Observing Reports by Knuck

Rocky Mountain Star Stare, June 10-12, 2010

This observing report is going to be a break in the usual pattern.  I did not log any observations.  I did not make any sketches.  That’s because this observing report is about a new observer, our son, Sam.  A log book full of notes and a portfolio of the finest sketches could not begin to match the joy of spending time with Sam under that black velvet sky slashed by a river of diamonds.

Sam is our youngest son.  He graduated from Cornell College last month.  He has a brief time at home this summer before joining the Episcopal Service Corps to work in the Micha project in Boston.   Sam is the child that has always kept me laughing.  He’s a joy to have around.  I was somewhat surprised, though, that he accepted my invitation for the trip to Rocky Mountain Star Stare, near Gardner, Colorado.  I attend this star party almost every year.  It’s one that is near the top of my list.  We have a small group of other astronomers that all camp and set up together.  We have become close friends and enjoy each others’ company.  I was praying for good clear sky and that Sam wouldn’t get too bored, hanging out with a bunch of old guys.

We got two nights of good sky.   Sam fit right in with the old guys.  He enjoyed my friends and they enjoyed him.

The first night I spent the first couple of hours showing Sam eyecandy.   He also enjoyed going from scope to scope seeing what the others had to show him.  As soon as somebody had something new in their eyepiece they would call for Sam to come have a look.  I knew my friends would do this.  That’s just the kind of people they are.  But, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge their effort to make  Sam welcome.  He got to see so many interesting and beautiful wonders.

After a short break,  to let some clouds pass, I showed Sam how to use a star chart and how to look up descriptions of the objects in The Night Sky Observer’s Guide.  He was off and running with my scope.  A Dob with a Telrad and an ArgoNavis is really easy to point at objects.  Pushing the scope around is intuitive.  The Telrad and  the computer make finding  objects quick and rarely allow  frustration.  The rest of the evening I was relegated to my lawn chair waiting for Sam to say.  “Hey, I found it, come see.”  I was up and down a lot.  We observed together until just before dawn.  I realized that I was watching Sam get bit with the amateur astronomy bug, right before my eyes.  He had a great time.  I wouldn’t trade being able to watch him have so much fun for any number of  log entries or sketches.  Best of all, I got to hear Sam say: ” I understand why you enjoy doing this so much and why you like these guys so much.”

Families are made and fostered, in large part, upon memory.  Sam and I put a beautiful memory in the family album this weekend.