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Astronomy, you won’t know until you try
I sold my old 10” dob late last year to my daughters father-in-law as he had some interest in astronomy ( only reading books etc..) and wanted to take the next step.
He wasn’t confident at all using the telescope ( even though I showed him previously, in the day time, plus gave him notes etc... )so it stayed in his garage for months and months
He asked me recently could I come over on a clear night and do some observing. So last light I went over to his place and we rolled the scope out into his backyard ( it’s on a flat trolley).I suggested he try everything himself first, select an eye piece, use finder , star hop , point and find , focus etc....and I’ll guide and help
He was absolutely amazed when he found Omega Centauri, like a kid in a lolly shop !!
He’s nearly 70 years of age
He went on to look at few bright stars , Jupiter with moons , Saturn and a few others
He was totally hooked !!
I gave him the link to Cloud Free Night , so at the end of our observing session we had a cup of tea inside out of the cold and he’s eagerly checking on his iphone to see when the next clear night will be. I also asked him to download Stellarium on his laptop to assist in finding objects , again he was amazed at the detail in this planetarium.
I suppose the moral to the story is “Astronomy, you won’t know until you try“
It’s great to see a man of his age with such excitement and enthusiasm. That telescope could have stayed in the garage for years and years never to be used , but something clicked and prompted him to ask me to come over.
A great night for both of us !
An Amazing hobby !!
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