Fathers united

[domstar]

Hoping for a bit of seclusion under the Milky Way, I set up and drank tea at a hill pass and waited for the comet to appear. At 10.30 another car pulled up, which I always find a bit concerning. A man with his two sons got out. They'd come to look for the comet. The dad said hello and I showed them Jupiter and Saturn and then the comet. It was great to show them something and especially the dad was thrilled. Just before they left, another car pulled up and it was a man with his daughter. He had a small Newtonian. It was the first time I'd ever seen another stargazer. He said it was his first time. Being a middle-aged man, I had to resist the temptation to give advice. We compared comets and it looked the same in both our scopes (but his was upside down). 

It was really nice again to meet somebody interested in the stars. I wanted to call him over but we just observed silently side by side. I looked at a couple of things in Sagittarius and I even saw the Veil. I looked over jealously at the ease at which he could look towards the zenith. For a first-timer, he seemed to take to it like a duck to water. He found the comet, Saturn and Jupiter straight away. I suppose that's the beauty of a red dot finder.

A very different night to my usual but it made me smile- two dads with more enthusiasm than their tired kids. It is the same with me.