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but if you and your cohorts can keep up that effort
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In the past 18 mths or so I think I've run about 6 or 7, 6 week courses in Astronomy for Beginners, this has been the first imaging course. The beginners classes are all about what's up there, very basic cosmology, finding your way around the night sky, how to use star maps and digital planetarium programs and a basic intro into telescopes selection. Stuff I wish I'd know when first starting out.
I always mention IIS a number of times in each course, but I get the feeling that many don't take up the opportunity s they don't see themselves as amateur astronomers and that they would be "out of place", but I'm working on that.
I'd really like to see more of this sort of stuff going on around the place, in local parks etc on clear nights. You would be amazed at how many people often turn up when they see a green laser blazing away into the night sky. And anyone can do it.