How did we, and at what age, get into Astronomy

[Pixies]

For me it was this in 1974 (I was 7)

And the total lunar eclipse in 1975 - allowed to stay up late to watch it reach totality.

 

 

[Zermelo]

7 hours ago, Pixies said:

For me it was this in 1974 (I was 7)

And the total lunar eclipse in 1975 - allowed to stay up late to watch it reach totality.

 

 

I just missed that set - I started with "Prehistoric Animals".

Are you sure it was 1974? The web site says 1971.

[Pixies]

5 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I just missed that set - I started with "Prehistoric Animals".

Are you sure it was 1974? The web site says 1971.

re-issued in '74. I remember forcing my parents to drink moe tea, so I could get more cards and trading them at school. Not something I could have done aged 4!

[Zermelo]

27 minutes ago, Pixies said:

re-issued in '74. I remember forcing my parents to drink moe tea, so I could get more cards and trading them at school. Not something I could have done aged 4!

Ah, yes.

My mum could already have drunk tea for England, be she switched brand to PG Tips to support my collecting mania.

[John]

As I said in my post much earlier in this thread, it was Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking down those steps to the lunar surface in 1969 that got me hooked on all things space related (I was 9 years old) and that led on to joining the school astronomy club a couple of years later. I didn't have a scope of my own for a few years after that but managed to borrow a couple from friends from time to time - 60mm Tasco refractors of course, which were about all that ordinary folks could afford back then 

I'm still not entirely sure if this hobby is really for me though - I'll give it another couple of decades and see if I really get hooked

 

 

[Pixies]

My first telescope was very similar to this: 

I spent more time spying on the neighbours (innocently I might add) than astronomical observing with it!

[steppenwolf]

For me, it was a celestial event that I missed, The Transit of Venus! I got into this relatively late in life in 2004 and it is now an almost all-consuming passion. I guess that this makes me one of ScouseSpaceCadet's 'old fogies' at 69 🤣🤣

[John]

25 minutes ago, Pixies said:

My first telescope was very similar to this: 

I spent more time spying on the neighbours (innocently I might add) than astronomical observing with it!

I've been tempted to get one of those (or something like it) to try and replicate (to some extent) the views that Galileo might have had from his scopes.

I can't see his neighbours house from here though, so perhaps it would be a waste of time

[Chris]

I think I was inherently into space and astronomy from a early age because I can't remember an event triggering it.

My parents bought my first telescope for xmas when I was 7 or 8. Although it was one of those 60mm plastic fantastic jobbies so I quickly lost interest until I bought a better telescope in my teens. I laid my eyes on Saturn and at that moment I knew what subject to pick for Uni 😃

First attempt at Astrophotography was interesting! I strapped an SLR to my 6" reflector, I think it was 1997? Anyway, I pointed at the Moon and focused the best I could, then patiently waited for Boots to develop the images. 

The results very much remind me of this! 😆

 

[cajen2]

I'm another who started at about 6 with the Observer's Book of Astronomy. I even taught myself the Greek alphabet with it. I'm now 68 and have just bought my first scope! Don't like rushing into these things.....

Edited December 24, 2021 by cajen2

[gilesco]

I always had an interest, for as long as I can remember. The advice was, at the time, do naked eye seeing first (my eyesight is terrible), then move to binos (can't really keep my hands steady enough). Then if you're happy with the results (results were terrible, really), invest in something a bit better.

It was only after spending a lot more money (and 40 years waiting to be able to afford it), that I'm fulfilling my expectations through astrophotography.

There are many dissuaders to making that investment to this hobby, but I would just say, as long as you are not remortgaging the house, go for it.

[nephilim]

1 hour ago, gilesco said:

I always had an interest, for as long as I can remember. The advice was, at the time, do naked eye seeing first (my eyesight is terrible), then move to binos (can't really keep my hands steady enough). Then if you're happy with the results (results were terrible, really), invest in something a bit better.

It was only after spending a lot more money (and 40 years waiting to be able to afford it), that I'm fulfilling my expectations through astrophotography.

There are many dissuaders to making that investment to this hobby, but I would just say, as long as you are not remortgaging the house, go for it.

@gilesco My story is very similar. Its taken me until around a year ago, at 49yrs old to be able to buy ( and justify......just 😂) a half decent AP set up & even then as I dont like credit, it took me around 14 months of buying one piece of gear each month to finally have enough to start to make a start.
Back in the 70's when my interest started the high point of the hobby was buying a Tasco frac (although I had to use my friends newly purchased one......He quickly became my 'best friend' 😂). Any scope over the standard 2.5" was an absolute fortune & as for buying AP equipment, that was totally unheard of unless you were either a millionaire or one of your parents were.
Friends I have these days who have no interest in astronomy will gasp at the price of AP gear & how much I'm willing to spend on 'a piece of glass'. But if they look back to the cost a few decades ago they would gasp far louder. If we consider what our AP gear can actually do, the cost doesn't seem so high.
The Earth is spinning at approx 1000 mph & we are able to actually photograph targets (most of these targets are made of gas) we cant see with the naked eye while we whirl around like a spinning top. Now & again I relay these facts to my friends but its pointless as I can see them slowly starting to drift away which is how I must look when they start talking about football or any sport that involves a ball for that matter 🥱😴. 

So anyway as far as I'm concerned our hobby is very reasonably priced. The main reason I'm typing all of the above is because I'm very soon going to be spending X amount of £££ on yet another piece of glass only days after Christmas & I have to remind myself of what an absolute bargain it is 😂😂

Steve
 

[gilesco]

8 minutes ago, nephilim said:

@gilesco My story is very similar. Its taken me until around a year ago, at 49yrs old to be able to buy ( and justify......just 😂) a half decent AP set up & even then as I dont like credit, it took me around 14 months of buying one piece of gear each month to finally have enough to start to make a start.
Back in the 70's when my interest started the high point of the hobby was buying a Tasco frac (although I had to use my friends newly purchased one......He quickly became my 'best friend' 😂). Any scope over the standard 2.5" was an absolute fortune & as for buying AP equipment, that was totally unheard of unless you were either a millionaire or one of your parents were.
Friends I have these days who have no interest in astronomy will gasp at the price of AP gear & how much I'm willing to spend on 'a piece of glass'. But if they look back to the cost a few decades ago they would gasp far louder. If we consider what our AP gear can actually do, the cost doesn't seem so high.
The Earth is spinning at approx 1000 mph & we are able to actually photograph targets (most of these targets are made of gas) we cant see with the naked eye while we whirl around like a spinning top. Now & again I relay these facts to my friends but its pointless as I can see them slowly starting to drift away which is how I must look when they start talking about football or any sport that involves a ball for that matter 🥱😴. 

So anyway as far as I'm concerned our hobby is very reasonably priced. The main reason I'm typing all of the above is because I'm very soon going to be spending X amount of £££ on yet another piece of glass only days after Christmas & I have to remind myself of what an absolute bargain it is 😂😂

Steve
 

We are the same! Happy festivities to all!

[nephilim]

17 minutes ago, gilesco said:

We are the same! Happy festivities to all!

@gilesco And to you too 🙂

[Graham Darke]

Wow, this thread is 8 years old and going strong. My interest started as a six year old taken to the cinema by my Dad to see the original Star Wars movie. That sparked an interest in space generally. This was developed by my grandfather himself a self-taught amateur astronomer who built his own scope with a 6 inch mirror made by Grubb Parsons. I remember that the tube was made from the cardboard roll that carpets were wrapped around. He went to his local carpet shop and asked the manager if they had any going spare. I believe that Meade used cardboard in their sonotube Starfinder series in the 1990s. That wasn’t a first!  He swapped that homemade scope for for a pair of binoculars and a 90mm commercial scope that he gifted to me for my birthday when I was 12 or 13. I always remember my grandfather talking about two events; the return of Halley’s Comet in 1985; and the 1999 total eclipse of the Sun visible from the U.K. I tried every clear night to see the comet but never saw it. I lived in a very light polluted site and I don’t think the 1985 return was particularly bright. I’m pleased to say that I did see the 1999 total eclipse, however, in all its glory. Not from Cornwall, which was clouded out, but from Bulgaria where the sky was perfectly clear. Halley’s Comet returns in 2061 when I will be 89 years old.. Next time, if I’m lucky….

 

[niallk]

I remember being swept up in the first space shuttle landing in 1981 - I was 5.

I also had two kids' space cartoony picture books: one on the viking landers  and one on planets which I'm sure speculated about dinosaurs living on Venus! 😂  This also mentioned Pioneer and Voyager which captured my imagination. 

I did get taken by my Dad to see Halley's comet at Dunsink Observatory in '86... it was an underwhelming experience!  I remember the Giotto mission, and the reports on the Voyagers as each gas giant was encountered. 

Then I fell out of a pub drunk aged 32 and saw an amazing super dark sky in Allihies: wow. I found the 'Pocket Universe' App for my Apple iPod Touch in 2008, and shortly afterwards found Stargazers Lounge... and read about these 'dob' things, and just had to try one - got my first telescope in about 2011!! 😂

[Nicola Fletcher]

It’s been really nice reading everybody’s stories - thank you for resurrecting this great thread!

30 years ago, when I was 12, my parents moved to a small farm in the Wicklow mountains in Ireland. The night sky was incredible (and still is), so many stars it was overwhelming. About 10 years later, my uncle bought a 10” Meade LX200 from a retired university professor and I couldn’t believe anyone could own something so amazing. A few years after that, I asked him if I could borrow the telescope and he said I could, as long as I promised never to give it back! It turned out, it was too big for him and so I brought it to Wicklow. It was fantastic to own it although I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and it was far too big for me. I eventually got a 5” Mak and really enjoyed using that - I learned a lot and travelled many places with it. 

[TerryMcK]

On 12/09/2021 at 10:29, Pixies said:

For me it was this in 1974 (I was 7)

 

 

 

Me too. I was dragged out of bed by my parents to watch the moon landings in 1969 and can still remember it well.

[Stu]

I was just a little young to remember the moon landings, though I have image memories of what I assume were the later Saturn five launches.

My interest was kindled at a young age with my Dad showing me a book called The Stars and their legends, and talking about learning navigation by the stars whilst doing his National Service in the Navy.

Other than gazing up at amazing skies as a youngster on holidays on Cornwall and Wales, nothing else happened until my thirtieth, when I asked for a scope for my birthday. I got myself a Celestron C150HD reflector on a reasonable EQ  mount, which I kept for about five years before moving on to other scopes. I managed to see some good stuff with it,  but only fairly basic DSOs like M42 and M57 etc. I think finding SGL was the real kick starter for me to expand my knowledge and start to see a lot more, and buy more kit! 🤪

[Captain Scarlet]

15 minutes ago, Stu said:

… nothing else happened until my thirtieth, when I asked for a scope for my birthday. I got myself a Celestron C150HD reflector …

What prompted you to ask at that stage?

[Stu]

11 minutes ago, Captain Magenta said:

What prompted you to ask at that stage?

Really not sure Magnus. It was probably as trivial as being asked what I wanted for my birthday, and arriving at the thought of a scope based on those childhood memories. I knew nothing about them and did little research. I chose based on what I liked the look of from an ad in Astronomy Now I think! It wasn’t the best scope, but wasn’t the worst either so I did ok.

[Mark at Beaufort]

I think I was about 12 (1960) when a friend showed me the Moon through his Charles Frank junior Astro telescope. With my first pay cheque I bought a 60mm frac on an alt/az mount. From 1965 until 1974 I was heavily involved becoming a FRAS and an active member of the BAA. Children then arrived and I took up squash and lost interest. In 1999 I got interested again and bought a Celestron 5" SCT and from there things took off.

[bomberbaz]

I used to draw pictures of my childlike ideas of the moon, planets, aliens and spaceships when I was a little lad, I have always been interested in outer space as I saw it from a very early age. 

I got into the actual hobby of astronomy 9 years ago when I bid on a celestron 130 EQ at a charity auction during which alcohol made me bid far higher than I should have but as I said, it was for charity.

I made a fatal mistake early on of looking through a larger aperture OTA and well, the 130 lasted all of 6 months. 

[carastro]

Aged 11. 

My grandmother bought me a book called The Wonderful World of Astronomy for Christmas.  Absolutely  fascinated by it.  Read it from cover to cover and retained much of it over the years.  They hadn't even sent a man into space then, and I remember sitting in primary school in the canteen listening to the sounds of Sputnik as it passed over.  

Over the years I was glued to the Space missions and Apollo missions, various comets and joined the Astronomy club at Grammar school.  I first looked through the teacher's telescope at Venus in crescent.   I used to walk home from a night out gazing at the 1000s of stars in the sky as they were then (now very Light polluted).

Astronomy then got put on the back boiler for many years whilst working, raising a family and during my Opera career.  But if anything interesting came on the news I was glued to it. 

I eventually got back into it in 1997 with the arrival of Hale Bopp and then the total solar eclipse in 1999, and the close encounter of Mars and transit of Venus, finally taking a GCSE in Astronomy many years after leaving school, and finally bought my first telescope in around 2004.  

The original book my grandmother bought me I kept all those years extremely out of date in parts, but the lessons I learnt in the Earth's motion, and the motion of the heavens, the seasons and solar and lunar effect on the tides was still the same.  I finally passed it on recently to my 8 year old grand-daughter who is passionate about space (nothing to do with my influence, it was a pleasant surprise when I found out).  She says she wants to be a Space Scientist.  As you can imagine I have encouraged her and she has loads of astronomical pictures on her bedroom wall (some are my own images), and she asked for a telescope for Christmas, so I bought her a table top Dobsonian.  I have marked all the out of date bits in the book.

Carole 

Edited December 29, 2021 by carastro

[BCN_Sean]

Between borrowing my grandfather's binoculars when I was a kid and building a barn door tracker when I was in scouts got me interested, but it wasn't until the virus made everything stop that I realised that I was running around doing a lot of unimportant things and really I could use that time to do something I wanted to instead.