06 February 2009 - Levin: Telescope Amnesty

Event Report

The event, organised by Ron Fisher of the Levin Stargazers, attracted some 100 visitors, many of whom brought their old (or brand-new) telescopes along. A good number of people took the opportunity to receive expert advice on the operation or potential improvement of their instruments. While the event was scheduled to start with a talk by Gordon Hudson on the different types of telescopes at 8 PM, a small CNO telescope had already been set up earlier to facilitate safe viewing of the Sun (unfortunately without any sunspots) and was joined by almost a dozen more telescopes for lunar observation still in day-light. Although the weather was not very cooperative after dark, the occasional hole in the cloud cover allowed participants to enjoy views of the Moon and, in some cases, even the Great Nebula in Orion (M42) or the Jewel Box star cluster in the Southern Cross (Crux).

The Horowhenua Mail reporter Shannon Gillies gave a vivid account of a very successful night in an article that appeared on the front page of the Thursday, 12 February 2009 issue (see image on the left).

Original Announcement

The CNO will be supporting a FREE Telescope Amnesty event held in Levin by the Levin Stargazers, irrespective of weather conditions. Please bring your telescopes or binoculars along, especially if you need some advice on how to use them properly or fix them if something is not quite right. Experienced astronomers will be on-site to assist you.

Details:
Levin, Adventure Park kiosk, 8 p.m. to late
Click here or on the image to download a PDF version of the poster [391KB].

If you need more information, please contact Ron Fisher (phone: 3686251; email: ronaldofisher at hotmail dot com)
We look forward to seeing you there.

Special events were held throughout the International Year of Astronomy 2009.