[meteorite-list] Astronomy Day outreach

[Linton Rohr]

Good day list,
One of my local astronomy clubs held an Astronomy Day event at the local 
library yesterday. In addition to the usual evening star party, there were 
afternoon presentations inside. Outside the entrance, I set up my solar 
scope and a table full of meteorites. Along with the display cases, I had a 
substantial sized NWA stone and a Gibeon iron for folks to hold onto and 
examine. After all, my sign says "METEORITES - See and Touch Rocks from 
Space!". I did try to keep the membrane-cased Esquell slice in my own grasp, 
though. ;^)
I had several hundred visitors, mostly families, over the course of 5 hours. 
The level of interest was quite high. Most of them (all?) had never seen a 
meteorite before. I tried to explain to all the three main types, and then 
go into other  topics depending on what they seemed to be most interested 
in. The Lunar and Martian box attracted a lot of attention. I told a lot of 
hammer-tales as well, with Peekskill, Claxton, Sylacauga, New Orleans, Park 
Forest, etc. on hand. The historic pieces, such as Weston, Ensisheim, 
L'Aigle and Orgueil made for further conversation, for those with sufficient 
attention span.
To my surprise, not a single person mentioned the Meteorite Men show.
I had a great time sharing my collection, my (limited, but growing) 
knowledge, and stimulating young minds.
Linton