Stargazing
Last night Norm and I were privileged to gaze at the stars through a very large telescope in the back yard of some of our friends from church. Dick and Loretta live in Cave Creek, which is about 40 minutes northwest from where we live in Scottsdale. We sat in their backyard near a gas burning fireplace and enjoyed getting better acquainted with our friends and discussing the awesomeness of God’s creation.
It was a bit hazy and cloudy when we first got there, but we did get to see a few interesting things through that telescope. We saw a star cluster, a nebula and comet 17P/Holmes. You can read more about the comet and see telescope images here that look a lot like what Norm and I saw it last night. Every time we looked at something through the telescope Norm and I both would say, “wow.” Dick says a lot of people have that same response the first time they look through a telescope at the stars.
This picture of me is not that great, but it gives you an idea of how elaborate the telescope is and how large. I’m sitting next to it with my chair raised up 8 or 10 inches. The cool thing about the telescope is that it’s got some sort of GPS unit attached in which Dick can put in the coordinates of a particular part of the sky and it will turn the telescope to the right direction. Pretty cool stuff! We are looking forward to another viewing party in the future.
Just looking at stars thru binoculars is pretty cool too. It also helps to get away from light pollution.
That’s a serious telescope!
I wish more people took the time to really stop and look at the stars…and the sunsets. They’re amazing everyday.
My family had a small telescope when I was small. We would star-gaze whenever the conditions were right.
There is nothing like it, nothing to compare with the closeup look at the sky. You are blessed to have such generous friends.