63°F

6:45pm

-Haven’t update the site (or my log) in a while even though I have been observing regularly throughout the spring/summer/fall. I got a chance to see the Milky Way for the first time in my life (yes, I’m 28… isn’t that sad?) a few months ago and have seen it a few times since then. To me, it’s one of the most unimaginably beautiful, awe inspiring things a person can see. When you see a picture of the great Andromeda galaxy or the Whirlpool galaxy and realize that we live inside one of these awesome structures and then go out on a dark night and can actually look out from the inside of our own galaxy… it’s one of the most humbling experiences I’ve ever had. You are actually seeing a structure 100,000 light years across (oh, is that hard to appreciate) and perhaps some light from a not-too-distant star which harbors other civilizations – or certainly other life of some type. Looking up on a dark night and imagining all the other worlds and places in our galaxy alone can really take your breath away. As I told a friend of mine, astronomy (especially amateur) is mostly imagination with a little help from a telescope. We must learn as much as we can about the place we live, keep imagining, and never stop asking questions so we can fully appreciate our place in the universe.