A few nights ago I was coming home late to my new home in Astoria. I was walking down Ditmars Boulevard from the train station, and a couple blocks down the street I saw a crowd on the corner.
As I got closer I could see that there was a telescope set up on a tripod, one of those thick, short round ones that are used to view the night sky, and there was a guy giving people a look at the heavens above Astoria.
I love astronomy. It was the first thing I remember wanting to do as a young child, look at the stars in the sky. It seemed to me to be the most wonderful way to spend my time, and I believed then that this was how you decided what you wanted to do when you grew up.
As I approached, one of the "audience members" urged me to take a look, but the guy at the telescope wasn't having any of it. He said in a loud voice, "Hey, you in the suit, get in back of the line with everyone else!"
Turns out he was just having some fun with me, and so I took a look at the full moon that was out that night. It looked beautiful, like some far away land that was full of adventure, but instead of being somewhere around the other side of the globe, it was hanging above me in the night sky.
"Let's take a look at Jupiter and its moons," he announced. "There are only four moons visible tonight."
After he refocused the telescope, I brought my eye down to the lens and there I saw it. It was Jupiter, very tiny without much detail, but on each side of the planet there were two shiny dots of light, all four of them laid out on the same plane, straight as an arrow. Amazing!
I thanked the man, shook his hand, and went on my way home.
As I approached the door to my apartment building, I laughed softly, thinking, "Who knew that my move to Astoria would lead me to a view of the moons of Jupiter?"
Stumble It!
You have always been out this world! Great to see that there are signs welcoming you to the neighborhood!
Ella
Posted by: Ella B | September 07, 2009 at 08:19 AM