inch (20.3cm) Schmidt-Cassegrain (12.5mm Ortho eyepiece, 160X) on the observation deck. Heather MacIsaac set up her Celestron NexStar 90SLT 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain and installed her newly acquired Vixen 22mm Lanthanum LVW eyepiece (57X).
Viraja showed the students Venus and Jupiter through the 25.4cm refractor (17mm Nagler eyepiece, 258X) and, with Bob’s assistance, directed the telescope to show them Saturn. Viraja helped Henry locate globular cluster M13 overhead with the 25.4cm refractor, with Bob swapping in the Meade 28mm Super Wide Angle eyepiece (157X) for a better view.
Bob swapped in the 18mm Radian eyepiece (83X) in place of the Meade 28mm SWA eyepiece (54X) in the 30.5cm Dobsonian and Henry, Norm and Peter showed the students Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Peter also showed them globular clusters M80 and M13 through the 30.5cm Dobsonian (18mm Radian eyepiece, 83X). Bob replaced the 12.5mm Ortho (160X) with the 20mm Plossl eyepiece (100X) in the 20.3cm Schmidt-Cassegrain to show the students the 6-day-past-new thick crescent Moon. Bob later swapped the 12.5mm Ortho (160X) back in to show them a good view of Saturn through the 20.3cm Schmidt-Cassegrain. Henry showed them the yellow and blue double star Albireo and, with some assistance from Bob, the “Double-Double” star system Epsilon Lyrae through the 20.3cm Schmidt-Cassegrain (160X). Henry also showed the students M13 though the 20.3cm Schmidt-Cassegrain, using the 26mm Plossl (77X) and 20mm Plossl (100X) eyepieces. Heather showed the students the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, the double star Mizar and Alcor and M13 through her Celestron NexStar 90SLT 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain, using the Vixen 22mm Lanthanum LVW eyepiece (57X).
Downstairs in the “Black Room” graduate student Shannon Hicks did the “Transit Demonstration” activity, with the “Transit Demo” model—showing how the transit detection method worked for finding extra-solar planets. Shannon also showed them the “1940s Period Room,” a recreation of Dr. H. R. Kingston’s 1940 office, with his brass refractor and the Sotellunium—a mechanical eclipse demonstration model built by W. G. Colgrove—on display. Henry showed the second group of students the “1940s Period Room,” which was designed by RASC London Centre member Mark Tovey.
The students were gone by around 10:30 p.m. after a very enjoyable evening of astronomy under clear skies and the observatory was closed down around 11:00 pm.