what was the trigger?

Some of us have been interested in the night sky for as long as we can
remember, but others of us can remember a moment when it all started.
Maybe it was a vacation in the boonies with dark skies, or maybe it was
a chance Christmas gift, or a visit to a friend with that 12-inch SCT.

Like many folks, I was interested in astronomy as a child--I don't
recall a time before I had that interest. But also like others, I sort
of lost contact with the hobby around the time I turned 12 or so. I
had other interests--cycling, gaming, math (which explains a lot of what
you see out of me here), basketball, girls...not necessarily in that
order, of course.

So then it boils down to, what got me back into the hobby as a 30-
something adult? I got a 4-1/2-inch Newtonian for Christmas in 1994,
but although I used it off and on, that didn't do it. I took it out to
observe Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, but that didn't do it, either.

No, what finally did it was an issue of Astronomy magazine, with an
article on the HIPPARCOS satellite and its parallax findings. I had
been playing around with creating SIRDS (those single-image stereograms
that you have to look funny at), and the HIPPARCOS article gave me an
idea. Why not write a program that creates stereograms based off the
HIPPARCOS data?

For some reason, that question set me off where the other incidents
hadn't. I spent the better part of two or three days writing my
program, and had my fun cruising around the cosmos in 3-D. But then
what? I decided I had to look at the sky for real, and within a few
months, I had my shiny new C5+. I was so excited about it, I couldn't
wait for UPS to deliver it; I went to the depot to pick it up. Awesome.

But what really did it was that article, and the program I wrote. I
still have a version of that program lying around here somewhere. Which
makes me wonder: What triggers have other folks had, either to start the
interest, or to renew it after a long hiatus?

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html

I remember my first foray into amateur astronomy as something that
generated intense interest because it was something I could do on my
own, without my parent's help. My first telescope was a donation from a
teacher, Mr. Bruesch (spelling?) with a mount that didn't work. I got
the mount working, by taking it apart and figuring out what went where,
lubricating it with Vaseline. Finding objects on my own, operating the
telescope on my own, and doing my own observations, that was something
wonderful !

I later gave it up for a while (missing comet West and a few others as a
result) due to other interests in high school and college --- so many
things to do, so little time. Then after starting my engineering
career, I got back into it and have stayed with it since. This time it
was spending quiet time by myself. I guess there are other ways to do
it, but to each their own.

Sincerely,
--- Dave Nakamoto
========================================
Is it my soul I hear that calls out my name?


Brian Tung wrote:
Some of us have been interested in the night sky for as long as we can
remember, but others of us can remember a moment when it all started.
Maybe it was a vacation in the boonies with dark skies, or maybe it was
a chance Christmas gift, or a visit to a friend with that 12-inch SCT.

Like many folks, I was interested in astronomy as a child--I don't
recall a time before I had that interest. But also like others, I sort
of lost contact with the hobby around the time I turned 12 or so. I
had other interests--cycling, gaming, math (which explains a lot of what
you see out of me here), basketball, girls...not necessarily in that
order, of course.

So then it boils down to, what got me back into the hobby as a 30-
something adult? I got a 4-1/2-inch Newtonian for Christmas in 1994,
but although I used it off and on, that didn't do it. I took it out to
observe Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, but that didn't do it, either.

No, what finally did it was an issue of Astronomy magazine, with an
article on the HIPPARCOS satellite and its parallax findings. I had
been playing around with creating SIRDS (those single-image stereograms
that you have to look funny at), and the HIPPARCOS article gave me an
idea. Why not write a program that creates stereograms based off the
HIPPARCOS data?

For some reason, that question set me off where the other incidents
hadn't. I spent the better part of two or three days writing my
program, and had my fun cruising around the cosmos in 3-D. But then
what? I decided I had to look at the sky for real, and within a few
months, I had my shiny new C5+. I was so excited about it, I couldn't
wait for UPS to deliver it; I went to the depot to pick it up. Awesome.

But what really did it was that article, and the program I wrote. I
still have a version of that program lying around here somewhere. Which
makes me wonder: What triggers have other folks had, either to start the
interest, or to renew it after a long hiatus?

Brian Tung wrote:
Some of us have been interested in the night sky for as long as we can
remember, but others of us can remember a moment when it all started.
Maybe it was a vacation in the boonies with dark skies, or maybe it was
a chance Christmas gift, or a visit to a friend with that 12-inch SCT.

Like many folks, I was interested in astronomy as a child--I don't
recall a time before I had that interest. But also like others, I sort
of lost contact with the hobby around the time I turned 12 or so. I
had other interests--cycling, gaming, math (which explains a lot of what
you see out of me here), basketball, girls...not necessarily in that
order, of course.

So then it boils down to, what got me back into the hobby as a 30-
something adult? I got a 4-1/2-inch Newtonian for Christmas in 1994,
but although I used it off and on, that didn't do it. I took it out to
observe Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, but that didn't do it, either.

No, what finally did it was an issue of Astronomy magazine, with an
article on the HIPPARCOS satellite and its parallax findings. I had
been playing around with creating SIRDS (those single-image stereograms
that you have to look funny at), and the HIPPARCOS article gave me an
idea. Why not write a program that creates stereograms based off the
HIPPARCOS data?

For some reason, that question set me off where the other incidents
hadn't. I spent the better part of two or three days writing my
program, and had my fun cruising around the cosmos in 3-D. But then
what? I decided I had to look at the sky for real, and within a few
months, I had my shiny new C5+. I was so excited about it, I couldn't
wait for UPS to deliver it; I went to the depot to pick it up. Awesome.

But what really did it was that article, and the program I wrote. I
still have a version of that program lying around here somewhere. Which
makes me wonder: What triggers have other folks had, either to start the
interest, or to renew it after a long hiatus?


Growing up under inky black skys on the farm north of Newton IA, a
favorite was Epsilon Lyra (I didn't know what it was) but I could see
it as a double star... and Sagittarius looked like a giant antenna
shimmering in the heat along my southern horizon... the stars were there
for me... year 'round growing up.

I got reacquainted with the night sky--having found Tirion's Sky Atlas
in the "maps" section on the fourth floor of the Iowa State University
Library in the early 80's. I then found a way to mate eyepieces to a
Canon 300mm F2.8 Fluorite lens, programed HP-41 and HP-48 calculators
to do celestial mechanics calculations, joined the Ames Area Amateur
Astronomers and things mushroomed from there.

-Sam

Sam Wormley wrote:

Growing up under inky black skys on the farm north of Newton IA...

Hey, I used to live in Prairie City, which is so tiny even someone from
Newton, only 20 or so miles away, probably has never heard of it.

The joke is on you guys - I have ridden a bicycle through both of them on
RAGBRAI over the past 20 years of so!

"Anonymous AtWork" wrote in message
...
Sam Wormley wrote:

Growing up under inky black skys on the farm north of Newton IA...

Hey, I used to live in Prairie City, which is so tiny even someone from
Newton, only 20 or so miles away, probably has never heard of it.

Oh man, RAGBRAI. I used to be a Register delivery boy.

Pieter Litchfield wrote:
The joke is on you guys - I have ridden a bicycle through both of them on
RAGBRAI over the past 20 years of so!

"Anonymous AtWork" wrote in message
...
Sam Wormley wrote:

Growing up under inky black skys on the farm north of Newton IA...
Hey, I used to live in Prairie City, which is so tiny even someone from
Newton, only 20 or so miles away, probably has never heard of it.

Anonymous AtWork wrote:
Sam Wormley wrote:

Growing up under inky black skys on the farm north of Newton IA...


Hey, I used to live in Prairie City, which is so tiny even someone from
Newton, only 20 or so miles away, probably has never heard of it.


In 4-H I met folks from Prairie City... A fellow about my age, Al Faidley
was from Prairie City. We both went to Iowa State in the 60s.

I started cold last fall at age 58. Had been an informal stargazer all my
life. I had been looking for another hobby, so I think was ready when two
things triggered my interest:

1. My late father-in-law had built a cardboard 5" newt back in the 30's.
My wife could remember the neighbors coming over in the 50's to look at the
moon. We had had that old scope in our attic for over a decade and had
talked about getting it down sometimes. Last summer I did just that. The
scope was in bad shape, probably beyond reclaimation, but it got me to
thinking about stargazing.

2. Psalms 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
showeth his handiwork." I memorized that psalm as a boy and, since then,
this verse has continued to speak to me when I look upward, particularly at
night, calling me to look deeper into the heavens. I cannot look at Orion
without remembering that verse.

YMMV.

-John


"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...

But what really did it was that article, and the program I wrote. I
still have a version of that program lying around here somewhere. Which
makes me wonder: What triggers have other folks had, either to start the
interest, or to renew it after a long hiatus?

I started cold last fall at age 58. Had been an informal stargazer all my
life. I had been looking for another hobby, so I think was ready when two
things triggered my interest:

1. My late father-in-law had built a cardboard 5" newt back in the 30's.
My wife could remember the neighbors coming over in the 50's to look at the
moon. We had had that old scope in our attic for over a decade and had
talked about getting it down sometimes. Last summer I did just that. The
scope was in bad shape, probably beyond reclaimation, but it got me to
thinking about stargazing.

2. Psalms 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
showeth his handiwork." I memorized that psalm as a boy and, since then,
this verse has continued to speak to me when I look upward, particularly at
night, calling me to look deeper into the heavens. I cannot look at Orion
without remembering that verse.

YMMV.

-John


"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...

But what really did it was that article, and the program I wrote. I
still have a version of that program lying around here somewhere. Which
makes me wonder: What triggers have other folks had, either to start the
interest, or to renew it after a long hiatus?

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 23:53:54 -0700, Brian Tung wrote:

Which
makes me wonder: What triggers have other folks had, either to start the
interest, or to renew it after a long hiatus?


In High scool I started grinding glass for an 8 inch Newt, but never
finished it. At 40 mumble years old, I had to get my first pair og
glasses. I decided then to buy a 'scope and quit waiting.

What language was that SIRDS generator in ?