Sunday, February 13th / 2011

The sun was setting, the clouds were nowhere to be seen and the thermometer was friendlier than the week before. I told myself: This is it and invited all those interested to come to my back porch to view the stars. Three teenagers came for a look as well as one tiny astronomer who's small stature was towered by my telescope. The people were all there enthusiastic to see what wonders were hidden in the night sky (not all at the same time though). It was not to be.

Between the moon and humidity in the air, there was not much I could share. The show had been canceled before it had begun. My visitors left quite unimpressed after seeing a hazy moon and a blurry M32. Beaten by the natural forces once again, I brought my telescope inside.

I felt quite empty, when I returned to the the warmth of my house (it was -30 Celsius). The coldish temperatures paired with my disappointing stargazing evening made me dream of warmer days. Last year, I had been unable to look at the stars because my portable telescope (used during the summer alone) had basically broken to pieces.

Yes, it is the one you see above. It was Konus (umm,.. I forgot). You see, I had many other names for it and all of them had some correlation with human waste matter.

First, one of the brackets broke,

Then the mount refused to be extended and I had to kneel to see anything,

and finally the viewfinder broke off completely,

When this happened, I did the only respectable thing,.... The Konus found a peaceful end within the nearest garbage receptacle. Yeah, using plastic for telescopes can only mean one thing,... GARBAGE!

As I sat there ruminating the minutes of my failed attempt of looking at the stars, I remembered that I had no telescope for the following summer. I started looking around, asked questions on this forum, and flipped through my collection of "Star and Telescope" magazines for ideas.

I had three interesting prospects:

1. The SkyScanner 100mm Tabletop Reflector
   
2. Orion StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector
   
3. The Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P
   

A grab and go telescope that was not too expensive, was easy to carry AND gave me a worthwhile image of planets / deep sky objects? There was one and my husband surprised me with it on the following day. Steven and I don't exchange St-Valentine's presents. To tell you the truth, I'm not very keen on the idea of having a "love day". However, my wonderful husband saw my notes and when I wasn't looking made a purchase.

Now all I have to do is wait for it to reach the north via mail. I can just see it now,..

Poised on a table by a lonely lake. My tent all ready for another peaceful night. A loon crying out it's mourning chant and me?

I'll be looking at the stars with this little gem! July isn't that far away,... I can just taste it!