RTMC, once more

Photos of RTMC area fun make up this entry. Aside from telescopic delights, interesting talks, and access to vendors that sell astronomical gadgets, activities for kids make up a large part of a trip up the hill to Big Bear and Camp Oakes. Take the outreach folks from Arizona who had nine weight scales letting kids discover how heavy they really would be on some of the planets, the sun, and even a white dwarf. Of course Mercury hit it off for the ladies who like feeling thin.

Hiking

It was too cold for swimming or canoeing this year, but just right for a visit to the Big Bear Discovery Center. Less than ten miles from the RTMC camp, the center is close by and free of charge. It offers ranger talks and guided hikes. Here kids can check out florescent rocks, touch furry beasts, and pan for gold (pyrite, of  course).

Touching Furry Things

Panning for Gold

The city has lots of fun things to see and do, like visiting the local zoo, boating, or fishing off the bridge. It also has plenty of shops for tourists (didn't we once call them tourist traps?) But where else can you get that mug with a bear climbing up its side?

Unfortunately, last week's eclipse took a toll on the Camp Oaks gathering of RTMC astronomers. Not only was less than a third of the usual turnout present, leaving campsites veritably empty, but the vendors left early, too. Meade, Celestron and Televue were still on the field, but telescopes weren't.

A Field Devoid of Telescopes and Campers

 In spite of the disappointing turnout, the conferences proved as well prepared as ever. Astrophotography talks, reviews of last week's solar eclipse, and a talk about favorite binocular targets abounded. One well attended event prepared folks for the upcoming Venus transit of the sun. Venus will be skittering across the upper quadrant of the sun around three PM pacific daylight time on June 5. It should be visible in binoculars.
Want to take a picture of it? As Charles Morris (JPL's comet hunter) mentions, the trick with photographing solar events is to get your finger off that shutter button. Most solar view snapshots, even through protective solar filters, tend to be overexposed. Nevertheless, even most the most amateur of amateurs will try to take pictures in the weirdest ways with current easy to use electronic devices like Iphones. Here's my Iphone shot through my binocular. (And yes, I used a solar filter purchased from Rainbow Symphony, Inc.)

Through the Looking Glass

Hopefully next week's Venus transit will prove equally good.