Great! That's what it's all about. -- Joe --- On Thu, 3/19/09, JayLEads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote: From: JayLEads <jayleads@gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Magic Moments To: "Utah-Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Thursday, March 19, 2009, 12:03 AM Not sure if anyone likes these type of posts but I'll share it nevertheless. Sometimes while observing, I find I have these moments that for me are truly magical. Often I observe alone and though comfortable being alone and doing this, I find sometimes the company of someone else nearby is not only comforting, but a great way to build friendships. Tonight I got everything set up in the backyard prior to the son, and had the scope cooling. I came out and as night came on about 8:30p.m., I began to look for the Planetary Nebula NGC 2371/2 in Gemni. I was able to locate it rather easily and spent the next forty five minutes or so, observing, logging details and sketching it. Toward the end of this object, a knock was given from inside the backdoor (they way the wife or kids let me know they are coming out so I'm not blinded) and out came my 16 year old daughter. I was finishing a low power sketch of the PN and she suddenly started asking me questions after identifying the two constellations she knows, Orion and Ursa Major. She saw a "fuzzy" in the sky and asked what it was. I replied that she should go get one of my binoculars and look. She did and she then described to me that the fuzzy was made up of many stars, with the brightest making up a dipper shape. She asked me the name and I told her and afterwards she said she'd call it the seven sisters since that was easier to see. I was done with NGC 2371 and so swung the scope over to the sisters and showed her those in a wide field in the scope. Next she learned a new constellation Canis Major and took the binoculars and started scanning around. She found another fuzzy and asked what it was. I put the scope on M41 and she was simply amazed. This was her first open cluster along with the sisters and in both cases it was a thrill to be around her excitement. I next pointed out the Tao Cluster which also blew her away. We visited Saturn next and then went on to try and see some galaxies with no luck. She used the binoculars to scan Leo and to scan Virgo but no luck. She finished up in Cassiopeia and saw a fuzzy there that I didn't look at as she was finish. As she put the binoculars back in their case, she gave her Dad a hug and said "We have to do this again, it was fun. Not boring like I thought it would be.? So, in the end I bagged two objects from my list for tonight, and left many more hanging, but I'm hoping I bagged a daughter who just might gain some interest in the hobby. It also reminded me of the thrill of using binoculars to visit the night sky and how much we can truly see with just those aids. That was my observing tonight (Sunday night's session was incredible) and again, not sure if anyone likes these, but I wanted to share the experience. It's just wonderful when one's own kids take up an interest in Dad's hobby. No to get the wife . . . _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com