Through The Eyes Of A Child.

[jsc248]

Last night I took my telescope out to view the four planets that are on view in the evening sky as seen from Liverpool in the U.K( Venus,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn and of course not forgetting the Moon). With me I had my friends 8 year old son who had never looked through a telescope before. I let him view the planets one at a time and he was very inquisitive, asking all types of questions such as What are those stripes on the planet and littlle lights by Jupiter? What are those rings around Saturn? etc.
I took him home to his house and it was only when he got to speak to his parents that I realised how much the session had meant to him. The excitment in his face as he explained to his mum and dad what he had seen was unbelievable. I think I have added another astronomer to our ranks there!!
I am a mature student studying astronomy and I enjoy the practical side to astronomy but I had almost forgotten the excitement of that first view through my first telescope. Has anyone else had a similar experience with someone they know? I'd like to hear from you.
jsc248.

[galaxygirl]

My experience is very similar to yours in which my 3 cousins came over my house to look at the four planets and the moon through my telescope for the first time. Part of what makes observing so much fun is seeing the faces of a child after they take their first look through a telescope.

[Tim Thompson]

I have had many similar experiences, over the last 30-some-odd years of doing public astronomy. I remember one night on the lawn at Griffith Observatory, which featured an excited 7-year old boy who was clutching his copy of a small "Golden Book of Astronomy" (or something like that). He would read the pages about a planet in the book, and then ask to see it though the telescope. He did not just glance quickly, as many small children do, but sat and looked for a few minutes. Then he would drag one of his parents to the telescope, have them look, and proceed to explain what they were looking at, based on his book and whatever the astronomer at the telescope told him. All the while he was amazingly restrained for one so young.

I remember another night visiting the Foothill College Observatory, when a young girl (11 or 12?) came in escorted by her father. She didn't want to be there at all, preferring to go home and play with her dog. But she looked at the moon and that was it. Instantly fascinated, she forgot all about the dog, and quickly learned how to read the lunar map. It did not take long for her to literally take over the program, showing the moon to other visitors, and using the map to explain what they were seeing, while the telescope operator & I just sat around and watched. By the time we had to close the observatory, she wanted to know where the astronomers would be set up the next night. I've no idea what ever became of her, but at least her opinion of astronomy changed radically that night.

On another occasion, shortly before Griffith Observatory closed for renovation & expansion, I met a 23 year old man from south Los Angeles who revealed that this trip to Griffith was the farthest he had ever been from home. He had never left downtown L.A. all of his life! It was an interesting contrast to hear the astronomers talk about how bright the sky was, and yet hear this young man talk about how amazingly dark it was. It's always good to remember, I think, the enormous difference between those of us who are used to looking through telescopes, and those who are not. The two groups view the same sky in radically different ways. If you do public astronomy, you have to remember that.

[Kootenaistar]

The telescope is not mine, but I have been a part of many of the nights of family and friends around it since it's arrival and first setup. "OOOOh!", "WOW!", and a half dozen other reactions have been the first reactions of most. My friend got a 10" Meade-Schmidt-Cassegrain. It has started an astronomy club, school viewings club viewings and on and on... My first reaction? I'm a pretty lucky person on my low budget to live right near and even know such a stargazer. I could not afford such equipment, but it has proven repeatedly it's ability to bring people together to share and enjoy the night sky!

[Stargazer]

I'm also involved with public viewing through my local astronomical society (ASSA).

I only own a small 4.5" reflector but to someone who has never looked through a telescope before it seems large to them ... and huge to a child!
But when I tell them to just wait till they see some of the large scopes that the society own out at their main domes out of town, the largest having a 20" mirror, their eyes just bulge! :blink:

I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching the reactions of someone's first look through a telescope, especially when they see the moon for the first time so close up, Jupiter & it's moons, the rings of Saturn, globular clusters & nebulae, & then to top it right off and really blow them away ... show them another galaxy.

Spellbound!

And to put the cherry right on the top, we've got a number of bright comets in the sky atm that are really starting to put on a show ...

Love it! B)

[MarQ]

The thrill of seeing Saturn's rings tonight is the same for me as it was in the early 1960s. I would chose it to be the last thing I see before death. Many people have reacted with gasps at Saturn, and some claim you've got a photo hanging from a tree! When looking at the Moon, the most asked question if if we can see the American Flag on the Moon? Not hardly. Nor any manmade thing left there.
Also, when looking under the stars with a public group, people seem to open up and be willing to share their experiences of seeing a big meteor shower, a bright bolide or even a UFO tale or two.
I am always puzzled by the one or two people a year who just don't believe what they are seeing, that we amateur astronomers are perpetrating a hoax. I've heard it said about sunspots, and Saturn's ring.
During one annular eclipse party, a school group of 4th graders were watching the partial phases with us in the football field. When the total, annular eclipse of the Sun occurred, the teacher ushered all the kids into the school, only to bring them out a few minutes later, when totality was over and the sky brightened up.
We were in the mountains of North Carolina. Go figure.

[Tinaa]

I had to drag my kids to the Scobee Planetarium in San Antonio. They opened up the big telescope for viewing after the show. Saturn looked so close you could reach out and touch it. Needless to say, nothing would do but that we get on the internet when we got home to learn more about Saturn. They now like to go outside with me to see the wonders of the night sky. They still don't want to be astronauts, but ... I have not given up hope!