Telescope Reviews: Re: Top 3 public demonstration telescopes

I bought an Orion SVP 8" EQ specifically to do public outreach. So far, I think it's been a good choice. I wanted something that tracked objects, (which my 8" Dob won't do). But, even more than that, I wanted something that was affordable and within the means of not only myself, but most who look through it. Lots of the folks that I deal with have had at least some exposure to looking through giant observatory scopes, and some have had bad experiences with very small dept. store scopes. So, I wanted something that could show folks what is possible with a scope that is well within the ecconomic reach of the average person. It also needed to be easily transported and set up by one person. So for me, an 8" newt made a lot of sense in this role.

There are some issues with the eyepiece not always being in the most accessible place for people of all heights. But, largely I'm very pleased with this scope as an outreach tool. Though, I've not used it in that capacity as much as I'd hoped due to having one of the cloudiest Springs on record.

A couple of the local colleges have chosen pier mounted 10-12" SCTs for the bulk of their public outreach. Those are a good choice when money isn't as much of an object. But, my objection to those as an outreach tool, is that when folks start asking about prices, the comments are almost always along the lines that astronomy is too expensive for the average person. I like to show that it's not.

It's already been pointed out in this thread that it makes a big difference what the goal of the outreach is. Wowing folks and showing them how to operate a telescope are totally different things. I guess my goal is really almost a third variant, and that would be 1)to get folks looking up, 2)to get them thinking about light pollution, 3)to show them that astronomy is very accessible to people of all means and interest levels. Of course I hope they all have a good time, and I really get a kick out of hearing "Wow!". And of course I hope they learn a little bit about the nightsky.

Anyway, for my particular goals, I'd have to say that having several sets of handholdable binoculars to pass around, and one larger mounted set (Fujinon FMT-SX 16x70 on Unimount Light Deluxe p'gram mount) is really as important or maybe more important to the outreach events I've done so far.

One other thing that bears mentioning, is that it really makes a difference what age group is being targeted. Most of the folks I deal with are college kids, grad students and other adults in the 20-50 y/o range. Children might well require a completely different approach.

Mike Swaim

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18" Starsplitter II f/4.5
8" Hardin Dob f/6
C5 workhorse mini SCT f/10 or f/6.3
70mm TV Ranger dual purpose birding/astro
77mm Leica Televid APO
16x70 Fujinons on UA Deluxe Mt.
12x50 Nikon SE
8x30 Nikon E2s
and many others

Edited by lighttrap (06/05/04 10:36 AM)

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