I setup my telescopes at ConClave 38, a Science Fiction Convention in Detroit Michigan (Oct. 10-12, 2014). Saturday evening, while I was setting up outside the hotel lobby, there was a teenage girl waiting in the backseat a car, watching me with curiosity.

Girl: “What are you doing?”
Me: “Setting up my telescope.”
Girl: “Really? What are you looking at?”
Me: “The Moon!” I point east to the rising waning gibbous Moon.
Girl: “Really? Can I see?”
Me: “Certainly… please do.”

Girl: “Oh my GOD! Ohmygodohmygod! Look at that! I’ve NEVER seen anything like that before!”

Those words… they resonated through my head…

“I’ve NEVER seen anything like that before!”
“I’ve NEVER seen anything like that before!”
“I’ve NEVER seen anything like that before!”

And I kinda snapped.

Me: “Ya SEE… THAT’S my problem… How long did it take for you to feel completely AWED there? A couple seconds, maybe?”
Girl: <kinda confused> “Yea…”
Me: “And how easy was looking through that?
Girl: <laughs>“Pretty easy.”
Me: “Why aren’t you getting that in SCHOOL?”
Girl: <eyes widen> “I dunno…”
Me: “I wanna FIX that!”
Girl: “That was really cool, thank you!”
Me: “You are most welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!”

As she got back into her car, it ht me… Time after time, when people look thru my ‘scope at the Moon or Sun, I hear people exclaim: “Oh WOW!” “Holy Sh*t!” and the rare “Holy F!” I’m witnessing them experiencing moments of AWE.

I bring people moments of AWE – and it’s intoxicating!

FEMA also had a large contingent at the same hotel; While I was observing the moon, a few FEMA folks came outside for a smoke-break. I invited them over – one woman was practically flipping out at how amazing the view was.

AWE. Yup.

While I was setup to view the moon, a gentleman from the Puerto Rico Astronomy Society, who was also at the hotel, came over to chat with me! I had about 20 or so con-goers come out to view the moon; a couple people stayed and chatted with me almost the entire time I stayed out. I think they liked seeing people’s reactions too!

Intoxicating AND contagious…

Saturday and Sunday afternoon, I setup my solar telescope; a good number of people got to see a beautiful prominence both days. There were a few filaments that were very obvious too.

I have a binder with photos of the Sun, and some “how it works” images. I rifle thru this as people are observing, explaining what they are seeing. While I was out, a con-goer mentioned that “This is a better display they they had in Baltimore! I’m glad to see someone doing this at Midwest conventions.” I’m not sure what they have in Baltimore, but I was glad to hear of someone else doing this at SF conventions too. We need to network!

There was one lonely sunspot on Saturday, but it was very well defined with a clearly visible penumbra. Sunday afternoon, a second sunspot was just coming into near the limb of the Sun. One gentleman spotted the a tiny little pore next to the larger sunspot.

Friday night, I lectured about the Moon; near the end of the lecture, I was talking about the LADEE mission to the Moon, and showed the following image:

This just brought the house down… It was difficult to finish up due to the continuous laughter! Unfortunately, it was mostly overcast Friday night, after my lecture, so I didn’t set up my ‘scope.

Saturday morning, I lectured about the Sun, and in the afternoon I tag-team lectured with my buddy and fellow volunteer NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador Bill Higgins In our lecture, “Ramble Around the Solar System With Us” we covered various active space missions, and goings-on around interplanetary space. Saturday night, I gave an ever-evolving presentation: “Your Sky Tonight” – where I discuss light pollution, things you can see in the sky tonight and in the morning, where some of those things you’ve seen pretty pictures of ARE in the sky, and what they really look like thru a telescope. I also discuss telescope types and purchasing, astronomy clubs and societies in the area, and local astronomy events including the Kensington Astronomy at the Beach event.

All in all, a good bit of Astronomy Outreach at ConClave. My next scheduled SF convention is ConFusion 2015 in Dearborn Michigan.