International Observe the Moon Night draws crowd to Rockwall library

September 29, 2012 – On Saturday, September 22, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Rockwall County Library, 250-plus Rockwall County residents of all ages observed the First Quarter Moon as part of 2012 International Observe the Moon Night.

Despite the extreme light pollution in the library parking lot, the Moon shone brightly as the calendar measured Fall Equinox and we slipped from summer to autumn, without the thermometer any wiser.

Thanks to the Rockwall library staff for making the outdoor library facility available for the event. Thanks especially to the Rockwall High School National Honor Society for supporting the event with volunteers who operated a computerized telescope mount carrying a large telescope that provided a live view of the moon through an astronomical camera.

Also, the NHS volunteers helped manage crowds and lines, while handing out NASA materiel made available for the event.

The whole point of the International Observe the Moon at Night event was to observe the Moon through telescopes on a planet-wide basis. We certainly achieved that objective in Rockwall at the public library where people of all ages, especially young children, enjoyed the views of the Moon at night through a telescope.

My dear Astro-Pal, Bob Jackson, came out for the event with his wonderful 10-inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. This computerized beast is a brilliant piece of technology that allows him to so accurately drive the telescope that he can select specific objects on the Moon from the hand controller database and it drives the scope to that feature! People were blown away by this function. In the image below, one of the librarians’ children is being amazed by the Moon in Jackson’s telescope.

IOMN_Emily_Walvoord_Looks_Through_A_Telescope — Astronomer Bob Jackson steadies young Emily Walvoord while she views the Moon through his 10-inch Meade GPS LX200 telescope (note wireless telescope controller in his hand)

Independent estimates put the crowd at 250-plus based on the number of telescopes over time, over number of observers. After about my fifth year o f doing public outreach using telescopes, I figured out this neat way to get a really accurate headcount on the number of people who attend an event, without actually taking a formal headcount. By using the telescope itself as the counting instrument, one gets a very accurate estimate of attendees because most people spend about 20-seconds at the eyepiece.

The organizing entity for this event requested that participants do a “Wink at the Moon” in honor and out of respect for Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on another body outside the Earth. To support this goal, I called for a “Mass Wink” at around 8 p.m. and captured this image of part of our crowd winking at the Moon.

Events like this International Observe the Moon Night are driven by volunteers at many levels and received, mostly, by parents and their children. My personal mission in life now that I have retired from military service (that requires complete, selfless dedication) is stated on my website (through my Personal Mission Statement) as follows: “To continuously elevate the human condition by increasing our sense of place in the Universe through the use of technology and human interaction.”

IOMN_22Sep12_250plusPPL — Several attendees at the 2012 International Observe the Moon Night at Rockwall County Library "Wink" at the Moon in honor of Neil Armstrong, first person to walk on a celestial body outside earth

First, here’s a story about what it means to have a personal mission statement in life. Back in 2003 when I was considering becoming a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, one night at the William Randolph Hearst Hacienda in central California at a Cosmology (not cosmetology) retreat, I came upon a grand dame of the U.S. peace movement who inquired as to my personal mission statement. After babbling a few syllables (obviously I didn’t have a personal mission statement) she said I should consider, through self-examination, what was important and how I could work to make the world a better place and capture it as a mission statement. As an added gift during this event, it was an absolute pleasure to discuss space, science and philosophy with the volunteers from Rockwall High School’s National Honor Society and senior class.

So it was that after the event last Saturday I was sitting down in great pain (I have a bad back…like I’ve had surgery and am a disabled veteran bad back) considering how to pack up three telescopes when a smiling lady bent down to say thanks. Her young son followed suit very sincerely thrust his hand out to shake mine so I shook his hand. The lady then said it….she made it all worthwhile when she emitted, “Thank-you so much, this was so special to him, I know he’ll remember this for the rest of his life.”

That’s it, I had tears in the moment after she and her son departed and almost have them now at this recollection. That one simple, incredibly genuine act of gratitude made all of my pain, sweat and the hours preparing and executing the event worthwhile. If my friend Bob and I were able to inspire this bright, happy, inquisitive young man that night then we all came away much better for the experience.

Opportunities to engage in this kind of public outreach are not rare, nor is it rare to receive gratitude from a parent. What remains absolutely exceptional and yet something we take for granted is that through the use of 21st century technology we are able to bring the heavens into sharp focus for the general public and inspire young people to reach for the stars that they have seemingly touched through our telescopes. That we as a species do these things and employ our technologies and volunteer our expertise to lift up future generations is truly exceptional in my opinion and it gives me great hope for the future. I’m enormously grateful for the opportunity to participate in this and be in the company of other great people like Bob Jackson who don’t just “show up” to an event and joke around with their buddies but value this important contribution.

Our Universe Today is a column written by Blue Ribbon News special contributor, Max Corneau, aka AstroDad, of Rockwall.

Max retired from the U.S. Army in 2009 as a Lieutenant Colonel, Senior Space Operations Officer and Master Aviator. He amassed over 3,200 hours as a pilot of Special Electronic Mission Airplanes. Since 2004 he has been a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, is a Master of Astronomical Outreach through the Astronomcial League and built his own astronomical observatory. His amazing images can be seen at AstroDad.com.