Some nights are more interesting and engaging than others. Astronomers know this better than anyone else. Rarely, these sessions of watching the sky and all its beautifulness are no less than a boring chore. It was an evening promising everything but great stargazing experience. Just a couple of days ago, my duties at the party dedicated to the lunar-eclipse pushed me away from watching a game of World Series. Believe me, sports engage me just as well as stars above. Now, I had to freeze standing on the basketball court surrounded with my students who wanted to observe the dark sheet of the sky on the Halloween night. With the lights of the stars paling dim, I felt anxious about the event and less enthusiastic as usual.
My mood was even darker than the sky above. The intimacy of stargazing has disappeared from my life lately due to a plethora of reasons. Sometimes, my routine prevented me from spending time with my eyepiece; sometimes – my duties. Tonight, I had to work instead of relaxing listening to noises produced by the crowd of students.
While the cloud of depression was darkening my thoughts, a thin voice quietly asked me “sir, can you show me the sky?” The voice did not belong to one of my students. I glanced back and saw a little girl dressed in a cape and a weird pointy hat. She was much younger than my students, yet expressed a very promising curiosity. Her outlook reminded me of witches depicted in various animated shows and I asked in my turn “What are you? A witch?” In all seriousness she answered “No. I don’t like witches, they are mean! I’m a wizard! A magician!”
Image Credit: Sergey Novikov
A man standing right next to her smiled looking at her with care. On my curious glance he nodded and introduced her as his daughter Sarah. Suddenly, I felt easier and gladly invited this wizard to wonder at stars through my telescope pointed away from the moon. The sky was dark and nothing could be seen. For some reason I felt anxious about losing the bit of attention from the magician and I offered her to look at the moon instead. “Yes, it would be awesome!” She exclaimed and I quickly adjusted my eyepiece directing it at the moon. It was too high for her height and her father stepped in holding her so that she could glance through the telescope. “Daddy, it’s so cool!” She cried out struggling to hold back emotions.
Minutes went by seamlessly. However, Sarah’s father was more concerned about the world below the sky rather than one above and he reminded her that they came here in order to participate in the Halloween party. Before they departed, Sarah asked “May I watch the sky again after the party?” I assured her that she would be more than welcomed.
While they were gone, dozens of monsters from all kinds of fairytales and TV shows occupied my telescope. Their time soon ended and they started disappearing. By that moment, the little wizard and her dad were done partying and came back. Truth be told, I have readied everything for their arrival and directed my eyepiece at the star that I love the most – Albireo. The star hidden in the mist of Dumbbell Nebula.
She looked at that star and then at another one, another one. She was so consumed with stargazing that her dad eventually had to remind her that it was time to go home and sleep. They walked away holding hands. Yet, moments later she ran back to the telescope took a short glance again, said a couple quiet words like a spell, and ran back to her father. I heard her asking for an eyepiece of her own as they distanced away slowly.
When my things were packed and I was driving home, the memories of my childhood revisited my consciousness. I remembered how I was amazed by the beauty of the sky above when one of my peers let me look through his telescope for the first time. Deep inside my soul I hoped that Sarah felt the same weird feeling that she opened a new reality and that astronomy will accompany her throughout her life.