My New Telescope

What a gift!  I discovered the post-it note on my door when I came home on Friday.  It said UPS had tried to deliver "a very large package".  I made a trip to the UPS hub and discovered that it was indeed large -- too large to fit in my full-size car.  I had my friend Bill pick-up the largest box with his truck and deliver it to my house on his way home.  I was very surprised to discover my parents had bought a telescope for my birthday -- a very large telescope!

After a complicated construction of the telescope, I placed it outside.  My first thirty minutes were a bit disappointing.  The sky was overcast and not many stars were visible.  But I spotted a particularly bright star.   It would brighten, then darken, then brighten again with a cloud surrounding it as it lit up.  I lined up the object with my finderscope.  With my wide angle lens in the viewfinder I searched for the object.  After moving the mass of telescope left and right, up and down in search of the bright light, I spotted what I was looking for.   I could make out that it had two orange stripes and four white spots surrounding it.  I guessed that it might be Jupiter.  I put in a much stronger lens to attempt to get closer in.  With such a powerful lens, I had to search around to find the planet, but when I did I was amazed.  I joyfully discovered it was indeed Jupiter.  I could more clearly see the orange stripes and could see clearly its four moons.  I had never before seen a planet so close with my own eyes.

I searched around the sky some more and decided to try another object to the left of Jupiter.  I got a view of it with the strong lens and focused, trying to make out what it was.  My first thought was that it looked like the Batman signal.  After more focusing and some closer examination, I discovered I was looking at Saturn!  I'm still in awe of the fact that I was able to see not only the planet, but also the ring surrounding it.  I can't wait to get outside on a clear night with the moon.  I imagine I could see the flag on the moon from here.  I know practically nothing about astronomy, but I look forward to learning -- and seeing -- much more of what's in our universe.  My new telescope is a gift I won't forget.

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