julianh72
22-03-2014, 01:55 AM
So tonight we had our first clear sky in Brisbane for what seems to be an age - and the first time since I bought my "new" (second-hand) 90 mm short-tube refractor telescope. Viewing conditions were far from perfect, but at least there were virtually no clouds.
I've just spent a couple of very satisfactory hours looking at Jupiter, Orion, various globular clusters and open clusters, Mars, the Moon ... and then I remembered Saturn had risen ...
Wow!
I've seen Saturn before, many years ago, and I remember being knocked out, but this was my first look for many years. Straight away, I remembered that this is why astronomy can be such an addictive hobby.
Right now, I'm just so happy with my purchase, and so excited to share with my family. I got my two teenage daughters out of bed for their first look at Saturn. Without any prompting from me, both knew exactly what they were looking at, and for both of them, their first utterance was "Wow"!
I have a reputation with my daughters (and their friends) of being some sort of uber-nerd, but both of them actually admitted that it was "pretty cool".(As anyone with teenage daughters can attest, that is high praise indeed!)
Okay, I know this isn't exactly "news", but I just wanted to share the joy of that first "Wow!" moment - even though it wasn't strictly speaking my first "Wow!" moment.
I've just spent a couple of very satisfactory hours looking at Jupiter, Orion, various globular clusters and open clusters, Mars, the Moon ... and then I remembered Saturn had risen ...
Wow!
I've seen Saturn before, many years ago, and I remember being knocked out, but this was my first look for many years. Straight away, I remembered that this is why astronomy can be such an addictive hobby.
Right now, I'm just so happy with my purchase, and so excited to share with my family. I got my two teenage daughters out of bed for their first look at Saturn. Without any prompting from me, both knew exactly what they were looking at, and for both of them, their first utterance was "Wow"!
I have a reputation with my daughters (and their friends) of being some sort of uber-nerd, but both of them actually admitted that it was "pretty cool".(As anyone with teenage daughters can attest, that is high praise indeed!)
Okay, I know this isn't exactly "news", but I just wanted to share the joy of that first "Wow!" moment - even though it wasn't strictly speaking my first "Wow!" moment.