Your humble cosmic adventurers, Liz and Bill, are prepared for an evening of astronomy outreach. // all photos by Bill Andrews
The
Ravinia “Music and astronomy under the stars” program Tuesday, July 31, went wonderfully. We had lots of people — and hoards of children — stop by our table to chat. Somebody asked us about NASA’s future plans regarding human transport. A number of other people asked what to look for when buying their first telescope. The most popular question was when is the
Mars Science Laboratory getting to the Red Planet. It was great to see so many people excited about planetary exploration.
(Speaking of planets, somebody — who probably had a few to drink — asked us “Do you have a picture of Uranus.” Ha. His wife and teenage son both apologized for him.)
Of course, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was fabulous. I remarked to Bill at one point, “It’s just like I’m listening to a recording.” He agreed. And nobody seemed to mind the cicadas providing counterpoint.
Concert-goers line up to observe the Sun through telescopes. Later targets included Saturn and the Moon.
Joining us were other groups doing astronomy outreach, including members of the
South Pole Telescope, volunteers from
Adler Planetarium, and a variety of local astronomy clubs. Not only were there handouts and demos to entertain attendees, but also the banks of telescopes provided many their first glimpses of the heavens. Each scope had long lines of eager budding skygazers.
We’re glad we went and could help thousands of people experience astronomy. If you were among them, we hope you had fun, too. And if you weren’t, maybe next time.
Ravinia was packed for Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Even the Full Moon came out for the show.