First views that got you "hooked"!

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Always had an interest in Space and Astronomy from when I was a kid (another SciFi enthusiast here Jeannette ), used to read up everything I could find on it, but could never afford a scope or even bino's. First view was of the moon through a brass telescope on a lighthouse in the early 70,s. A dozen years later in Aus I got my first scope, a 60mm f15 refractor and saw Saturn, Jupiter, the jewel box and Orion and I was forever hooked.
So my list would be
1 The moon
2 Saturn
3 The Jewel Box
4 Orion Nebula
5 Omega Cent through the 20 inch at the Bunbury Observatory, that was the clincher

[StevenA (Steven)]

My first veiw that hooked me was with the naked eye. I saw a fireball on Dec 9th 2006 from my porch at about 21:00hrs EST (I had just packed my scope away and walked out again to practise finding constellations.) It was fantastic to say the least.

[meliux (Dan)]

firstly, I don't yet own a telescope, or even a pair of high-power binos (although I do intend to buy a 25x100 bino before christmas)... however my growing love of astronomy, much like others, has has been because of the following:

1. Streaming NasaTV - specifically watching for hours leading up to shuttle launches, ISS coverage, etc.
2. looking up at the sky and asking questions like "is there really that much dust that I can't see the bright centre of the milky way?" and investigating the answers.
3. KStars (and lately Stellarium... love the twinkling! hehe)
4. Hubblesite.org - specifically the NGC4038/4039 "Antennae" galaxies colliding. If you were on a life-supporting planet somewhere in there, just imagine what the view would be like at night. Wow.

jawdropping movie of the NGC4038/4039 Antennae galaxies... one view of this and I was hooked!
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/arc...06/46/video/a/

[MrB (Simon)]

For me it was:
#1
Halley in '86, I was 11.
Used to sneak out late at night/early morning with my younger brother (and grandad's expensive bino's), and walk a few houses down the road to a friends house.
Back then the streetlights used to turn off around midnight so it was brilliant, and exciting for young kids.

#2
SN1987A in '87(obviously ), I was 12.
This was a lone pursuit, again with grandad's bino's.

#3
Aurora Australis in ? (89,90,91??)
Mum used to drag my brother and I out of bed in the wee hours to see this, was awesome.
Never seen it since.

#4
Shoemaker-Levi 9/Jupiter in '94
Unfortunatelly, didn't have any bino's or a scope, or know anyone with either, so not viewed.... but loved all the mainstream news and mag coverage.

#5
Hale-Bopp in '97
Lived in a house on the beach at this time, used to sit there with beer in hand watching awesome sunsets over the Indian Ocean and Penguin Island, followed by HB. Good times.
No bino's or 'scope, but did build a rough as guts camera to take some photo's, still have the negs.

#6
P1 McNaught.
Awesome, awesome.

[Rick Petrie]

Have always had an enthusiastic passion for the night sky and my first real closeup of the moon and jupiter was on a surveying trip to Wee Waa in the sixties and setup our theodolite on a verandah and was amazed at the detail on the moon etc.
Since then I have not pursued a real interest until last August on my birthday I got a GSO 10" Dob and now I am totally into it.
Thanks to my wife and Deeno for finding the scope.

[IanT]

For my 13th Birthday, my parents bought me a 50 mm refractor by Royal Astro-Opt of Japan (which I still have in its original battered wooden box). This had remarkably good optics but sat on a tiny little metal tripod. I remember laying on the grass, peering up at Jupiter with my dog trying to lick my face. Now, 40 years later, the night sky is still a source of wonder and fun. In my minds eye, the view of Jupiter through the Royal back then was as good as it is now through my 12" Dob!
Cheers
Ian

[Fox]

SATURN! for me.
I had the most wonderful opportunity years ago when I took my scope (Genesis) over to a friends party, bonfire, BBQ etc. (mainly 20-30 year old Uni grads) and Saturn and Jupiter were brilliantly high. Although reluctant at first because I thought it might seem a bit too 'nerdy', they swayed me to set up the scope. The views of the gas giants floored everyone, period! Best of all, it was wondrous to witness the reactions of people who got their first view through a good telescope: "OMG, that's awesome...", "I'll never forget that in my whole life..." etc. etc. They simply couldn't believe it, for what they just thought were just typical bright stars turned into living globes with subtle planetary/weather detail... Fox!

[Jazza (Jay)]

I'll echo most sentiments here...
M42
Saturn
47 Tuc!
The moon

Those were the big'uns I think

[Mark]

I grew up at dark site that was literally so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Actually, that's not true. It was so dark that you could see your hand by starlight.

My earliest memories are of lying on the lawn or sitting on the front veranda using my naked eyes to soak in the heavens. I got my first scope, a department store 40mm f/? refractor with draw-tube focuser when I was about 10. It had a tiny tripod and I had to lie on my back and rest it against a post or other fixed object to view anything higher than about 30 degrees. I recall the only object i ever saw with it (other than the moon) was M31. At least I believe it was, now. Of course, I had no idea what it was at the time. The memory is so strong that I reckon I could stand on the veranda of that house and point to that exact point on the northern horizon, just above tree line. Unfortunately, that house has since burnt down. Bloody top memory, though. That was the moment I decided I would have a 'big telescope when I was all grown up'.

That was 34 years ago. I have big telescopes now. I must be all grown up.



Mark

[astro_nutt]

Hi everyone!
Going on the school camps gave me the opportunity to see the night sky that I wouldn't see at home..but what really got me hooked was borrowing a 60mm refractor...(Kmart focal!)..and viewed M42..I had to find out what it was!!..a visit to the local Library followed by every Astronomy mag set me on the path..after several years and a few scopes later I still get a kick out of M42!!..for me the wonder of the night sky hasn't dwindled one bit..but has grown..cause there is always something new or exciting to find or discover..or to rediscover!!
Cheers!!

[Wavytone]

The event that got me hooked was a partial solar eclipse visible from Canberra late in the afternoon of 1974 20th June after school, and the discovery of an antique refracting telescope which is probably quite a valuable one.

A month or so earlier we had heard of the eclipse and discovered the objective of a 4.5" Thomas Cooke refractor lying around in the cupboard of a chemistry class room, in its cell. Three of us managed to rig it up to project an image on a wall and had a nice view of the eclipse after school was finished.

After that we hunted round and found the rest of the scope in pieces - it had a beautiful phosphor bronze mount with a clockwork drive driven by weights and a governor, with a 1440 tooth bronze worm gear. It's the only only small scope I've ever seen that had setting circles with verniers that read to minutes of arc (dec) and something similar in RA.

We were able to reassemble it and had it working in the school grounds for a while, the drive worked a treat. What has become of it since I have no idea. The optics were f/15, airspaced and in perfect condition, it displayed a perfect Airy disk and with the help of some more modern eyepieces (we pooled our pocket money to buy 2-3) the views we had of the planets were lovely.

From memory the scope was donated by Colonel Oddie to the school in the early 1920's, about the time the Oddie 9" refractor on was erected on Mt Stromlo (and since destroyed in the bushfires). What has become of it since I have no idea.

[Jen]

Originally Posted by Mark

I grew up at dark site that was literally so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Actually, that's not true. It was so dark that you could see your hand by starlight.

My earliest memories are of lying on the lawn or sitting on the front veranda using my naked eyes to soak in the heavens. I got my first scope, a department store 40mm f/? refractor with draw-tube focuser when I was about 10. It had a tiny tripod and I had to lie on my back and rest it against a post or other fixed object to view anything higher than about 30 degrees. I recall the only object i ever saw with it (other than the moon) was M31. At least I believe it was, now. Of course, I had no idea what it was at the time. The memory is so strong that I reckon I could stand on the veranda of that house and point to that exact point on the northern horizon, just above tree line. Unfortunately, that house has since burnt down. Bloody top memory, though. That was the moment I decided I would have a 'big telescope when I was all grown up'.

That was 34 years ago. I have big telescopes now. I must be all grown up.



Mark

Awwww that was such a cute story Mark lol @ all grown up now
Well done for following your dreams from when you were a kid

[Lukazy (Luke)]

Jen Hawkins - oh and Saturn through a little Tasco many moons ago

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Omega Centauri through a 10" dob at an astronomy weekend run for the Melbourne CAE by Ballaarat astronomical society. Didn't get a scope for about 8 years, but couldn't get that image of millions stars out of my head. Was also blown away by Jupiter and its moons during that session. My beloved had bought me the weekend after seeing me wandering around York optical looking at the pictures of nebulae and galaxies and asking about scopes. She also bought me my first telescope as a birthday present after we spent some time looking at comet McNaught last year. She doesn't seem to regret the complete obsession that she has so triggered!

[tonybarry (Tony)]

I read Patrick Moore's "Guide to the Moon" and "Guide to the Planets" when I was 8 to 10 years old. Got really keen on space. Bought my first telescope when I was fourteen (a 4" Newtonian, Focal brand, from Kmart back in 1974) and looked at Saturn, Jupiter, and the moon. It just blew my mind.

I recall the first time I saw Saturn. The ring system just beat me. I realised just how far away it all was. I recall Jupiter being crisp (small but crisp), and the moon was just awesome.

I went away and did other things. Now I'm back with an f/4 8" Newtonian, a fairly supportive spouse (well she thinks it beats visiting the pub) and an 8yo daughter who lacks perseverance but maybe will grow into it.

From watching Hubble pix, I get the idea that it really is endless out there. Kind of scary, kind of freeing, makes me value the home we have, makes me want to find out more about what's out there.

[roccop]

Jupiter on my first scope - sw600 skywatcher 200mmx1000mm

[discovery (Joel)]

Jupiter through a massive dob or at least it looked massive I was only 11 at the time.
No matter what I am observing, if I can I''ll always swing around to get a look at Jupiter before I go in.

[lesbehrens (Les)]

jupiter and its 4 moons, also looking at the orion neb.
i went out and bourght a 10" dob after my first view.

[Crusader]

While not technically a view through bino's or a telescope, I think the naked eye views of the night skies got me hooked. As a kid I could spend hours just laying on the lawn staring up at all the stars. Since then I always wanted a telescope, but never got one till I finally could afford one this year.

First view in my 10" dob was Saturn and it's definitely one of the most memorable "Wow" moments. After that M42 and of course Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae!

[rastis95 (Scott)]

Orion Neb definetly got me going, then some planet hunting, never a dull thing to see