As part of a Europe-wide event and inspired by Ben Stiller’s recent film Night At The Museum, last night two of the museums around Aberdeen threw open their doors to the public for an evening of family friendly activities. Alongside bat detectors and glowlamp making I was there at the Zoology Museum with other members of the Aberdeen Astronomical Society to run a session of public stargazing.

With the summer now well advancing the remarkably clear sky was still fairly light even as people started to arrive at around 10:30pm. Despite this we were able to show them views of the moon and Saturn through telescopes and binoculars all of which elicited responses of delight and amazement. As the twilight advanced the stars began to twinkle overhead and we got people to identify the constellations of Leo, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia and Bootes.

During the evening people came up to ask a variety of questions and also where they could find out more about the stars. We were able to direct them to a variety of resources as well as suggest they come along to one of our meetings in the Autumn. It was all very encouraging, particularly to see so much enthusiasm for astronomy from both children and parents and everyone in between.