What got you started in astronomy.

[Robert Watson]

My brother had a small scope, when i looked at the moon that was me hooked and i wanted to see more, and now i've got my own 10" dob i can, Now My brother wants to see more

[LukeSkywatcher]

If i am honest then i have to say that Heather Cooper got me into astronomy. When i was a kid i had a big crush on her. Also she made astronomy interesting and understandable.

Dont get me wrong, SPM also made a BIG impression on my little 6 yr old mind but he wasnt as good looking as Heather.

[optical thrombosis]

Dear old Sir Patrick Moore did it for me. I find it fantastic that he inspired both my mother and my grandparents too!!! The Sky at Night is an amazing little BBC program that has a cultural influence way beyond its presence on TV.

[Daftvada]

hi all

was when i went to the optition and said i think im short sighted, and he took me outside and said whats that big yellow thing in the sky i said the sun, he said well how much furhter do you wanna see:icon_eek: no really it was when i went night fishing on a local lake away from all light pollution and laid on the bank looking up at the sky and was absolutely amazed at all the stars i saw and remember thinking how many of those are capable of supporting life like here on earth, and been intrigued ever since.

gaz

[shaula]

My interest in the night sky began when i was a small child.

Beautiful story - chicken soup for the soul.

'Peace', that rings loud with me.

Claire

[Gweedo]

I've always been interested in space (a child of the apollo programme) and had a passing interest. One of my troops was into Astronomy and we were deplyed to the falklands - as you can imagine, the nights can be crystal clear down there and there's no light pollution at all. We'd use the missile optics as a rudimentary telescope, and of course we had goodies like night vision goggles as well. When I got back to the UK the first thing I bought was a TAL1 which hase served me well these last 14 years, though I'm looking to upgrade now.

[LukeSkywatcher]

SPM has a lot to answer for. He really is the sole reason why anyone alive today under the age of 100 yrs is into astronomy.

Its all HIS fault..................and it is why WE love him and he is a national institute.

Talk about leaving a legacy after you are gone.

The name of SPM will be spoken for hundreds of years to come. His name will be as famous as that Messier guy.

[yeti monster]

^^^WHS!!!

[george7378]

Born in 1994, I missed Apollo, Halley's Comet, etc...

I don't really know exactly what hit the spot for me, but I have memories of reading through books with my Dad on weekend evenings, then going out into the beautifully quiet garden and I would just look up and he told me 'that one like an upside-down 'M' is Cassiopeia, and you see it in the winter', and I just loved it - our private place where you could just get away and he could pass his interest on to me, while I received.

One weekend visit, he told us that we were going to look for the space station, and I presumed that the pass was a very rare and special event because I had seen the station and other satellites in the books, but there was never anything about actually seeing them yourself. I remember waiting and my heart was pounding as we stepped outside, and although we only got a brief glimpse through the clouds, I couldn't believe what I had just seen, expecially after all the illustrations of what goes on up there. I really respected that he was able to know when it was going to come, and I saw the passing as a once-in-a-lifetime thing because I assumed that it would take Einstein-type maths to actually know when a satellite was going to be visible - I should have asked how he knew about the pass!

It never really advanced much, but I always had it in the back of my mind that I was going to work as an astronomer someday, and although I didn't practice it as a hobby, it never left me.

The next experience I had was when I was on holiday in the Maldives, and my Mum and I were walking back along the sandy path after eating. The distant music from the bar was fading, and the waves were lapping on the shore on a completely deserted beach with swaying palm trees over a couple of sun loungers. We laid down, and I was completely frozen in place as I observed the summer Milky Way, and she explained that it was the actual inside of our galaxy - it was the glow of countless stars, countless miles away, all looking down on us laying on the beach under the night sky. I heard that there were probably 'aliens' laying on a tropical beach after the sunset on another world feeling the night sky fill them up, and that our Sun was part of that sky - and that whatever happened down here, there was always so much more than we could ever imagine happening up there ... and at that point, a shooting star crossed the sky, and I made a wish.

Years on, and I had never seen the space station again, never laid under the Milky Way and never seen a shooting star since, and I was just like your average teenager - school, TV, computer games and not going out at night because it was too cold ... until, I camped out with a friend in his back garden. It was a completely random decision to go outside instead of staying in the warm tent. I crawled out, and my head turned skyward - all he heard was 'Oh, wow. Wow...' and he came out to join me under the Milky Way I remembered from the nights in the Maldives. We just crawled over to a wall, propped ourselves up, and my soul switched on as I told him "I saw the space station once; ages ago. Did you know that it is visible from here?" and "I wonder it anyone else is watching us from up there...". We just sat and watched as people who know nothing about what they are seeing tend to. I was the last to go inside as I took my own private look at the sky.

I then thought that I would try and see that space station again, so I registered with heavens-above, and got a chart and a time. I used a compass to find south, and as I sneaked up to my room, turned out the lights and looked outside, I found that my heart was pounding with excitement - what was going to happen, and would it be anything like I remembered? As I saw it come above the trees, my hands were shaking with excitement - I actually couldn't believe that I had done something I had always thought rare and once-in-a-lifetime, and I was re-awakened.

My Grandad got a telescope that same year, and I stayed out night after night watching the things I could only remember from those faint but special memories, and I found my first Jovian moon, my first Galaxy, first double star, etc... and at Christmas, I got my own telescope.

I have since seen more than I ever thought I could, and between the observing, I always take time to lie back and watch the Milky Way, with 'I wonder who's watching me?' running through my mind.

[atharh]

Like a couple of others here it was Halleys Comet that got me hooked. My mum bought me a 50mm tasco...i remember finding it in the eyepiece and then cranking up the barlow and eyepice magnification.

Best memory was of seeing Jupiter's moons...but without a budget for a tracking scope interest dwindled....until about 3 weeks ago and I now have the bug again (and a bit more of a budget).

[Pete Presland]

just looking up at the night sky from my bedroom window still looking at that same sky from the same house 35 years later

[Mouse on the Moon]

Great stuff George!

Also have to agree with Paul re: SPM. What a hero!

[steveangel]

Like many above iv always had an interest in the night sky, since i can remember really, but only recently took the plunge and bought a scope.

This was due to a trip to the observatory on top of Mt. Teide in Tenerife. Looking through their massive scopes blew my socks off!

[oldfruit]

I am new to the forum also. The beginning of my astronomy quest was watching Cosmos with Carl Sagan (r.i.p.) and also the sky at night with Sir Patrick Moore as they both made the Universe and all things in it seem more interesting and understandable. Also i was living on a farm all of my childhood so the sky was black and the Milky way and stars looked amazing.

My parents bought me a small refractor when i was about 10 and a book called The Spotters Guide to The Night Sky.

It has taken me about 30 years to get myself sorted with a proper scope and bits for it and now so i am trying to make up for lost time.

I am sure that as a lot of others will tell you you will be in for some very late nights or some early mornings with this hobby but when everybody else is sleeping and you are watching your first Jupiter Moon transit or observing some far away galaxy who`s light has taken millions of years to reach us you will think it all worth while.

[r3i]

I think it was the ladybird book of the night sky with lovely illustrations of constellations and their associated myths plus main objects visible. The pictures in those old LB books were really good.

After being inspired like so many others by the Apollo missions, this great little book was probably the first one I turned to, and then afterwards, that other classic: The Observer's Book of Astronomy.

[eddy]

For me, it was just my own child like curiosity;

What is the Sun?

What is the Moon?

Where is the Sun?

Where is the Moon?

......and so on and so forth, mom and dad got me a terrible (at the time to me amazing) telescope, which was operated in the sense of the old Pirate style telescopes, the extend and magnify type on a small tripod (by small i mean it would fit on a window ledge!) Anyways, had that for a long time, didnt do anymore then the 'Nibiru/Planet X/2012' caught my attention and rekindled the whole thing for me!

Eddy

[selkie72]

Comet Hale-Bopp! Had always been interested in astronomy but the views of the comet from a dark site with Carl Ziess 10 x 50 binoculars were outstanding. Very much looking forward to the next cometary close encounter now that I have a scope!

[Mouse on the Moon]

I'm trying to get my five year old daughter interested and I think I'm succeeding (mostly:D)

She has her own baby dob (my old 76mm firstscope) and knows Jupiter by sight (although she's never seen it through the scope yet as it's bedtime before it's dark this time of year - roll on winter!)

Each time we see a planet or bright star I try to tell her a bit about it. - If I ever repeat myself and tell her something I said a few weeks ago she'll roll her eyes in exasperation (as only a five year old female can) and say "Dad, I KNOW!!)

Maybe she'll be posting on a similar thread in 20 years time.

[Beulah]

Sir Patrick Moore sowed those seeds years ago when he came to our school to give a lecture. A lot of it went over my head, by I was left with a great impression!

Also, I was walking from the small car park to home with my Dad when I looked up and saw the Milky Way...my head was cranked right up and I had to be guided to the garden gate! Light pollution was very low in my area, and I remember being outside in the back garden, staring at the sky. When I did eventually look back to earth, I was stunned to see glow-worms in our hedge! (Are they extinct now?)

I also remember at the age of four, feeling desperately upset that my Mum had put new curtains up a week after we moved into our new home. The sky out of my window was southerly, and I used to love staring at the stars. I asked Mum if I could sleep with the curtains open, and she said no.

As a teenager, my pal and I tried to watch a moon eclipse from her back garden with a rubbish refractor, but it misted up and yet again my interest in astronomy was quoshed with just a poorly made 2 inch refractor!

Hale-Bopp managed to pique my interest, so I stayed up late for some lunar eclispes, armed with a pair of old 10x50 binoculars during my time at University - didn't have enough money for a telescope!!

It's only been the last two years that I have been able to acquire decent gear - and those blasted 2 inch generic refractors nearly killed the interest again, as one was given to me for Christmas! Those things need to be banned!!

It's only been since the price of Newtonians have gone down that I have been able to enjoy the hobby and see sights I have never seen before. What's more wonderful is that my kids won't suffer the hard way like I did! It gives me a real thrill to think they are sharing the hobby with me, and enjoy it is as much as I do. (apart from the cold, LOL)

[Arushin]

I have loved looking up at the sky ever since I was little. My dad and I would sit up and wait for S@N once a month but never invested in a scope. Bought my first scope in the late 90's after being on holiday in Bodmin, Cornwall when Hale-bop came around. The naked eye view in dark skies just blew me away. Needless to say the cheap and rubbish telescope I bought was disappointing so ended up just getting lost in one of my many house moves. When I spotted a 4" Aspen reflector in a camera shop a few years ago I just had to have it (another mistake!) To be fair, I did get my first ever view of Saturn with this piece of tat and that's when I got a bit more serious. Bought a half decent 6" reflector on an EQ mount which I have passed down to my stepson. I still have no idea what make it is as I bought it from flea-bay, but it does give some pretty fair views. Aperture fever struck and I invested in the 12" dob. I have never looked back.

[alowen]

My dad did, i used to chuckle at him with his boring, lonely hobby. Oh, how the tides have turned. I love it now and he's still teaching me things.

I hope my son learns to appreciate it too.

Al

[Talitha]

Maybe she'll be posting on a similar thread in 20 years time.

Bookmark this one for her!

BTW, i think it's awesome that she has her own scope.

[yeti monster]

Comet Hale-Bopp! Had always been interested in astronomy but the views of the comet from a dark site with Carl Ziess 10 x 50 binoculars were outstanding. Very much looking forward to the next cometary close encounter now that I have a scope!

I was working in the North Sea, onboard the KanTan IV drilling rig when Hale Bopp was about, each night I'd be out with the image intensified binos taking a looksee. I tried to explain to 'Mongo', the assistant driller, what a comet was, but he struggled with why the ice didn't melt during the day....... which sort of goes someway towards explaining his nickname!

[bish]

An old encyclopedia in the cupboard at home when I was 7 or 8 with illustrations of the planets etc.

[REB]

Again, like many of us here, I've always been interested in the night sky and outer space. I can remember watching Patrick Moore back in the 60's (I think - I'm sure it was before I joined the RAF in 1970).

Time progressed and I have always been a fan of Star Trek/Star Wars movies as well other space related productions - we watched 2001: A Space Odyssey on Blu-Ray the other night (too cloudy to go out to view).

However, I have never owned (to my knowledge) a telescope. I may have had those toy plastic binoculars as a child but I don't remember a telescope featuring anywhere.

Following watching several programs about The Universe and the Solar System on Sky TV, we have just bought a pair of binos each - it saves arguing over whose turn it is. We are certainly getting the bug but we're not sure if it will manifest itself into a proper telescope just yet though. Seeing the moons of Jupiter is certainly something we won't forget in a while. I have even found the Andomeda Galaxy (I know it isn't too difficult) and was well chuffed.