"Astronomy for Beginners" Program

Wednesday February 27, 2019

Everyone loves a beautiful night sky.

But, maybe you’d like to learn more?

I’ll be visiting several Dayton Metro library locations this late Spring and Summer. Come and learn about:

• The tools and challenges of observational (specifically: optical) astronomy.
  • Naked eye, binoculars, telescope.
  • I bring a telescope on-site, and I discuss how to use it. Please note: These are daytime sessions, so we won’t be doing any “live viewing”.
• How astronomy began
• Learning the night sky
  • Star maps
  • Star hopping
• Identifying objects in the night sky: constellations, asterisms, individual stars, planets, artificial satellites, deep sky objects.
• Choosing a telescope.
  • What to look for, and what to avoid.
  • Major brands: Celestron, Meade, Skywatcher, Orion.
• Expectations vs Reality
• Events, like eclipses, comets, and meteor showers.
  • I also have meteorite samples for everyone to see and touch!
• Computer software for sky-watching.
• I also talk about coordinate systems: How astronomers describe the positions of objects in the night sky. (Math is kept to a minimum!)

The content is intended for an audience as young as 3rd grade, but should be of interest to older kids and adults as well.

Each event lasts approximately an hour.