Steve Bieger and Stephen Ramsden held a mini star party at Chamblee Middle School on Tuesday, November 3rd. The Charlie Elliot Chapter had been approached by Dr. Victoria Rao and asked that we help host such a gathering. The event had been postponed a week thanks to a very cloudy rainy weather before. But there was still a good turn out of parents and students in the parking lot of the school.
Stephen had two refractors and a GoTo SCT setup and Steve had an 8 inch SCT and a GoTo 5 inch Mak on site. Steve gave a quick talk on using the skymaps in the handouts and how to get oriented under the typical suburban sky. The group was shown how to use the Summer Triangle, Cassiopeia and Polaris to get oriented this time of year. The handouts also included a number of useful web site links to help with their classroom study and homework.

Stephen gave everyone a run through of his equipment and entertained the gathering with his vast knowledge. Jupiter was the main target for the evening and the students and parents got a good look at the giant planet and all four Galilean moons. Stephen was able to target some deep sky objects like M57. He was also able to get a look at the moon first with his very tall refractors! Steve also got Alberio in view before switching to the moon coming up over the trees. Our nearest neighbor never fails to get lots of Ooohs and Ahhhs!
The gathering had more than two hours to observe and ask questions. There were about 50 people that came by. Students and parents alike had many great questions about the sky and telescopes. Steve and Stephen had a chance to make some new friends and promote the Chapter. Click here for some images of this event.