Stargazer in the making...

[Lemzo]

Came home from work tonight to clear skies and pulled out my astro master 76eq bought to me as a surprise Xmas present. Lined up Jupiter with my newly acquired and calibrated Rigel Quickfinder (best thing I've bought so far making this small scope far more easy to use) and called out my 2 youngs boys for a look.

I put my 12mm xcel ep in to give them an easier view to look at and arranged a small set of steps at the eyepiece. I held my 3.5 yr old up to the ep and told him what he was looking at but he argued it was the moon. Fair enough he's only 3. Then up stepped his big brother, 5.5 yrs old.

He took a long look through the ep asking what it was. I explained that it was another planet and that the stars which were close to it were actually its owns moons like ours on Earth. His next question bought a wide grin to my face "what's the stripes going across it Daddy?"

I gave him a basic explanation and he replied with a "Wow!".

Stargazer in the making...

[Bart]

Wow, that's great. That would bring a small lump to my throat . Mind you, I'd probably go overboard at that point and keep him out for another hour looking at other objects until he suffered from mild hyperthermia ! He'd never want to step outside again...

Great little moment

Barry

[skywatcher58gb]

Hi Great story, and hopefully he will remember that moment and be inspired to be an astronomer also.

Dave

[Lemzo]

I would have kept him out longer Barry but he's loaded with the cold as it is. I think I know where this starter scope is going when I upgrade later in the year!

[Bart]

Thats great, Lemzo, I notice you say when.......

[Lemzo]

Definitely when. I've always had an interest in astronomy but never did anything about it which is strange as I've loads of other hobbies. Even though I've been bought a starter scope I'm really enjoying it but I can see me outgrowing it sometime this year.

[knobby]

That's really lovely, its a fantastic feeling when you can share things with your kids.

nice :-)