In article ,
"Mark & Roslyn Elkington" wrote:

A few impressions I've picked up having been at or heard about various
public viewings...

[snipped underwhelmed comments]

Sounds like last Saturday night at Fremont Peak.

That's more like it:
- "Wow, I'm actually looking at another planet"

Those are the ones who are more likely to come back.

People having been turning up in droves at local observatories to view Mars.
As much as I've enjoyed viewing Mars regularly myself, I can see why the
casual observer might be underwhelmed, and a bit disillusioned with amateur
astronomy. In retrospect, circumstances permitting, I think people should
also be treated to a side-serving a nice globular, open cluster, double,
filtered nebula, and optional galaxy or moon view.

Near the Fremont Peak observatory (30" amateur reflector), several
other scopes were set up, ranging from 18" dobs and 7" Astro Physics
refractors to 5" Maks and 3" refractors...and clusters of visitors
drifting through looking at Mars and various DSOs. There were something
like 400 people holding numbered tickets for a chance to look through
the 30".

Meanwhile, up at the upper parking lot, a few others had set
up, from a 15" Obsession and a couple of 8-11" SCTs, to binoculars
and a dusty Astroscan. (It's all I have right now.) A lot of visitors
wandering through the lot, looking at the moon, mars, various clusters,
nebulae, galaxies, and whatnot.

Part of the problem is that there's quite a knack to planetary observation
(I'm told :-) -- eking out detail, pausing for those snapshots of seeing.
Bright clusters and the moon, for example, are much more obvious to the
untrained eye.

Your mileage may well vary -- I'd be interested to hear.

A couple of people stopped late in the evening (well, late for
the small kids in tow) to comment on how *nice* everyone was...this
looked like something that would be fun to do. Globular clusters
and some planetary nebulae seemed to elicit the strongest responses
all night.