[pasmembers] Re: Night Sky Training Event - Your input is requested
- From: Tim Jones <timj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "pasmembers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <pasmembers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2013 23:41:15 -0700
I agree with Sam here. Especially since I already do this for most visitors to
our outreach and viewing events because they almost all ask "that" question
-"how do you know where to look?"
To Eric, I agree that pointers and guidance are useful ( otherwise, Terri would
have no students), but we need to make sure that finding things is a skill
learned through doing, not listening to others and that skill takes years to
become good.
Tim
Sent from my iPad
On Jan 9, 2013, at 8:15 PM, insanas@xxxxxxx wrote:
> We have so many cancelled star parties because of rain, clouds, wind, etc.. I
> hate to set up a new star party just for this topic. I would be happy to take
> one hour of a regular public star party to work with new pas members who want
> to learn the night sky. I would show them star charts, planispheres, messier
> handouts, telrad charts, setting cirlces, constellations charts, sky and
> telescope planet charts, etc... Once the newbies see how an object is found,
> they can try to find the next object and I would help them if they get lost.
> Anyway, spending one hour at a public star party saves setting up a whole
> separate star party. Take care, Sam
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eric Steinberg <eric@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: pasmembers <pasmembers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wed, Jan 9, 2013 5:43 pm
> Subject: [pasmembers] Re: Night Sky Training Event - Your input is requested
>
> Tim, your point is well taken - you can only learn it ultimately by
> doing it. Yet I think there is some validity to the idea. Though it
> comes naturally to some of us, others have some difficulty making
> overall sense of the sky even with a planisphere, and may not even know
> where to start.
>
> Eventually, those with an interest will have to do exactly what you say,
> but we can help with some basic explanations, like how to use the
> planisphere, the idea of star-hopping or things like the precession of
> the stars and the celestial equatorial/polar concept. That along with
> some hands-on demos might get people kick-started to do their own
> learning.
>
> JM2C
> Eric
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pasmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:pasmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tim Jones
> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 3:03 PM
> To: pasmembers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [pasmembers] Re: Night Sky Training Event - Your input is
> requested
>
> While I appreciate the intent behind this, the only way to learn the
> night sky is to get out under it and look up. A session here or there
> really is not going to help.
>
> Imagine one of your music students that you only see 2-3 times a year
> because their schedule doesn't allow them to practice the instrument
> more often. Just how quickly do you think they would learn to master
> the instrument? Learning the night sky is very much like learning to
> play an instrument. While a bit of guidance will help keep the student
> on the proper track, it only practicing regularly that results in the
> student learning to play the instrument.
>
> My recommendation for learning the sky - get a Planisphere (either an
> app or a real one) and spend evenings looking at the sky and learning
> the lay of the land (so to speak). You don't even need a telescope for
> that.
>
> Tim
>
>
>
>
>
>
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