Star Gazing

This weekend my friend Angela and I drove west of town in an effort to participate in one of the weekly "star parties" the local astronomy club hosts at their tiny observatory. (this fulfilled #96 on my 101 list) It was scheduled for "dusk" and we had directions that involved a lot of gravel roads, mileage tracking, and left turns. Since I had no real expecations I wasn't disappointed. What I didn't realize is how long these events can last... we were there for a couple hours before we decided to call it a night... and a starry one at that! (we inadvertantly selected a moon-free night!) The first thing we saw was Jupiter and four of its moons. Unfortunately it looked more like this in our telescope... Then we strolled outside and looked at the emerging constellations as the darkness began to settle. I was able to immediately identify the only two I am ever able to identify... The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia. Anita, one of our hosts, pointed out the Northern Cross using this cool laser pointer thing! Then she explained how to find The Little Dipper which has always seemed much less clear to me. Several other telescopes were set up and we had a chance to view some planetary nebulas and one called M13. One of my favorite moments in the evening... a close second to the viewing of Jupiter (a planet, near and dear to my heart) was the statement overheard as we began to move back inside the observatory... "Thanks for bringing out your appartus for the rest of us to enjoy." Pause. Let that sink in. Back inside we viewed a few more things and one of those was the Swan Nebula (also known as M17, Omega and sometimes the Horseshoe). This looked more like this when we viewed it. I have always loved the night sky and perhaps that is because I grew up in the country where it was plainly visible and I frequently experienced the Northern Lights. Now such a treat is rare and I am forever seeking those elusive wonders.

I bought a book a few years ago that is right on my level of expertise in space studies. Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey (yes, that's the fellow who wrote about the clever little monkey and the man in the yellow hat). It is full of hand-drawn illustrations rather than actual photographs but something about the style of the book really appeals to me. This whole idea of stargazing spun me back into the past and brought me back to 1986 and my first viewing of the film Space Camp starring Kate Capshaw, Tate Donovan, Kelly Preston, Lea Thompson and more. Now this was a film that made me want to select astronomy as my career field. Too bad someone told me that I could never be an astronaut with less than perfect eyesight. I don't even know if that is true. If it was a cruel lie then whoever told me that shouldn't feel too bad about crushing my young hopes and dreams, I was still wavering on joining up with the Children's Television Workshop in order to be on Sesame Street. Ahhhh... another unfulfilled dream.