A couple nights ago I gathered with some friends in the country and put my new little telescope thru it's paces. I've got a Celestron NexStar 5 inch telescope with wonderful go-to capabilities. We had a great time and saw many beautiful celestial objects.
The go-to is so decadent. I use to have to know where I wanted to look in the sky as well as what I wanted to look at. Now, with go-to, I only need to know what I want to observe. A friend with binoculars was tenacious about find the same objects. Of course she used my 'scope as a clue, but she sometimes had to really search the sky. Is that a skill that will be lost with go-to-capability? Will it matter?
My scope also tells a little information about the selected celestial objects. At the beginning of the evening I would read and paraphrase what the computer said for my friends standing around. Would you tell them that you're reading from the computer or let them continue to think think you're that knowledgeable? When does it become deception?
We had a great time with a near-first-quarter moon, M42, Mars and Saturn, lots of questions, lots of friends plus much more.
Some of my favorite questions at this star party:
1. Do I believe in aliens?
2. Can stars change over time?
3. Why did NASA secretly crash a probe onto the far side of the Moon to look for water?
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