Sidewalk Astronomy at the Mall

by: Dave Flynn

We had a great time doing some Sidewalk Astronomy last night at the Valencia Mall with well over 200 people checking out the views of the sun, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and a beautiful crescent moon.  We were situated in the plaza just outside TGI Friday's and Sisley.  We started around 6:00 with Solar viewing through both a white-light scope and a PST hydrogen-alpha scope.  Even before we were completely setup we had a crowd asking about our telescopes.  The sun was really active with some large sun spots along the equator and some wonderful wispy corona around it's edges.  Visitors were really awed by the sight.

Once the sun set we started pointing our scopes at the moon and Venus.  This created some confusion among our guests as we have a special treat regarding Venus.  One comment was "How come the moon is so much smaller in the telescope?"  It wasn't the moon of course, it was a crescent Venus.  Remember that Mercury and Venus have phases just like the moon.

After a while Jupiter became visible so we divided up the viewing with each scope targeting a different object.  Ultimately Saturn joined the show and Glenn geve folks a spectacular and memorable view of that enchanting planet.

The mall closed around 9:30 and we has some fun watching people still trapped in the Mall trying to figure a way out.  Not knowing the closing-time protocol this also forced some folks enjoying our scopes to then have to walk all the way around the Mall to get back to their cars parked by Penny's.  Sorry about that!

We maintained a steady stream of visitors until everything but Saturn disappeared in the West around 10:30 at which time we decided to pack it up.  It was a great evening.  Please join us again next quarter.  Keep checking the club calendar for details.

Clear Skies.