Flamsteed Astronomy Society

“How to use a telescope” Joint public/Flamsteed workshop for beginners

with Dr John Griffiths — December 15, 2009

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Dr John Griffiths led the workshop in the lobby of the Peter Harrison Planetarium at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.  Despite being a bitterly cold evening not long before Christmas, the workshop was well attended with around 25 visitors and Flamsteed members.   Flamsteed volunteers, and many of the participants, brought along a super variety of equipment — always one of the favourite features of the workshops.

Mike Dryland kicked-off with an overview presentation about the different types of small telescopes, mounts and stands, and something of their strengths and weaknesses.  John completed the ‘talking bit’ of the workshop with explanations of some of the finer points — eyepieces, magnification, filters, finding targets, go-to mounts, simple astrophotography etc.

After a break for coffee, we concluded with the usual ‘walkabout’ to give participants a chance to look at the different scopes on display and quiz their owners.  At least two brand-new scopes came along still in their original packaging.   John and the volunteers were very pleased to help assemble them and give some guidance on set-up and use.      For more on choosing and using small scopes, see the Flamsteed Guide for Beginners.

MRD              [Pics: Mike Dryland]