The wonderous Night Sky

                                          The Amazing wonders of the Night Sky



         This last year, I have been privileged to own a telescope.  For me, my love affair with the night sky began when I was in sixth grade (a long time ago).  I remember it as though it were yesterday, I went to school with really no plan except to try to listen to a boring teacher.

         When I got there, we were told we had a speaker.  He was a man from the museum of Natural History in Akron, Ohio; he came in with visual aids. 

         He brought with him, amazing pictures of the Universe.  I was enthralled!  I went home and promptly asked my parents for a telescope and of course I got a no.

         But that did not stop me!  The man had said, a pair of binoculars would work.  So I took my babysitting money and bought a very, very, inexpensive(cheap was more like it) pair and would go out into my backyard and look at the moon, the stars, etc.

         For years I kept a pair of binoculars with me, as I moved all over the country, the one thing that remained was my love for the night sky.

         As I turned fifty, and for once, got a half way decent tax return and also for the one and only time, I had no plans for it.  I spoke to several people into Astronomy and was connected to a lady by the name of Kathy.  She and I got together and she showed me a dobsonian telescope that I could afford.

         She also recommended that I go to an observatory and meet the members of the Denver Astronomical Society.  I eventually became a member.  Once a month everyone would meet at Observatory park and I fell in love with the beautiful massive telescope inside the dome.  There I met a quite a few knowledgeable people, who shared with me their wonderful experiences with the night sky.

         I started out looking from my house in Westminster.  The night I found Jupiter for the first time, and saw it's four moons, I was so amazed and so excited I just had to tell someone!

         So I called my dad and told him I found Jupiter!  His response was “I didn't know it was lost.” then he hung up the phone.  You see he lived in Akron, Ohio and I called him from Westminster Colorado, it was two am here and 4 am there. However, from that moment, I was hooked!

           This summer, I worked a deal with the City of Longmont, that if I was allowed to go look at the stars from a  reservoir near my house, I would show the campers the night sky. 

         It became so popular that now I am featured in the bulletin they put out and have been written up in the Longmont Times Call, I made the front page!

         What I do, is drive up to each camper and ask them “You want to do something cool tonight?(you wouldn't believe the looks I get) then I tell them I brought my telescope.  They still don't get very excited until they see it. It is an eight inch reflector and is taller that most of the kids.

        You have no idea what a thrill it is for me, as well as everyone else to see the rings of Saturn, to see the planet Mars and know we have the rovers there!  The moon is spectacular during first quarter and waning.  To see the craters up close and personal is an experience that can not be described, it has to be experienced. 

         To see the king of the planets, Jupiter, with it's moons, and then to track their progress throughout the night and see them change position is an amazing event!  To start out with three then watch as the fourth comes out from behind the planet is an extraordinary event.

         I have seen the craters of the moon up close and personal, in my scope.  I have had people break down in tears, as they see the amazing beauty that is up, in our night sky. To see nebula in star clusters like a veil waving across a black sky is an incredible experience that if you have the opportunity, DO IT.

                I have been showing people the Andromeda galaxy, the double cluster in Persius(two clusters of stars 7,720 billion light years from here) how neat is that!

          Now we have the most spectacular, the Pleaides or commonly known as the seven sisters.  In a dark sky they appear as a cloud!  With a pair of binoculars you can see it's awesome, amazing,  beauty!

         There are very few things that I have found that excite me as much as going out any night that is clear and just looking at whats up there.  I have seen meteors falling, before they hit our atmosphere, is that not too cool!

         There is a constellation in Cassiopea that I call “the bat”  It has two very bright stars as the eyes,it has star clusters that look like wings on both sides and a skinny little body, the kids like the bat the best!

         Orion is coming in two weeks!  The spectacular sword in his belt is the most amazing thing I have ever seen, it is a birth place of stars. Currently it is being studied by the Univeristy of Arizona and The University of Colorado in Boulder. It is so hot that you can see the nebula rising from it's center of the four major stars inside!

                I love showing our Universe to those who have never seen it, and I never get bored with it's awe inspiring beauty!  In the words of another, Jack Horkimeir, "Keep looking up!"