Driveway Astronomy Moment

I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

A family came down the street and noticed me slewing around in the twilight
with the LX-90. I of course asked them to come and have a look, so the mom,
dad, and 2.99 children (mom was due this month) walked down the drive. The
oldest child was a little girl of 4, so I figured the obvious targets were
best: Moon and Mars. We lifted her onto the chair, and she grabbed the 30mm
Teleview barrel. "Woooo... the Moon has dots and bumps!" she noted. She went
on to describe the terminator - Oreo sandwich cookie analogy - and then
stated she wished to keep the view for herself. But, she agreed to let her
little sister, a toddler not quite 3 years old, have a look.

As they looked at Mars - really a bit past his hoopla-opposition prime - I
figured there wasn't much they would appreciate. But, here again, kids will
surprise you. The littlest one said: "It's like the Moon." Now, perhaps I'm
reading too much into this, but this very young child explained to me that
it is a bright circle that is far away. Wow - some level of solar system
understanding and still in pre-school?

So, after the first look through a telescope in their young lives, the 3
year old tapped me on the knee and spoke the only compliment expression she
knew: "I love you!" Quite impressed by the heavens, indeed. I smiled and
told her the same, and thanked her for coming to look If that ain't a
heart-melting first astronomy experience, I don't know what is...

JW




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John Whisenhunt wrote:
snip
So, after the first look through a telescope in their young lives, the 3
year old tapped me on the knee and spoke the only compliment expression she
knew: "I love you!" Quite impressed by the heavens, indeed. I smiled and
told her the same, and thanked her for coming to look If that ain't a
heart-melting first astronomy experience, I don't know what is...

That's a "thank you" I've never received. What a great moment. Thanks
for sharing.

Mike Simmons

Hi John,

This is a prime example of why I'll never leave SAA. Your post *more* than
offsets the occasional
rubbish that finds its way here. Thanks for sharing your wonderful
experience with us!

Best regards,
Bill

"John Whisenhunt" wrote in message
...
I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

A family came down the street and noticed me slewing around in the
twilight
with the LX-90. I of course asked them to come and have a look, so the
mom,
dad, and 2.99 children (mom was due this month) walked down the drive. The
oldest child was a little girl of 4, so I figured the obvious targets were
best: Moon and Mars. We lifted her onto the chair, and she grabbed the
30mm
Teleview barrel. "Woooo... the Moon has dots and bumps!" she noted. She
went
on to describe the terminator - Oreo sandwich cookie analogy - and then
stated she wished to keep the view for herself. But, she agreed to let
her
little sister, a toddler not quite 3 years old, have a look.

As they looked at Mars - really a bit past his hoopla-opposition prime - I
figured there wasn't much they would appreciate. But, here again, kids
will
surprise you. The littlest one said: "It's like the Moon." Now, perhaps
I'm
reading too much into this, but this very young child explained to me that
it is a bright circle that is far away. Wow - some level of solar system
understanding and still in pre-school?

So, after the first look through a telescope in their young lives, the 3
year old tapped me on the knee and spoke the only compliment expression
she
knew: "I love you!" Quite impressed by the heavens, indeed. I smiled and
told her the same, and thanked her for coming to look If that ain't a
heart-melting first astronomy experience, I don't know what is...

JW




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Newsgroups
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"Bill Becker" wrote in message
...
Hi John,

This is a prime example of why I'll never leave SAA. Your post *more* than
offsets the occasional
rubbish that finds its way here. Thanks for sharing your wonderful
experience with us!

Best regards,
Bill

Best post I've read in months!

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

"John Whisenhunt" wrote in message
...
I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

A family came down the street and noticed me slewing around in the
twilight
with the LX-90. I of course asked them to come and have a look, so the
mom,
dad, and 2.99 children (mom was due this month) walked down the drive.
The
oldest child was a little girl of 4, so I figured the obvious targets
were
best: Moon and Mars. We lifted her onto the chair, and she grabbed the
30mm
Teleview barrel. "Woooo... the Moon has dots and bumps!" she noted. She
went
on to describe the terminator - Oreo sandwich cookie analogy - and then
stated she wished to keep the view for herself. But, she agreed to let
her
little sister, a toddler not quite 3 years old, have a look.

As they looked at Mars - really a bit past his hoopla-opposition prime -
I
figured there wasn't much they would appreciate. But, here again, kids
will
surprise you. The littlest one said: "It's like the Moon." Now, perhaps
I'm
reading too much into this, but this very young child explained to me
that
it is a bright circle that is far away. Wow - some level of solar system
understanding and still in pre-school?

So, after the first look through a telescope in their young lives, the 3
year old tapped me on the knee and spoke the only compliment expression
she
knew: "I love you!" Quite impressed by the heavens, indeed. I smiled and
told her the same, and thanked her for coming to look If that ain't a
heart-melting first astronomy experience, I don't know what is...

JW




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News==----
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Newsgroups
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Encryption
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Hi John,

I love your post! Truly enjoyed reading it and hope we have more like this.
Thanks!

Al


"John Whisenhunt" wrote in message
...
I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

A family came down the street and noticed me slewing around in the
twilight
with the LX-90. I of course asked them to come and have a look, so the
mom,
dad, and 2.99 children (mom was due this month) walked down the drive. The
oldest child was a little girl of 4, so I figured the obvious targets were
best: Moon and Mars. We lifted her onto the chair, and she grabbed the
30mm
Teleview barrel. "Woooo... the Moon has dots and bumps!" she noted. She
went
on to describe the terminator - Oreo sandwich cookie analogy - and then
stated she wished to keep the view for herself. But, she agreed to let
her
little sister, a toddler not quite 3 years old, have a look.

As they looked at Mars - really a bit past his hoopla-opposition prime - I
figured there wasn't much they would appreciate. But, here again, kids
will
surprise you. The littlest one said: "It's like the Moon." Now, perhaps
I'm
reading too much into this, but this very young child explained to me that
it is a bright circle that is far away. Wow - some level of solar system
understanding and still in pre-school?

So, after the first look through a telescope in their young lives, the 3
year old tapped me on the knee and spoke the only compliment expression
she
knew: "I love you!" Quite impressed by the heavens, indeed. I smiled and
told her the same, and thanked her for coming to look If that ain't a
heart-melting first astronomy experience, I don't know what is...

JW




----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet
News==----
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000
Newsgroups
---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption
=---

In article ,
"John Whisenhunt" wrote:

I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

SNIP_ of very nice post.

John,

A few years ago one of my neighbors' kids, a pre-teenage girl, started
to visit my backyard observatory. It got so it almost seemed this
bright youngster had an alarm in her bedroom that sounded whenever I
rolled back the roof. We had many a good time, and I was happy for the
company. Then it stopped about a year ago.

Last night, my now 16-year-old friend was back, along with her new
boyfriend.......

Starry Skies,
Rich

On Sun, 05 Oct 2003 20:05:28 GMT, Richard DeLuca
wrote:

In article ,
"John Whisenhunt" wrote:

I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

SNIP_ of very nice post.
John,
*******************************************
RICHARD:
A few years ago one of my neighbors' kids, a pre-teenage girl, started
to visit my backyard observatory. It got so it almost seemed this
bright youngster had an alarm in her bedroom that sounded whenever I
rolled back the roof. We had many a good time, and I was happy for the
company. Then it stopped about a year ago.
Last night, my now 16-year-old friend was back, along with her new
boyfriend.......
Starry Skies,
Rich
***************** *******************
Good for her!!
That would be quite a kick to have these kids, and maybe some
others, show up on a regular basis to see what is out there.
Good Luck!
HOpe you have some of the more interesting pictures of the Crab
Nebula, etc., where the kids can see them and have an idea of
what wonders there are in the universe.
---Mac

On Sun, 5 Oct 2003 11:50:02 -0500, "John Whisenhunt"
wrote:

I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

A family came down the street and noticed me slewing around in the twilight
with the LX-90.
SNIP SNIP
Thank you for sharing this.
What a wonderful evening!!
I really hope that the family comes on by at least every couple
of months.
Again, wonderful!
---Mac

To me, the most heartening thing was the young people pressing eye to
glass. Last month's new moon presented me with several star parties I
could have attended. I finally selected the Connecticut Star Party (CSP)
in northern Connecticut. It is quite a haul from Baltimore where I live,
but we have family in Connecticut and thought we could kill a few birds
with the same visit.
Well, after driving six hours and haluling a trailer up the Jersey Pike,
the CSP was a washout. I stayed the whole weekend, though. CSP has a
tradition of offering a children's raffle for anyone 15 and under. As
they had the under-15s move up in the front of the hall, I was amazed at
the number of kids present. Out of the three hundred attendees, at least
fifty had to be kids. Even better was the representation of girls there.
They were certainly half of the young people there. It did my heart good
to see so many young would-be astronomers there and that young girls
were so well represented. If you want to get young boys to attend star
parties, bringing young girls certainly could not hurt.
I have attended many star parties on the east coast, but the CSP by far
gets the award for the largest percentage of youth attendees.

John Whisenhunt wrote:

I've been using the "driveway astronomy" expression only because our
neighborhood has no sidewalks...

A family came down the street and noticed me slewing around in the twilight
with the LX-90.
etc.

Like the night I woke our 8 year old granddaughter up at 4 AM and took
her outside to see the meteor spectacle forcast for that night
(Orionides??) - we watched the bright streaks of lights flying through
the night sky, wrapped in blankets, until, after an hour of craning our
necks to the sky, I suggested we go in. My reward was watching this
young girl - eyes transfixed to the sky, uttering one wow! after
another. Well worth the effort.