NIAAS moonwatch 1/4/09

Since the weather forecast for the coming weekend is pretty dismal, we decided to take advantage of the clear skies this evening.
Full report here;

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Due to the poor weather forecast for the 100 hours of Astronomy weekend, and also due to the fact that a couple of members will be working on Thursday night, the NIAAS decided to take advantage of the clear skies and have their first moonwatch on Wednesday 1/4/09. The night turned out to be a resounding success.
We met at ASDA in Ballyclare at 8.30pm, and set up two Meade Lightbridges, a 12" and a 16", both fitted with widefield 2" eyepieces. The 12" showed the moon at approx 40X, while the 16" was showing 100X.
In the hour and a half until closing time, almost 100 people had a look through the telescopes, most people having a look through both. This included not only members of the public doing their shopping, but a fair proportion of the ASDA staff as well. Everyone who had a view was highly impressed, especially the kids.
We came across one family who told us they had a telescope at home, but never used it. They said that they would be interested in attending our next meeting. Another lady, a teacher, discussed the possibility of some NIAAS members giving lectures to the kids in her school, and providing teaching information for her.
All in all, we had a great night, and hope to put on at least one more event over the weekend.
Many Thanks to the management and staff at ASDA in Ballyclare for allowing us to use their facilities, and we hope they had as much fun as we had.