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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The Chicago Astronomer and the Chicago Park District
hosts a visit from
"The Mobile Observatory"

Saturday 02 August 2014  - 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm

The Chicago Astronomer and the Chicago Park District has the great opportunity to host the Mobile Observatory in their stop in Chicago this weekend.  The Tour bus has visited many locales throughout North America, sharing news and solar views with the interested public.

Some background on the Mobile Observatory...
www.observatoryproject.com/

A Chicago Astronomer fan, John (who stopped by our Solar Observation Session on the 20th of July 2014)...





...and he had mentioned that if I followed the "Suspicious Observers" online...

.www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNs7b36ZsaY&list=PLHSoxioQtwZcJj_9clLz7Bggso7qg2PDj

I have come across it from time to time and it's a detailed account of the current solar status with a lot of solar data.  John also mentioned that the "Mobile Observatory" would be coming through Chicago soon and perhaps we could do a joint session.   I thought it was a good idea.   John, (on his own), contacted Ben-  and his wife Katherine contacted me....and we have been in the planning stages for a few days....trying to make this happen.  With support from the Chicago Park District...we secured the site and date.

The Chicago Astronomer will set-up the C11 along side the touring bus just south of the Adler Planetarium at the Chicago Astronomer public primary observation site....





...and together will share the solar disk, (if clear), with our fans and visitors.   Even if cloudy, we will welcome our guests and discuss astronomy with all sky lovers.  Now, I think it's cool that Ben and his wife Katherine have undertaken this endeavour, rolling through the United states and Canada, making numerous stops and discussing solar phenomenon with the public at his stops.


You gotta come and say hi, you know you want to.....

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Update:


We are a solid go for today's solar activity with the Mobile Observatory.

It's sunny out and looking good to share the face of the Sun with our fans.

Be there

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A fun time with the Mobile Observatory on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon



After sometime working the logistics out, the Chicago Astronomer and the Chicago Park District hosted the Mobile Observatory in their visit to Chicago, sharing views of the solar face and discussing solar phenomenon with our fans.  Ben and Katherine operate the Suspicious Observer where solar weather is explained and examined.   They travel the country, making stops and chatting about the Sun and related subjects.

We arrive at our primary Chicago Astronomer observation site....just west of the Adler Planetarium building, where we park the Mobile Observatory bus and set-up the C11 beast, sheathed in reflective Mylar to keep the tubes cool and images stable...

(Courtesy of Katherine)

(Courtesy of Katherine)

We lucked out that the day ended up being a sunny one, perfect for our session.  and as always, when I set-up a scope, crowds gather and this afternoon was no different.  The sun put on a good show for us this day...

Decent sunspots and surface features to share and enjoy at our event.

I keep the magnification low and use both the C11 and C102mm refractor for dual observations simultaneously, using a yellow filter on the C11 and none on the C102mm, capping both with white light solar filters at the aperture.  Tom Kirk, fellow Telescope Facilitator at the Adler with me, stopped by...and greatly assisted with the session.  As a matter of fact, he took over the duties, attending to our guests and informing them on solar facts - freeing me up to take pics and mingle.  Thanks Tom....!    

Lines form quickly for the rare opportunity to look at the Sun's surface safely and at no charge.  The Astrobella always accompanies me at solar events.  Standing out in the Sun for extended periods of time just ain't cool...

We don't rush anybody and they can take a good long look at Sunspots, faculae and other solar artifacts as long as they want.  Questions asked and answered...and lot about why the reflective Mylar on the scopes...

Everyone has their own way to look through a telescope, some see the object better than others.  Too close, too far, off-center, both eyes open.  We attempt to guide as best we can, and most succeed, but alas...some just don't get it and we have to move on.  Sometimes we get "I don't see anything" from first time observers.  I check to see if the object is still centered, as sometimes the scope gets moved, but usually it's ok and I instruct them to try again.

But, what I do not tolerate are the "Grabbers".   All good Astronomers everywhere announce to our visitors......... Not-To-Touch-The-Telescope - view with your eyes only!  Yes, you can shield your eyes, but do not hold on to the telescope/eyepiece.  If you move the scope and lose the object, sorry....but you lost your turn and we move on to the next in line. Takes time to re-center the object, especially the Sun and you can damage equipment yanking the scope.  Not cool....

But for the most part, our guests were well behaved and followed instructions....and we continue...

Ben chatted with our visitors about solar phenomenon and made the premier announcement here at this session, that  it is about to be announced by solar astronomers...of the Solar storm/Earthquake link....

The time was just shooting by, keeping up with the Sun and keeping the line moving...

I like this next three, where a dad is guiding and explaining to his sons what they are looking at...

It was now approaching 7pm and we have been out since 4pm, enjoying sharing views of the Sun with the public, with just enough time for a few more peeks before the Sun set behind trees...

I like how this sun gazer reaches out to touch the face of the Sun....

Here, we try out an Ultra Dark Violet filter on a 2" eyepiece on the filtered Sun, but it just looked like a black light psychedelic poster...



And here is the man who made it all happen.  John, who made the inquiry to the Mobile Observatory on the possibility of joining up with the Chicago Astronomer, stopped by and enjoyed spending time with Astronomers looking at the Sun. 




And Gary, (right)....another fellow Adler Planetarium Telescope Facilitator stopped by and attended to our fans - making my job all that much easier.



A shout out to Chicago Park District's Ann, (left), who assisted at informing the immediate public about our session and invited them over to share the Sun with us.   Shown is Katherine from the Mobile Observatory with us.


A successful time under the Sun with Chicago Astronomer & Mobile Observatory fans this nice bright summer afternoon...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Read the full story here....

Glad they made the trip into the city....!

[Paulie pchris00]

Very awesome.

Maglite for solar observing? Hmmm...