National Stargazing days.

[John Baars]

Every year around the end of February the National Stargazing days are organised in the Netherlands. In the whole country observatories open their doors, and many individuals put up their telescopes in city centers for side-walk- astronomy. A sort of National Outreach.
As I belong to observatory Rijswijk, we put up our telescopes at a Petanque-club in Rijswijk. The observatory is far too small for so many visitors.

Of course I was there and I was the only participant with an Alt/Az mounted 102mm f/5 refractor. I had the telescope trimmed on Polaris, so there was no need for tracking. Many folks were surprised that Polaris is not the brightest star in the sky. I showed the public how to find Polaris with the well known starhop from Dubhe to the Polar Star. And the ring of Polaris of course. In the Bortle 8 sky the double of Alpha Umi wasn't visible in the 4 inch, pity. Two visitors knew that Polaris isn't exactly in the North. They asked me to show the real North Pole in the sky. Luckily I knew the right spot, from my oldschool days of polar alignment. As they could see there is no star over there.

https://www.rodi.nl/rijswijk/cultuur/33 ... rrendagen-

Translation:
Record number of visitors in Rijswijk at National Stargazingdays 2023
Sat Feb 25, 22:10 Culture
During the National Stargazing Days on the weekend of Feb. 24 and 25, the Rijswijk Observatory set up seven of its telescopes next to De Schilp at ABA on Schaapweg. Especially on the bright Saturday evening, they received a record number of nearly 200 visitors, including very many children.

By Robert Heijdemann

"The Star Days are the longest-running astronomical public event in our country, which is all about discovering and experiencing the starry sky over the Netherlands," says board member Annelies Zwanenberg.

13 floors
The observatory of Stichting Sterrewacht Rijswijk is located on the roof of the 12-story Jupiterflat on the outskirts of Rijswijk. "We also organize many activities there, such as public days and courses. But since five years we have been using the building and outdoor space of the Rijswijk Petanque Club ABA," Annelies continues. "There we have more space and also not everyone has to take the elevator to the thirteenth floor. Inside at ABA are the presentations and outside members let visitors look through the telescopes."

"OneToday"
The Rijswijk Observatory is nationally known. "In December we were still on NPO's "OneToday" and shortly afterwards TV West made a report," adds Annelies. There is also a lot of contact with the other observatories. In the summer, Belgian colleagues will come. "Especially on the Saturday evening, there was a big run of interested people. One of them even came specially from Amersfoort." The Observatory is also well known among Rijswijkers. At the Strandwalfestival they are there with a solar telescope. During the day it is too bright for the stars and planets. But the sun - if not too cloudy - can be seen well.

Popular hobby
Stargazing has been popular for years. The Rijswijk Observatory has existed for more than 50 years. The members therefore possess a lot of knowledge.
The two-day Basic Astronomy Course is given regularly. Many astronomical topics are explained, such as the solar system, how telescopes work and distances to the stars and planets.

Roof terrace
On the roof of the Jupiterflat is also a roof terrace. "On the roof terrace there is a beautiful view of the surroundings and excellent views of the starry sky. There is also plenty of room to set up telescopes. The dome houses the Observatory's large computer-controlled telescope."

Public evenings
The Observatory is open to the public on the first and third Friday evenings. When the weather is clear, celestial bodies can be observed with the telescopes. This is only when the weather is clear and also not in summer, when it is still light until late.

More activities
The Rijswijk Observatory also participates in other national activities. Such as the Night of the Night on October 28, 2023, when hundreds of companies and municipalities turn off the lights so that the stars become visible, and the Weekend of Science, October 7 and 8. And during meteor rains, they will count meteors in the field.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[helicon]

The Netherlands really seems to know what it is doing with regards to Outreach and the national day of darkness "Night of the night". Fabulous John.

[Lady Fraktor]

That sounds like a very nice evening John.
The observatory seems to have a good outreach program.

[messier 111]

seem like very informative , thx .

[Bigzmey]

Excellent! I hope some of the visitors got hooked and pick up astronomy.

[Makuser]

Hi John. This is just a fantastic report from you. It was a wonderful outreach program and received a large turnout. Thanks for sharing your nicely detailed report of this event and it looks like everyone had a great and educational time.

[Ylem]

What a nice outreach program! We need more of this

[kt4hx]

Outstanding John. Sounds like a great experience and good to see that level of national effort.

[Unitron48]

Fantastic National outreach, John! Thanks for a great report!!

Dave

[jrkirkham]

That does sound like a fun and productive activity.

[Frankskywatcher]

Thinking about this John, John Dobson would be very proud!
I have noticed that all the things that interest me like Amateur Astronomy,Amateur Radio,playing a musical instrument ( highland bagpipe) for the most part doesn’t attract young people to any of these hobbies.
Outreach like what you are referring to IMHO is what is needed to help keep interest alive,I hope you enjoyed your day and thanks for sharing with us.