We received about 40 people, ranging in age from 8 to 70. Twenty visitors to begin with, later it became forty. The large 14 inch telescope was aimed at M13. On the observation terrace, our 130mm Astrophysics, along with other telescopes, was focused on Saturn and Jupiter.
As an opening, there was a talk by me about the invention of the telescope by Hans Lipperhey, preceded by my "birth" as an amateur on the roof of my parents' house. On the attached slide you can see that fragment of the "roof story" I always start with the ominous words: " When I was 15 years old my mother always heard, when it was clear, footsteps on the roof". The effect on the youngest audience is great: a deep silence always falls. Great is the relief when my mother discovers that it is me there on that roof and that she agrees to let me do this more often from now on, as long as she is informed.
For the Lipperhey demonstration I have a youngster from the audience judge whether you get a nice image with two simple lenses in your hands. So, no. Then I put them in a tube and reduce the
The observing dome was filled in four shifts with 10 people at a time. On the observing terrace the "oh's" , "ah's" and "wows" flew through the air. Some thought we had stuck a picture in front of the refractor. But also the amazement about the moons and cloud bands of Jupiter was great. As was awe at the large globular cluster M13.
Except for one small incident everything went well. A little boy thought he had to climb into the telescope to see his own reflection. ( result: telescope out of alignment, a startled telescope mountaineer, no damage but 10 minutes of re-alignment delay) No harm done. The audience went home satisfied. They happy, we happy.