When looking at the star and realising how vast it all is, it puts everything back into perspective and all the everyday problems go away because they don't look so important anymore. So it's a good let out and total break from work and everything else... pure bliss. ... then the bloody thing beeps and stops tracking ... back to reality ...
I also like how it makes me realise how most of the crap we fight about and kill each other over on this planet is just futile and insignificant compared to the grandeur out there. It gives me a great (I think anyway) perspective on life in general and allows me to rationalise and prioritise the hurdles I encounter in life. I no longer fear death, knowing that one day I will again be apart of a star and there is something deeply calming in that for me.
Why do I love it? The Science. My Dad, until he retired about 10 years ago, was a High School Science teacher for about 25 years. Naturally his passion for Science rubbed off an me I can't get enough of it.
The thing which has got me hooked is the sheer size of the Universe and the unlimited possibilities.
Carl Sagan did a great job of summing it up with the "Pale Blue Dot", but think Monty Python did a pretty stand up job too:
Well, apart from the hot chicks, I just love the challenge of finding something. Setting up outside with a goal to see an object and then planning how to get there, then following the charts and when you see an object and it matches what you were expecting, its a big thrill. Those few mintes after finding an elusive object are really sweet.
I guess the above explains why am keen on completing lists of challenges, just about finished the Messier catalogue, about to start on the Caldwells, then onto the Hartung list. I just like tidy lists!
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... then the bloody thing beeps and stops tracking 
... back to reality 
... 
