RASC Outreach booked by St. George library

A great outreach event was enjoyed by all on August 30 at the St. George library. This was the second time that Hamilton RASC had been invited to one of the Brant County libraries by Gary Jermy, their Systems and Community Engagement Librarian. And it was well worth the trip.

Three members of our club participated, Ron Shields, Bob Prociuk and Ed Mizzi. They gave a one hour slide presentation about our Solar System and then everyone in attendance was invited outside to have a look at three of the most beautiful objects in our system. Bob was able to capture Jupiter just before it set in the west and the group saw the 4 Galilean Moons. Then he turned the club’s 10” Dobsonian to the Moon to see craters and other features of the lunar surface.

While Bob worked on those 2 objects, Ron, with his beautiful Celestron Evolution 8 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope (with an aperture of 203.2 mm and focal length of 2032 mm), zoomed in on Saturn, which was only a few degrees west of the Moon that night. What a beautiful sight! And Saturn’s moon Titan also made an appearance.

There were plenty of oohs and awes from the onlookers and we may have even inspired a few of the children to consider astronomy as a career, or at least as a hobby.

Gary Jermy was very impressed and appreciative of the time we spent and the quality of our presentation, both inside and out and said he will be contacting us once again, in the Spring of 2018.

For those members who have never been to an outreach event, Ron, Bob and Ed will all tell you that it is a very rewarding and gratifying activity and lots of fun too! So please join us when you are invited to assist at future events. It will be well worth your time and effort.

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