Come On Out and See

Come On Out and See,

Ya Might Like it!

It was a pleasant April evening. I was sitting in my car eating my lunch and reading a Sky and Telescope magazine. It was a little after 8PM, lunchtime had just begun and the sky was just starting to darken.  It was a Friday night and I was thinking about the upcoming weekend.

                I realized that it was only a couple days past the new moon and that the new thin crescent should be visible in the west. I got out of the car to see if I could locate it. The western sky looked a bit hazy. I easily found the bright planet Venus and started searching below it. Venus faded in and out as clouds moved in front of it. The sky below didn’t look very promising.

                I leaned against the building and searched for anything that resembled a crescent, I saw nothing at all. For about five minutes I leaned against the building and looked, scanning back and forth, wishing I had my binoculars. I moved over 5 or 6 feet and there it was. It had been hidden behind a telephone pole. Wouldn’t you know I’d pick the only spot to stand in where it couldn’t be seen.

(Center of picture, under the power lines)



               I was excited, I found it even though the sky was bright and the moon was just a mere sliver. I went over to the car and got my camera and took a couple pictures. Lunchtime was almost over by now and a couple of the guys were returning to the building. I called them over and pointed out the slim crescent.

                Neither was really excited, it was only the moon. This didn’t faze me at all. I was still happy that I had found it. Back inside, I told a friend about it and he asked me where it was.  So, I took him outside to see it, picking up another employee on the way. (Keeping our 6 foot social distance of course!)They were a little more interested than the other two had been.

                This wasn’t the first time I’ve dragged co-workers outside. I’ve pulled them out to see planetary conjunctions, comets, Iridium Flares, (remember those?) Space Station passes, meteor showers, full moons, rainbows and sunsets. Once, I set up a telescope and grabbed people as they arrived at work, showing them the planet Mercury as it passed in front of the sun. I can’t help but think that at least a few of them thought it was a great way to start their work day! I know I sure did!

                I used to start work at 4:30 in the morning and had access to the loading dock. I never stayed out for any length of time, just long enough to see the Soviet Space Station Mir or the Space Shuttle pass overhead. For a year or two I was working at a location in Beaver County. The skies were nice and dark. There were two or three of us working the evening shift and that gave us lots of opportunities to step outside and take a look at the stars. It only seemed right since our business was polishing optics for large telescopes. It was kind of like taking the job outside for a bit.

                                I can remember what was probably the first time I dragged someone out to see something astronomical.  I had brought the telescope my father had given me when I was six or seven to where I was living. It had been sitting in the attic at my mother’s house for years. I had used it a few times to look at things in the valley below the house, but hadn’t used it for stargazing since my father was alive.  It had spindly wooden legs topped with a small white tube. With a lens only 2 3/8” big, it didn’t allow much light to hit the eyepiece. The eyepieces weren’t quality glass either. It was your typical “department store” telescope.

                It was a clear night and I had taken it outside to see what I could see. One star was a bit larger than the others and when I put the higher power eyepiece in the scope and focused, I found that I was looking at the planet Saturn! I had never seen it through a telescope before. I was amazed that you could actually see the rings going around it! Little did I know this was the first time out of thousands that I would observe this planet. If you’ve ever seen Saturn through a telescope, you know how I felt. I was psyched! I just had to share it!

                I don’t know if the person I dragged outside was excited or not but I sure was! Looking back, it was one of my first steps on my journey to becoming an amateur astronomer. With-in a year or two I had joined an astronomy club, gotten a bigger telescope and started participating in their star parties. The purpose of these parties was to share the beauty of the heavens with the public. Rather than dragging anyone outside, they were coming to me!

                “It’s such a small object.”  “Ahh, it’s OK.”  “Why’s it so dim and why doesn’t it look like the pictures I’ve seen?”  I’ve heard these things many times. But, on the other hand, I have also heard gasps of amazement and inquiries about what they were seeing along with requests to see more.  It is these comments that make it so worthwhile! Like any hobbyist, I love to share the things that excite me. Much the same way as readers share books they’ve enjoyed. Yes, the term “nerd” might have been mentioned once or twice, along with some even rougher names. They don’t bother me, if someone gets a kick out of what I’ve shown them, I’m happy. I’m hoping that they will enjoy it and want to see more. This is a simple quest and I find it easy to do.

                It’s human nature to want to share things you enjoy, the things you love. By showing these things which brought us joy, we are hoping to pass that joy along, hoping that others will get the same good feelings we got!

             The “OH WOW!” moments only happen occasionally but when they do, I soak it in! For that reason, I’ll just keep trying. I’ll keep showing and pointing out those things that I find exciting. I’ll keep calling “Come out here and see! You just might like this!”