International Observe The Moon Night Anyone?

[Unitron48]

NASA declares an International Observe the Moon (IOTM) night every year. Per NASA, "International Observe the Moon Night occurs annually in September or October, when the Moon is around first quarter ― a great phase for evening observing. A first-quarter Moon offers excellent viewing opportunities along the terminator (the line between night and day), where shadows enhance the Moon’s cratered landscape."

Last evening was this year's event and I planned to set up a scope in front of the Culpeper County Library from 6 pm until 9 pm. The area is pretty light polluted but my targets for the evening were the First Quarter Moon and Saturn, both which would be clearly visible. The forecast called for windy, partial cloudy conditions.

I set up my scope by 6 pm. I used my Brandon 94 (94mm, f/7) on a Stellarvue MC02 alt/az mount with TV 22mm Panoptic (29x) and TV 10mm Radian (64x) eyepieces. Unfortunately the library closed at 5 pm on Saturday's, so I lost that potential crowd. To provide better viewing, and possibly pick up a larger audience, I moved over to the grassy area next to a local restaurant that stays pretty busy on a Saturday night.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement! I had only one passer-by interested enough to ask me what I was looking at...but for whatever reason was reluctant to take a look. Before I packed up (and a very large cloud bank rolled over the Moon), I did get in some decent Lunar viewing.

Did anyone else take advantage of IOTM night?

Dave

[Graeme1858]

You can lead a horse to water......

I didn't know it was International Observe the Moon Night!

Better luck next year!

Graeme

[Star Dad]

Clouds, followed by rain, with clouds as a dessert. CT was said to get 4 clear nights a month, but I'm down to about 1 or two every six weeks.

[Bigzmey]

Valiant effort Dave! Lack of interest is disappointing. In the past people would gladly jump on the opportunity to see Saturn.

[Lady Fraktor]

Autumn rains here so no viewing anyways.

[helicon]

Cloudy and rainy. I hadn't heard about IOTM night but it's a good idea!

[Gordon]

The wife and I went out for a few minutes until those nasty little biting critters started up!

Can't do much imaging lately, this time of year the forest service is doing all of there 'controlled burns' so the smoke is pretty heavy.

[StarBru]

Sorry the turnout was so dismal! I had forgotten about International Observe the Moon Night. I guess it snuck up on me this year and I was preoccupied with having a virus that's been going around. I hope I can participate next year!

[XCalRocketMan]

I am the host of an astronomy lecture/event every third Saturday from April to October at the Soldier's Delight Natural Environmental area here in Maryland. Because of my schedule (my wedding anniversary vacation) I was unable to run the event but other members of the Westminster Astronomical Society (WASI) covered for me. The event was a huge success - over 50 attended (normal is about 5-12). There was a lecture/slide show, discussions about everything lunar and then everyone went outside to view the moon through telescopes provided by WASI and the Baltimore County library borrowable telescope program (clear skies for a change here in MD). I was bummed I missed it, but the wife and I had a great time at Cacapon Lodge in West Virginia.

[MrShorty]

I sent out fliers around my neighborhood a couple days before, then set up my telescopes in a local park. Several of my neighbors came over and we looked at the moon and Saturn (and Jupiter, after it came up). We had good seeing conditions, so the views were fairly crisp. All in all a good night out. Might do it again.

[kt4hx]

You gave it a truly commendable effort Dave! Sorry things didn't work out for you. I had no idea it was IOTM either. I usually spend most of my time avoiding the moon given my proclivity for galaxy hunting. But had I known I might have taken out the 80mm. Its unfortunate that the majority of people can't even spare a moment to look up at the night sky once in a while. They truly have no clue as to what they are missing.

[Unitron48]

You gave it a truly commendable effort Dave! Sorry things didn't work out for you. I had no idea it was IOTM either. I usually spend most of my time avoiding the moon given my proclivity for galaxy hunting. But had I known I might have taken out the 80mm. Its unfortunate that the majority of people can't even spare a moment to look up at the night sky once in a while. They truly have no clue as to what they are missing.

Thanks, Alan. I host an astronomy program that is sponsored by the county library. We have monthly astronomy related presentations as well as observing sessions at Morning Calm Observatory. Pre-Covid we would have 25-30 attendees; post Covid we average 10-12...and less attendees at our observing sessions. On top of that almost all of our attendees are above the age of 45-50. Pretty sad, but a sign of our times.

Dave

[kt4hx]

You gave it a truly commendable effort Dave! Sorry things didn't work out for you. I had no idea it was IOTM either. I usually spend most of my time avoiding the moon given my proclivity for galaxy hunting. But had I known I might have taken out the 80mm. Its unfortunate that the majority of people can't even spare a moment to look up at the night sky once in a while. They truly have no clue as to what they are missing.

Thanks, Alan. I host an astronomy program that is sponsored by the county library. We have monthly astronomy related presentations as well as observing sessions at Morning Calm Observatory. Pre-Covid we would have 25-30 attendees; post Covid we average 10-12...and less attendees at our observing sessions. On top of that almost all of our attendees are above the age of 45-50. Pretty sad, but a sign of our times.

Dave

Unfortunately Covid worked a number on the collective mentality. That plus our world is so full of distractions now. It is just easier to follow those distractions than to take the road less traveled. Keeping plugging away, as I know there are some there who appreciate your efforts.

[helicon]

You gave it a truly commendable effort Dave! Sorry things didn't work out for you. I had no idea it was IOTM either. I usually spend most of my time avoiding the moon given my proclivity for galaxy hunting. But had I known I might have taken out the 80mm. Its unfortunate that the majority of people can't even spare a moment to look up at the night sky once in a while. They truly have no clue as to what they are missing.

Thanks, Alan. I host an astronomy program that is sponsored by the county library. We have monthly astronomy related presentations as well as observing sessions at Morning Calm Observatory. Pre-Covid we would have 25-30 attendees; post Covid we average 10-12...and less attendees at our observing sessions. On top of that almost all of our attendees are above the age of 45-50. Pretty sad, but a sign of our times.

Dave

Our local club has around 40 members. Recent outreach has been pretty effective with sometimes over 50 folks observing from a pier down by the bay. There is a walkway or promenade which goes by the water's edge/marina so people stroll by and look through the scopes. Typically the folks who do this set up around 6pm and end around 10pm. I haven't been to any of these events yet but apparently post-Covid audiences are bouncing back. I did go to the club's outreach session here in the park in August of last year where we had a speaker/professor from the local college after which we put out an 8" Celestron Dob.