Doing astronomy in full view of the public can be challenging. If you happen to be at a star party with fellow astronuts, it isn’t a big deal, but if you are in your driveway or in a parking lot or some other place where passers-by can see you, you need to be prepared for the curious uninitiated.
It doesn’t matter whether you are doing daytime or nighttime observing; someone is going to come up to you and ask whether that thing you are pointing skyward is a weapon of some kind or ask some other question. In the worst-case scenario, somebody will call the police on you! People are curious and sometimes insecure if not downright paranoid creatures.
My bother Ed has been an avid telescope maker for decades. He’s made reflector telescopes as large as 18″ and many smaller ones – dozens of them. So, when we set up our annular solar eclipse photography session with life-long friend Fred Garcia in Ed’s driveway this past weekend, Ed decided to place an 8″ Dobsonian telescope in the driveway – just in case. It’s a commercial instrument – not one of his own.
Here, Ed and Fred have just set it up. Ed is on the left, and Fred is on the right.
In case you are unfamiliar with Dobsonian telescopes, they are light-weight, Newtonian telescopes mounted on Alt-azimuth mounts. This minimalist design was pioneered by John Lowry Dobson when I was a kid. Dobson is a personal hero of mine and of many amateur astronomers.
Here is one of my brother’s neighbors who joined us on the driveway to view the eclipse through the 8″ Dob telescope. She was delighted with the view. Fred and Ed continued to record the eclipse using Ed’s tripod-mounted DSLR. I worked with my 80mm astrograph positioned further up the driveway and out of view of this picture.
It’s good to have a spare scope for the public. It’s a win-win for those of us on a mission.
