Hi Andy,
I've done many outreach events, and it is something I love doing. I've also done an event with the Girl Guides too
So much so that I've now started doing sidewalk astronomy too to get an outreach fix!
Naked eye stuff
When I'm the main/only host of an outreach night, I start things off with some naked eye stuff first. There is sooo much to see without any optical aides, and so few people actually know what it is that they are looking at.
Depending on what time you start off, if it happens to kick off right on sunset, I would start by pointing out the "Belt of Venus", a dark shadow that rises in the East as soon as the sets. It is actually the Earth's own shadow that is cast onto the atmosphere as the sun sets below the horizon! The largest shadow in the world - Earth's own shadow!
As the evening progresses, the planet are putting on a magnificent show. Mercury too is visible soon after sunset. This will give you 6 naked eye planets to see all at the same time - I'll leave it to you to figure out the 6...
There is also Neptune and Uranus, but these are purely telescopic objects.
Keeping on with the naked eye stuff, there is the Southern Cross and the Pointers. You can mention that for some Aboriginal nations the Cross is actually a stingray - easy to see how. In other nations, the Cross and pointers are a school of fish. You can point out Alpha Centauri & its distance to us. I don't say Alpha Centauri is 4.3light years away. Instead, I say "I get into my car, hit the Hyperdrive to travel at the speed of light, and it will still take me 4 and a half years to get there. Try to say things in terms that people have some grasp of to explain terms, such as light year, but try to avoid bamboozling them with astro jargon.
I also point out that while Alpha Centauri is "blah" distance from us, the bright star beside it is only slightly less brilliant, but it is some 260 lys from us. This means that the other star needs to be much, much bigger than Alpha Cent. to be nearly as bright.
You can next look at pointing out a Scorpion in the Sky! And from the stinger, if conditions allow, the faint fuzzy patch that is the Cloud of Sagittarius, which lies between us and the hub of the Milky Way galaxy, where again if you jump in your car and hit the Hyperdrive, it will take you 30,000 years to reach the centre of the Milky Way.
You can also point out that every single star that they can see individually is wholly within our Milky Way galaxy, and indicate the glow of the Milky Way in the sky. A galaxy is that is a real Giant in galaxy size terms. And that galaxies get bigger by swallowing up smaller ones, and that the MW is currently in the process of swallowing up 6 small galaxies right now!
Depending also on your location and proximity to city lights, the Aboriginal constellation of the Emu can also be pointed out.
All of this is just naked eye stuff!
Look to use terms people can relate to, and not too much jargon. Astronomy can be seen as being way too nerdy and geeky, so here's a chance to dispel some of these misconceptions.
With a scope
If you have a few scopes, and you are pretty much running the show yourself, try to rope in a one of parents/adults to man the easy to point AZ scopes and station them to work exclusively with the Moon. It will free you up immensely. If the parent/adult has no experience with scopes (like my wife did), show them how quick and easy it is to acquire the Moon BEFORE the main event kicks off (like I showed my wife one time), and they will be able to keep the Moon a target for you (which my wife was able to do, and she is an astro-phobe!). You can mention that the Moon is not just pock-marked with craters, but the place is laden with ancient lava flows and littered with long extinct volcanoes too!
Your two goto scopes, the Mak you can keep on Jupiter, with its four Galilean Moons, two main cloud belts, and maybe the GRS if it is visible. You man the C6, and don't tell people what you are going to show them first! Let it be a discovery they make for themselves - Saturn! It will be a tease for the crowd that you won't tell them what you are showing them first, but the thrill is one they will never forget.
Mars could be a big disappointment as currently the planet is experiencing a global dust storm that has obscured all surface details, and it will still be several months before the dust settles from the atmosphere. But one of its icy poles will be visible - snow on another planet!
The comet noted in your screenshot I suggest to give a miss - it is not bright and difficult to see, even through a scope.
With DSO's, before you start with them, mention a few things about how to view them, mainly that they need to be patient at the eyepiece. DSO's are all dim, and your eyes need to adapt to this. Mention how to use averted vision and how they have been using averted vision without knowing all their lives - in their bedroom with all the lights out, when they look at something directly in the dark the item seems to "disappear", but when they look just to one side of the item, it seems to magically re-appear! They are not mad! but perfectly human!
This is exactly how our eyes work in dim light, and looking through a scope at DSO's uses this very same mechanism - averted vision.
With DSO's, you can point out a few objects:
* Omega Centauri - the remnant core of a galaxy the MW swallowed up a long, long time ago
* If still visible, the Jewel Box, and ask people if they can "spot the Rubies among the Diamonds?"
* The Lagoon Nebula - a stellar nursery which harbors brand new stars that are making the cloud of gas and dust glow, and that all these new stars are all siblings!
* For a galaxy, a bit tricky with a 6" scope, but not impossible. There's a couple you can try for, Centaurus A and M83 using low power.
* Alpha Centauri double star system - the only double star I would bother showing novices.
~x.X.x~
Be patient with people at the eyepiece. Using a scope is a very unique experience. When people come to view their first DSO, stand right beside them and speak quietly to them about how to look into the scope. It makes the instructions more intimate and doesn't panic the novices. They will quickly get the hang of it and will know what to do with the next DSO they view.
Tell people not to grab the scope or eyepiece! The motors of your scopes will not be too happy if this happens all night long. You can tell people that it is because of their own pulse making the scope shake - telling them that it hurts the scope is a bit alarmist. Your choice on how you explain things to them. Push-pull scopes are not so delicate, but the pulse issue is the main thing, plus that it moves the scope...
You don't need to show people too many DSO's. Half a dozen tops is fine, especially with the planets too. You will be flat out with all of this, you don't need too many DSO's
Enjoy the event! Be lighthearted with how you describe things. You will forget some things, and you will be challenged by some of the questions people will throw at you. If you make it easy to follow you will make it an enjoyable experience for everyone.
I hope this helps. I know I've thrown a fair bit at you, so read it over few times. I'm sure other people will make some more helpful contributions too
Alex.
