The Sweaty Stargazer: Zerg Rush!

Have you ever experienced the lovely sight and sounds of hordes of children crowding around you and your telescope, eagerly waiting for you to show them what was promised? Have you ever had a near-death experience as your shirt nearly gets ripped apart by scores of little human beings wanting to see Jupiter?

I did.

If you have played PC games from the Star Craft franchise, you would know what a "Zerg Rush" is. It truly felt like that.

Zerg Rush, a tactic used by Zerg players to engulf their opponent with waves of weak but quick creatures. Picture for illustration purpose, no kids were harmed.

I don't exactly know how to put it in words but it had a terrifying yet cute vibe to it. Seeing how these little kids were so enthusiastic about something they barely knew existed was sure an intriguing sight to me. That, I believe, is the aim of any amateur sidewalk astronomer - to awe you with the knowledge that such worlds exist.

This was an event that we undertook at the request of My First Skool, a kindergarten at Toa Payoh. Gary and I were there at about 6pm and we started setting up. He was in-charge of the presentation and so he was busy with the multimedia system and I was deploying the telescope, ready to be moved to the outdoors once the presentation was over.

Big mistake. We didn't factor in how hyperactive kids could be when they see something new and exciting to them. They were rushing towards the setup and "molesting" the equipment at will. We had to constantly monitor the projector, laptop and telescope which could very possibly be wrecked by their little adventure. Besides, there were wires lying about on the ground connecting the laptop to the projector - we were worried that they may trip and fall while running about.

Then 7pm came and the event started. Gary gave his presentation to the kids and their parents who were all seated on the floor. I was figuratively biting my nails, hoping this all goes well. Once again, kids being kids, their attention span was shorter than their last toe. Some kids were up and running about, some kids took toys from the shelf to play, some kids were screaming at each other, one even rolled on the floor crying when his toy got snatched by another kid. It all went Metallica about 15 minutes after the event had started. It seemed that the parents and teachers were unable to handle them and I really thought of calling in the riot police.

Talking to the ex-students from the kindergarten whose younger siblings are also in the same school.
Photo credit: Gary

About to start with the presentation.

The calm before the storm.

Gary's presentation.

After Gary's talk had ended, I waited for everyone to exit the school before moving the telescope outside for the LIVE stargazing segment. That was when the "Zerg Rush" began. The crowd started to cluster around me once the telescope was set down to view Jupiter. The heat was building up so much that I was perspiring without even doing anything. I got a little edgy and told the parents that the session can't proceed if they didn't form an orderly queue.

Thankfully, it all went well shortly after. Uncle Wayne and Hong Lian came to join us. Uncle Wayne was busy snapping nice pictures of the event while Hong Lian was deploying his 127mm Mak nearby. If I am not mistaken, I think Hong Lian's children were also from the same kindergarten. Overall, it was a wonderful night with Jupiter brightly lit up in the sky. The families got their thirst for knowledge quenched and the headmaster and teachers were glad that the event was a success.

Although it was daunting to have had so many children as our audience, we are truly honoured that My First Skool had selected us to do an event for them. If there's such an opportunity again in the future, I will still take the job and show the kids what they can see in the sky. That being said, we will come better prepared.

The orderly queue that I requested for.
Photo credit: Gary

Kept having to realign the telescope as the kids pushed it by accident.
Photo credit: Uncle Wayne

Hong Lian in action.
Photo credit: Uncle Wayne

Awesome view from the 127mm Mak.
Photo credit: Uncle Wayne

I think Gary was showing them an astronomy app on his phone.
Photo credit: Uncle Wayne

My young Padawans.
Photo credit: Uncle Wayne

After the event had ended, Uncle Wayne was kind enough to drive Gary and I to United Square at Novena to conduct an impromptu and unannounced astronomy outreach session there. We wanted to give that place a try because there is a 24-hour Starbucks beside which holds a teenage crowd during the weekends. We took a break and had some drinks before we moved out to deploy our telescopes. Uncle Wayne was gracious to stay on and took pictures of the sidewalk event. One interesting thing I learnt that night, was that Jupiter is called "Mok Seng" in Korean when I overheard a group of Koreans chatting when they came over to look at Jupiter through the telescope. "Mok Seng", which incidentally, is the Cantonese word for Jupiter too!

Uncle Wayne left later while both Gary and I stayed until Saturn was visible. I tested the view of the ringed planet using my 102mm Kenko refractor. It was decent with Cassini Division somewhat visible when the magnification is being pushed to 160 times and the planet is high in the sky.

We packed up and left at about 4am. I have got to say, that was the most tiring astronomy outreach I have ever done in my entire 4 years of doing outreach sessions. It has been 2 days since and yet my body is still recuperating from the exhaustion.