A man in Arizona has offered trick-or-treaters a glimpse of Jupiter and Saturn instead of candy. Andrew McCarthy, an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer told his Twitter followers with telescopes to “spread the love”.
“I just spent the whole night showing trick-or-treaters Saturn and Jupiter,” he wrote. “Watching them (and their parents) suddenly realize space is quite accessible is incredibly gratifying. Space is up there waiting for everyone to discover it.”
Another astronomer added that they have been doing the same.
The response on Twitter was largely positive, with very few complaints about a lack of candy.
“This is brilliant. I live in central London, and love looking at the sky from my roof terrace,” Anthony Teasdale replied. “Thing is: I’ve no idea what I’m looking at, and how the rotation of the earth is changing my view. I do need to educate myself on this.”
Well, Anthony, there are a number of apps available to help you locate stars and planets using your smartphone, some using augmented reality to highlight the star/planet you are looking for in the sky.
Home telescopes (if you have the money to pay for a decent one) have also moved on a lot from the days of fumbling around with star charts like you’re Galileo. Some will automatically locate any body of your choosing in the sky, though they may ask you to locate a bright star such as Polaris in the Northern Hemisphere.
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