Re: >> weather balloon -Daylight Bright Object
Robert Reeves (rreeves@connecti.com)
Sun, 14 Mar 1999 23:51:05 -0600
>Robert Reeves wrote:
>> Just goes to show we are bunch of aging old foscils.
>> There are noticably fewer young satellite observers than there
>> are old guys like us. I wonder if we as a group are a historical
>> anomaly?
>I am actively working at introducing new blood to satellite observing. When
>ever I do astronomical nights for schools or general public I make sure I
>have a list of bright satellites. This usally impresses all there that I
can
>tell them what satellite/rocket they are observing. Some get a real
interest
>so then I tell them how they can get their own lists of satellites to
>observe.
>Regards,
>Chris Wyatt, in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
Well, so am I. I teach a once a week astronomy class for the
Northeast Independent School District here in San Antonio. As
part of the "homework" for that class, I hand out a weekly sheet
generated by Quicksat for all passes brighter than mag 2. I spend
about 1/2 an hour training them on the meaning of all the data
fields and how to interpret them, and even take them outside
to walk them through a real live sat pass. On any night, there is always
something we can see as long as its clear. And as fate would have it,
the folks who take this astronomy class are all foscils just like me.
The young'uns are far and few between in these classes.
Generationally, young folks just don't seem to be fascinated by
space like we were/are. Perhaps NASA is guilty of doing its PR
too good and these younger folks feel its "been there/done that"
stuff.
Robert Reeves http://www.connecti.com/~rreeves
520 Rittiman Rd. rreeves@connecti.com
San Antonio, TX 210-828-9036
U.S.A. 29.484N 98.440W 200 meters