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Hello everyone! My name is Shahin Jafarzadeh, one of the 100HA bloggers. I'm writing from Lund, the city of ideas in Sweden, with the same sky as most of you see! Through this blogging, I'd like to share with you some activities taking place around me, as well as different possible ideas which can be organized for 100 hours of astronomy. As the starting point, let's talk about observation, the first thing that comes to people's minds along with the word 'astronomers'! I've always had amazing experiences in Iran, Denmark and Sweden showing people celestial objects through my small telescope. YES! You're right! It is not a new topic and is usually done as one of the main public outreach activities; BUT it doesn't always go well! Not your fault but sometimes due to the unexpected conditions! Suppose you've planned such an activity. You go to a public place like a park or a big square and want to show people some objects in the sky through your telescope. It can either be a solar observing plan during the day or evening observations of some observable planets or deep sky objects. BUT, the sky is totally overcast. What would you do in such a situation?! The first idea that comes to mind is to cancel the program, which I've faced a lot during the several years of organizing the International Astronomy Days and other public events! I doubt if it's the best decision to make! and I prefer to perform my plan unless it is really not possible i.e. in case of storm or rainfall! You can easily find people enjoying seeing a telescope for the first time, and being allowed to touch it and make their own settings. They are really curious to know how it works! and will be happy to hear even basic facts, that might seem obvious for you, as an astronomer. So; while the sky is overcast, showing them a distant object on the Earth can still be fun and help people to understand how an astronomical instrument works.
I had a successful experience a couple of years ago during an International Astronomy Day event in Tehran organized by me and some of my students. Despite the overcast weather, we made a marvelous day for the visitors. We explained the telescope structure, showed people far-away objects and made them think of reasons why the objects looked turned!, etc. Then we came up with more explanations and descriptive pictures.
I also once enjoyed the creativity of one of my colleagues at Lund Observatory, Berry Holl, at a public event, when he put the pictures of the planets Saturn and Jupiter on top of the Lund Observatory's tower and brightened them with a flashlight in the evening, then pointed the telescope towards the pictures, when it was cloudy. He had previously calculated the actual apparent sizes of those planets seen through our 8 inch telescope and had scaled the sizes of the pictures accordingly, considering the distance between the telescope and the pictures. I found it a really great idea, don't you? I'd like to summarize today's topic as follows: Organizing an observing event for the public shouldn't necessarily depend on clear skies unless there are stormy conditions. Now, it's your turn! What would you do for your observing plan in 100HA if the sky is overcast?
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