|
I remember scaring the hell out of the Milkman at 4 in the morning with my bazooka / balaclava combo (AKA 60mm refractor and sensible astronomy attire).
* Seeing SN1987a. Long as I live I'll surely never see a supernova that close again.
* Going down to the Coorong to try and find Comet Halley when it wasn't supposed to be that good yet. In fact it turned out to be the best time to see it.
*Massive fireball lighting up the Stockport star party like day. Completely ruined our dark adaption, but we didn't mind.
*quite recently, actually, managing to photograph detail on Mars. I didn't think it possible without a proper astrophotography setup.
*getting to know the neighbours just by standing in the front yard at night with a telescope. Haven't met these people in all the years I've lived here. Now all of a sudden I know most of them because people simply can't resist chatting to a dude with a telescope for some reason. Makes the street feel safer too.
*taking my son's primary school class to talk about the transit of Venus, Captain Cook, and projecting the event with my 8" Dob for all to see to little cries of 'wow' and 'awesome'! Scored big brownie points with my son for that one. :-)
|