Astronomy for kids

[InTheDark]

I took a group of 15 kids out last week to check out the stars. I know my way around pretty well and set it up so that Jupiter was still up and the moon was 3-4 days old. I have a 10" Dobsonian and between these two objects and the associated chaos of the kids that was a solid start. I also brought 3 pair of binoculars and a guide to the Cassiopia area but that required too much of my time to oversee and degenerated quickly to idle binocular use. My last telescope object was Alberio in Cygnus, a striking double, but not too impressive to a nine YO.

I'll likely try this again in March and the list of objects gets a lot better. Saturn, M42, maybe Mars. In binocs M36, 37 & 38, M45, Hyades.

What do you know? Where would you point your scope to grab a 10 YO's imagination?

[Limesparks]

saturn all the way, thats what did it for me as a kid

[Lestat]

I think something as simple as looking at the moon is amazing to a 10 yr old. It's amazing to me! Spotting the rings on Saturn is always a thrill too.

[Justin A]

I have nothing to add but I think that's a really cool activity.

[mbillie1]

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saturn all the way, thats what did it for me as a kid

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[BruceZ]

You should have had them look at comet Holmes. A week or two ago it could still be seen with the naked eye if your skies were dark enough, and easily with binoculars. It is much dimmer now, but you can still see it with binoculars, and with a telescope you can see the tail. See www.skyandtelescope.com (http://www.skyandtelescope.com) for more information.

If you saw Jupiter, you must have been looking low in the sky just after sunset as it sets shortly after that. After midnight, Mars and Saturn rise high in the sky, and in the early morning Venus rises as the brightest object in the night sky except for the moon.

[billygrippo]

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Where would you point your scope to grab a 10 YO's imagination?

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obv a window with a woman changing clothes behind it

[miajag]

Yeah, Saturn and Jupiter are the ones that really blew me away when I saw them through a scope. M13 is also a good one for the spring, though I think that's best visible in May-June rather than March.

[InTheDark]

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You should have had them look at comet Holmes. A week or two ago it could still be seen with the naked eye if your skies were dark enough, and easily with binoculars. It is much dimmer now, but you can still see it with binoculars, and with a telescope you can see the tail. See www.skyandtelescope.com (http://www.skyandtelescope.com) for more information.

If you saw Jupiter, you must have been looking low in the sky just after sunset as it sets shortly after that. After midnight, Mars and Saturn rise high in the sky, and in the early morning Venus rises as the brightest object in the night sky except for the moon.

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Funny you mention this comet. I saw it this AM naked eye and I didn't know it was news. Luckily I had my field guide and it showed nothing there so I 'discovered' my first comet.

[InTheDark]

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Yeah, Saturn and Jupiter are the ones that really blew me away when I saw them through a scope. M13 is also a good one for the spring, though I think that's best visible in May-June rather than March.

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Yes, M13 is a summer object. It's also the only globular cluster I can find.

[Borodog]

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I have a 10" Dobsonian

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Nice.

[Borodog]

Also, with a 10" light bucket and your widest field eyepiece, the nebulae in Orion are pretty freaking spectacular imo.

Also, the Pleiades and Andromeda should not be missed in that scope.

The double cluster would also be hot. It may have already gotten listed; I can't recall the M number.

[Borodog]

One more thing. In my experience there are two keys to engaging kids that age. One, wide field. Always use the widest field you've got for looking at most any non-planet object. Two, engage their imagination. Remind them that the light they are seeing from Andromeda is two million years old, and started its journey when h.omo erectus was arriving on the scene on earth, for example. Otherwise its just little points of light and fuzzy blobs.

[InTheDark]

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Also, with a 10" light bucket and your widest field eyepiece, the nebulae in Orion are pretty freaking spectacular imo.

Also, the Pleiades and Andromeda should not be missed in that scope.

The double cluster would also be hot. It may have already gotten listed; I can't recall the M number.

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Mine is a very fast scope, f4. With a 20mm ocular it's at 50x and pulls in Trapezium and environs really well.

I remember just bumping around at age 15 or so and finding the Orion nebula by accident in a 6" scope. What a thrill. I saw it again this morning, just after moonset, in binocs and it's still breathtaking.

[Xylem]

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I took a group of 15 kids out last week to check out the stars.

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U had me at Kids.

[Xylem]

Im soo sorry.