The NH Astronomical Society has a long-standing relationship with the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, where we provide public skywatches on the first Friday of every month.
Last Friday was extra special, because it was the grand opening and dedication of the new McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, which includes the original planetarium and much more including an observation dome with a 14" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
Although there were some clouds, we had a mostly clear night with around one hundred visitors between 6pm and 10pm. Four members of the NHAS had scopes set up, ranging in size from 4" refractors to 12" reflectors. Since the famlies were attending the opening of the Discovery Center, this was a very science-literate group and many of the kids knew a lot about the planets and moon already. We showed them Venus and explained why it was showing as a crescent, the lunar terminator and why craters were more clearly visible near sunrise on the moon, Saturn's rings, several star clusters, and a few other objects.
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