Go to an Observatory - Check!

I have always been fascinated by astronomy. I remember many a night gazing up at the sky and imagining what the stars and planets looked like up close. The opening credits of Star Trek: Voyager, where the ship crosses various beautiful space wonders, play across my mind before I drift off to dreamland to this very day. Had math and I remained friends after high school, instead of losing touch and only awkwardly meeting in the grocery store from time to time, engaging in meaningless conversation to acknowledge the fact that we were once close but are different people now, I may have pursued the study of galaxies as a second career.

While I did not take that path, my interest has been well fed by my parents; my dad is a science teacher and was my Google before Google, and my mom taught me science and constellations in 2nd and 5th grade. Between the two of them, there weren't many questions about space that they couldn't answer.

While I love reading about the cosmos and seeing pictures in books and online, there is just something special about seeing it with the naked eye. I had a telescope when I was younger, but it was never enough. I always wanted to unlock the mystery of the round-topped buildings and see what the scientists saw. And having an observatory in Orlando, I've been keeping my eye out for a chance to go.

And then the perfect day came: Astronomy Day at the Orlando Science Center, complete with a guided planet tour (projected on a sphere), dry ice comet demonstrations, a live planetarium show on the big cinedome, and of course solar and planetary observatory viewing. I called my parents, and they were all in for going with me and Matt.

The various shows and demonstrations were fun and educational, but what I was most excited about was viewing our galaxy with my own eyes in ways I never had.


First stop was the terrace, where the Central Florida and Brevard Astronomical Societies had a Celestron telescope set up for solar viewing. It had two different views - one that let you look at the surface of the sun, so you could see sunspots, and the other that let you see the corona around the sun. That was my favorite one, as we could see solar flares as they were happening. Simply spectacular.

Then we made it to the dome on top, where we got to look through the big 10-inch telescope at the surface of the sun again and see the sunspot even bigger.

As we waited for the sun to go down so we could do some planetary gazing, we went for dinner at Steak and Shake. I tried to check off getting something from a claw machine off of my list....but I was awful and didn't want to spend too much money without an expert advisor around. So we'll do that again another time.*

Returning to the science center for sunset, we anxiously awaited the appearance of Saturn...and the disappearance of clouds. The line wasn't too long for viewing, but it took longer than expected because the clouds were lingering. Almost too long, as closing time started looming. While this was a little worrisome for us, I can only imagine how cloud cover must affect astronomers who book these telescopes months in advance at high cost to do their research, never knowing what the weather might bring.

The dome rotated with the planet, people slowly getting glimpses, and then finally, a steady break! We got to see Saturn in all its glory.** And glorious it was! It's amazing how much it looks like the pictures, and yet it still seems special to see it for yourself. I really can't describe the feeling. Matt even saw one of its moons.

It was so neat to do that with my parents, after all they have taught me. A day I don't think any of us will ever forget.

If you want to get in on the fun, they said the Orlando Science Center's observatory is open most Fridays and Saturdays this summer. You won't be sorry.

As for the relationship between me and math, perhaps someday we will reconnect and forge a second career together. But until then, I am happy to enjoy the wonderment of the stargazing available in my own backyard.

*I just noticed the Jetsons were in the claw machine. How perfect would that have been??

**I did not take this picture there, but this is exactly what our view looked like.