Training ArcelorMittal Science Centre

The need for science education in South Africa is of paramount importance and there are a few passionate people willing to impart this knowledge, more so than others, Tebogo Habedi from the ArcelorMittal Science Centre Newcastle.

I met Tebogo in 2022 during an Astronomy event in Newcastle and her need for a telescope to do astronomy outreach was discussed. I work as sales and technical adviser for Celestron in South Africa and quickly assessed the type of equipment required for the outreach program.

We supplied a Celestron CPC 800 XLT GPS go to telescope, this range of telescopes sports a dual fork arm with precision motors and a built in GPS to assist with quicker alignment in the field. The optics are superb and have the Celestron proprietary Starbright XLT coating for clearer and brighter views of celestial objects.

A custom case was designed to fit the telescope, tripod and other accessories required to complete the function of the telescope. Several additional items supplied included 2 Celestron Powertanks and a ZWO ASI585MC planetary camera.

In April of 2023 we travelled to Newcastle to deliver the telescope kit and to train Tebogo and her team. We met with a crowd of enthusiastic people and spent an afternoon getting to know each other and did an assembly demo and a training session on how to assemble the kit.

The following day was spent on revision of the lessons from the day before and then we did a practical session. The team learnt how to align the finderscope of the telescope and then we spent time on the various alignment features of the Celestron CPC 800 telescope. The easiest method being a Solar System align was first on the agenda as we had an almost full moon rising in the east.

Once the team grasped the concept, they quickly learnt how to do the Auto 2-star alignment method which is the most accurate method for the Celestron go-to telescopes. And then the fun started!

Once Tebogo saw the Moon through the telescopes’ eye piece she started grabbing unwary passers-by to come and see the views through the telescope. Many were startled but soon a small crowd gathered to come see the spectacle.