Hi all,
last night I took a couple of scopes to Bear Cottage to give the kids, their families and the staff there, a squiz at the night sky. Hickny couldn't make it unfortunately.
I arrived and was greeted by one of the nurses and one of the boy's. The eagerness of this 11yr old fellow was humbling.
I was invited to dinner, and the family like atmosphere espoused by everyone there took me aback- I felt like I had stumbled upon someone's family dinner. Only too quickly was I made to feel oh so very welcome.
I took two scopes, my little Celestron C5, and the big 17.5" fella. All the boys, it was a "boys' camp night" this one, crowed around to see the gear being set up. Questions coming thick and fast from dinner, and didn't stop for the three hours I was there.
I had been made aware that the boys on the night would be in wheel chairs, so brought along the webcam I made following the instructions given in the 'Projects and Articles'. Best thing ever! Only one of the boy's would have been able to look through and eyepiece, so this little charmer of a camera, and a laptop, filled the entire session.
The entire viewing time at the scope was spent with the Moon and Saturn. The ooo's and aaahh's and wow's were amazing to hear.
But, here is the kicker- The boys ages were from 11 to around 13, and they were so well versed and educated in things astro, I could have been speaking to adults with years of experience in this. Their ability to grasp sometimes abstract concepts left no doubt at their eagerness to learn.
A couple of times I was rattled to be able to answer some of their insightful questions. They were aware of the return of the Japanese space probe Hayabusa, the Lunar Global Surveyor, the fireball observations on Jupiter, the recent canning of the USA's manned lunar missions, I'm out of breath, pant, pant, pant...
We were so very lucky with the weather and the objects available to us. The morning was aweful, with wind, clouds and rain. This all disappeared for the viewing to reveal such a brilliant sky. As mentioned, the Moon and Saturn were the main telescopic fair, with a brief laser guided showing of the Southern Cross and the False Cross, and how to distinguish them with the Pointers, Alpha Centuri, and you could hear the jaws hit the ground when Scorpio was revealed!!!
In the end, I never got to set up the 'big fella'. I was swamped straight away from setting up the C5 that the chance never really presented itself. A bit disappointing, but really, it was not missed. My little C5 was a real little trooper.
I need to thank Astro78 for making us aware of Bear Cottage here on IIS. Thanks for being the first point of contact with Bear Cottage,
.
Thank you to Mr Gy Wen Ho, the Child Life Therapist at Bear Cottage, for making this viewing session possible. Thank you for your hospitality and genrosity of spirit.
Thankyou to the staff of Bear Cottage for your welcome and enthusiasm with the kids.
An enourmous thank you to the boys who came along that night. I was so impressed with your excitment, eagerness, questions, energy and cheek, that I'm still floating on air.
A silent and unaware hero in all of this is David Childs. The article he wrote on making a webcam into an AstroCam made this night the sucess it was. No way would these labs been able to appreciate the night sky if you had not written your article:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-431-0-0-1-0.html
The kind regards of the members of IIS were passed on and happily received. Mention of the donated gear was made, but fleetingly as there was so much happening. It has been greatly appriecated. Only needs some help in making the most of it, ok boys and girls of IIS!
Gy will send me a couple of pictures taken on the night, of which the families of the boys have ever so kindly allowed to be published. As soon as I receive them I'll post them here.
This experience will live with me for a long, long time.
WOW! really is the only way I can describe it!
Alex.
