Frank reviewing an attendee's telescopeOn Saturday, January 17th, Frank Dibbell of the Cameron Park Rotary Club Community Observatory presented a wonderfully informative clinic on how telescopes work at the Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nevada. Using a beta version of a demonstration kit, Frank took several groups of enthusiastic kids through a step-by-step introduction to both the workings of a refractive and reflective telescopes. First, Frank demonstrated how a convex lens is able to bring a lighted image (in this case, a moon shape) to a focus point just light a refracting telescope. Second, using a pair of mirrors, he showed how a reflecting telescope such as a Newtonian telescope works. The demonstrations were simple but compelling in their ability to communicate both concepts.

Frank explaining how a lens bends lightOver the course of the afternoon, several families attended the telescope clinic at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences. It was the first event in a series presented by Space Science for Schools to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy. It's been 400 years since Galileo studied the night skies through the telescopes he made.

Frank showing how a real reflecting telescope worksIt was fun to see the enthusiasm of these young students who were clearly engaged in this learning experience. As part of the clinic, attendees were encouraged to bring in their own scopes to ask questions or seek help with them. It is safe to say that a fun time was had by all.