Astronomy Fields Are Weird Places

[Mowque]

So I, a star gazing virgin (I’ve never even looked through a scope before), went to Cherry Springs State Park this weekend. It was a 3 hour drive for me so not that big an investment. I had an amazing time but not only because of the wonderful setting. It was the people that really made it a great trip. There were about 12 groups of astronomers on the field and they were really cool people. Not only did they answer all of my (assuredly beginner questions) but were eager to show off the scopes and what they could do. They not only showed me cool stuff but went out of their way to find neat looking clusters and nebulas to show me in particular. It was amazing and I was really impressed by the people.

I said weird in a nice way because most of the night was spent talking in jargon I had no idea (polar alignments, azimuth, gergenshiem, dew heaters and Messier objects). The field was dotted with very dim red lights and the occasional whirr of a telescope motor. It was pretty different.

The hobby has some cool folks!

[Astro Imp]

Good to hear you had a great time. You will find most members of the astro community are only too happy to to engage with newcomers, after all we all had to start somewhere.

[Mowque]

Good to hear you had a great time. You will find most members of the astro community are only too happy to to engage with newcomers, after all we all had to start somewhere.

You know, I took an Ipad with an app. But I never got it out, due to night vision+ everyone there already knew where stuff was.