Stargazing #1

The first time I saw Saturn through a telescope, my reaction might sound stupid, but apparently it’s quite a common one. ‘It’s there, it’s really there.’ You can live your whole life knowing something exists, seeing pictures of it, watching documentaries about it, but when you actually see it for real, the moment can be quite cathartic. Following the path of its own orbit around the sun, seeing those amazing rings encircling such a huge planet so far away is nothing short of spellbinding.

With a perfect half-moon overhead, tonight is the first Stargazing night with Prof Brian Cox live on ABC TV. Can’t exactly watch the show and look up into the heavens at the same time, but if I can brave the cold, the clear sky should produce a wealth of stars and other night time wonders to observe. 

I’m a little more educated than I once was on which are stars and which are planets, but my knowledge is still very rudimentary. A wealth of knowledge might help your understanding, but it's kind of nice to know you don't have to have that in order to appreciate the wonder and spectacle of the night sky.

Happy stargazing.

Pin prick stars appear

like white holes in the vast black

canopy of space