Obi-Wan Kenobi

Observer's Note I have run public astronomy programmes on the Nice hillside for 9 years, and roughly 61,000 visitors have looked through an eyepiece under my watch. I plan the season's calendar, train the volunteer guides, and write the funding reports that keep the dome turning. Clouds have cancelled 214 of my evenings; I keep a list. J. Kenobi

Register of Observations

Career events entered as objects observed, with conditions of seeing at the time.

✹

Fig. 1 · bright nebula, well resolved

Nights of 2021 – present · Object: Head of Public Programmes

Observatoire de la Colline Verte · Nice

Seeing: II, steady Instrument: 500mm public refractor Meridian: 23h 41m local

Direct a team of 6 staff and 32 trained volunteers across 148 open nights per year.
Grew annual attendance from 5,400 to 9,800 visitors while keeping the entry fee at 6 euros.
Secured a 3-year regional grant of 240,000 euros for the dome refurbishment and a new solar filter rig.

☾

Fig. 2 · gibbous, terminator sharp

Nights of 2017 – 2021 · Object: Outreach Coordinator

Maison des Étoiles du Var · Toulon

Seeing: III, occasional tremor Instrument: portable 200mm Dobsonians, fleet of 8 Meridian: 22h 05m local

Ran a travelling telescope programme reaching 47 schools and 11,200 pupils across the département.
Wrote a 40-page guide for classroom Moon observation, adopted by 3 neighbouring associations.
Cut per-event setup time from 55 to 25 minutes with a packing checklist and labelled crates.

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Fig. 3 · double star, cleanly split

Nights of 2015 – 2017 · Object: Planetarium Presenter

Dôme Azur Planétarium · Marseille

Seeing: artificial sky, always clear Instrument: 12m dome projector Meridian: shows at 14h and 16h daily

Delivered 520 live shows over 2 years to audiences averaging 68 seats of an 80-seat dome.
Rewrote the children's programme script, lifting the post-show quiz score from 54% to 79%.

☄

Fig. 4 · faint comet, first sighting

Nights of 2013 – 2015 · Object: Assistant, Night Programmes

Cercle Astronomique de Grasse · Grasse

Seeing: IV, learning the mount Instrument: club 150mm reflector Meridian: 21h 18m local

Hosted the members' desk for 90 open evenings and logged 1,150 visitor questions in the club register.
Catalogued the club's 340-volume library and its slide archive of 2,600 plates.

Inventory of Instruments

Apparatus in regular use, with condition of the optics noted.

Public speaking & live narration

aperture ●●●●● · nightly use since 2015

Programme & season planning

aperture ●●●●● · 148 nights charted per year

Grant writing & reporting

aperture ●●●●○ · 6 awards, 410k euros total

Volunteer training

aperture ●●●●○ · 32 guides certified

Telescope operation & upkeep

aperture ●●●●○ · refractors, Dobsonians, solar rigs

French / English / Italian

aperture ●●●○○ · shows given in all three

Almanac of Study

Epoch 2011 – 2013

M.Sc. Science Communication · Université du Littoral Bleu, Nice. Thesis on eyepiece queue design at public star parties, sample of 1,400 visitors.

Epoch 2008 – 2011

B.Sc. Physics with Astronomy · Université de la Rade, Toulon. Final-year project on lunar limb timing, 14 nights of data.

Epoch 2019

Certificate, Dark-Sky Site Stewardship · Ligue du Ciel Noir. Lighting audit of 3 hillside communes.