I was wondering if anyone else has done any kind of astronomy public outreach and if they had any advice to help keep the engagement up when folks are taking turns peeking through the scope.
About 20 years or so, yup. Star parties, observatories, planetaria, etc.
My plan has been to teach the basics of star finding, telescope use, etc.
Don’t do this. The people who are going to show up to look through a telescope at the park do not GAF about how to use a telescope. They want to look through it and be awed by what they see. The work it takes to get to that point is of zero interest to 99.999% of them. Very often, the actual visual image you see is not awe inspiring, though, so you want to spend the time while people are looking through the lens explaining to them what they are seeing, and doing so in very awe-inspiring tones and terms.
Lead them to the feelings that they want to feel. Weave the story that reflects those desires back to them. Do everything you can to make them feel the scope of what they’re seeing. Use the fact that it’s an unimpressive smudge to hammer home just how god damn far away it is they are seeing. Trot out the big numbers. Tell them how far away it is in in light years, and then switch to miles. Reference what was taking place on Earth at the time the light first left its source. Relate it all to the things they relate to or care about.
And treat the telescope like it’s the least important thing of the night until someone asks about it.
Thanks, that all makes sense! I noticed in hindsight that people were a little less jazzed about Trapezium than I was expecting. I mean, they appreciated it, but compared to my own initial reaction in seeing it (I had to go and tell someone right away), it was pretty muted. Sounds like I’ll have to do some homework.
That last line really grabbed my attention.
And treat the telescope like it’s the least important thing of the night until someone asks about it.
Can you elaborate a bit on what you mean here?
Also, I should probably make clear that this is going to be a weekly recurring class that happens at different city parks. I’m trying to get people interested in actually doing amateur astronomy.
Imagine going to a public class on… let’s say playing the electric guitar, and the instructor just keeps going on and on about tuning forks, gear maintenance, and music theory. You were just hoping to learn how to play Stairway to Heaven, despite never having touched a guitar in your life.
The telescope is actually a hurdle to most people who will ever look through one. Introducing people to amateur astronomy by talking about making the sausage doesn’t whet the appetite. It’s dry, it’s small, and it’s boring. And it’s not relevant to 90% of people who will ever show up – they’re not going to race out and spend hundreds of dollars on a worthwhile telescope. It’s the kind of thing you talk about once people are hooked, want to view things independently, and are actually ready to invest their time, energy, and money into the hobby.
Amateur astronomy happens first in the mind. The imagination is accessible; the nitty gritty of operating a manual telescope is actually quite exclusionary, and fails to meet people where they actually are.
This is great advice, I’m very grateful that you responded! I did start out pointing out the constellations and the different features we would look at, but after reading this, I realize now that I got people looking into the scope way too early, and there was basically nowhere left for me to go after that. This also makes me think about doing a separate thing just for helping people get astronomical league certs, then.
I’ve been toying with the idea. So many good memories from New Colossus. It might be linear, it’s such a great story. Not Shakespeare great, but honest b-movie great.
I can just see the NSA nerds now, “Sir, we have seen a severe uptick in downloads and installations of the video game ‘Woflenstein’… We must do something to stop the propaganda!”
Jeżeli nie widzisz żadnych postów coś jest nie tak z twoją aplikacją/przeglądarką. Wejdź przez jakąś inną przeglądarkę. Chyba, że subskrybujesz z innego konta np. na serwerze mastodona, który wcześniej nie łączył się z tą społecznością - wtedy zobaczysz dopiero kolejne posty.
@dj1936, a czy Ty czasem nie masz tej społeczności zablokowanej? (Ikona użytkownika/awatara; u mnie prawy górny narożnik)/Ustawienia/Blokady/Zablokowane społeczności?
Miałem zablokowany dostęp do tej strony na telefonie (nie jestem pewien dlaczego, ale w nietrudny sposób znalazłem opcje “odblokuj”), ale na komputerze mogłem wchodzić normalnie.
Fun fact: Wolfenstein first released in 1981 as Castle Wolfenstein, and the famous one is 1992 Wolfenstein 3D. The Wolfenstein people usually talks about these day is the one made by MachineGames. There’s no known Wolfenstein released in 1940s.
True I did see a lot online excusing Biden sending money to kill kids & saying people should vote for Kamala even though she said she’d pay Israel to kill kids too.
Fun fact, Trump just lifted the hold on 2,000 pound bombs being sent to Israel, guess where those are going? You let the house burn down while you were trying to save the garage.
But it still doesn’t justify Biden sending shit there too, just cuz the bombs are bigger now doesn’t mean Biden isn’t just as guilty. They are both trash and the Israelis are complete shit humanbeings to be given a place to exist then exterminate everyone who lived there first.
If that “logic” helps you cope, fine, but its effectiveness will probably deteriorate rapidly over time. Enjoy knowing that the next four years are partially your fault.
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