My first great memory of the year happened last night. The sky was clear, so I was finally able to play with my new toy, the telescope mom got me for Christmas: an Orion Skyquest Dobsonian. It took me some time to get a feel for the telescope, but when I got it working some amazing things happened. First, I saw stars, thousands of them. More than I’ve ever seen in one sitting. Second was the bright, albino, half-crescent orb of the moon, which I saw with such fine precision that it entirely shocked me. The contours of the craters were so distinguishable that it felt like there was no atmosphere; that I was literally out in space, looking at it. Being able to see such an eery, remote thing up in the sky with my own two eyes- something so far away that one would think they'd never see up close- is a truly unique experience that I can’t compare to anything else. Hopefully more of these sky quests will reveal the other planets and their moons in such dramatic fashion.
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