The Astronomical League defines "Astronomy Day" as a grass roots movement to share the joy of astronomy with the general population - "Bringing Astronomy to the People." On Astronomy Day, thousands of people who have never looked through a telescope will have an opportunity to see first hand what has so many amateur and professional astronomers all excited."
On April 21, 2007, the Oglethorpe Astronomical Association held its Annual Astronomy Day Event at the Tybee Beach Pavilion/Pier, at Tybee Island, GA. Here is a photo display of our event.
The exhibit area, telescope display, and kid's coloring contest, was located in the Pavilion area. There were over a half dozen telescopes set up on the pier for viewing the sun (white light), moon, Venus, and Saturn during the day. There were also several Ha telescopes for special solar viewing. Numerous telescopes were also set-up for observing night time objects later on in the evening.
Here are some pictures of the Pavilion area:
Here are some pictures of the Pier area:
Here are some pictures of a couple that got married on Astronomy Day
Here are some pictures of nightime observing on the pier:
Thanks go to all of the OAA members and folks that helped make this a very successful event! We had over 1500 people to stop by and visit our displays, and view through the telescopes. The Astronomical League awarded the OAA "Best for Its Size" for its 2007 Astronomy Day Event.
The Oglethorpe Astronomical Association received the Astronomical League/Sky & Telescope "Astronomy Day Award" in 1997, 2000, and again in the year 2003. The OAA also received "Honorable Mention" awards for its 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2006 Astronomy Day Events. The OAA tied with another group for "Quality Event Year After Year Category" for its 2002 Astronomy Day.