Why are you fascinated by the night sky?

What is that made you want to dedicate such a large part of your life to astronomy? A lot of us here have a much greater love for the night than any other time. For me, it is because of the stories of Arvakr & Alsvinnr.

There are two natural lights in this world, the sun and the moon. The first distorts the appearance of the other, often until it is unrecognizable. The sun gives us colour, warmth and clarity, while the moon gives us no colour, coldness and unclarity. We live in the sunlight, and we make artificial sunlight, after Arvakr and Alsvinnr, send by Sol, have drawn down the sun into sea in the West, because we like colour, warmth and clarity.

The starting-point of our reality lies in this light; when Naglfaris' wife, Night, comes, our world disappears in a certain way. She is illuminated by a light, that we don't like, the colourless, cold and indistinct moonlight. Strange beings show themselves in the woods and the people draw back into their reliable, small houses. Out there, only the forces of darkness reign, yes, in the most true meaning of the word.

The world becomes a total different one, for some the world becomes a place worth living. For those, who want to challenge these giants, who are brought to us by the moon in the shape of uncontrollable powers of nature, the world finally becomes a place really worth living in.

What is that made you want to dedicate such a large part of your life to astronomy? A lot of us here have a much greater love for the night than any other time. For me, it is because of the stories of Arvakr & Alsvinnr.

There are two natural lights in this world, the sun and the moon. The first distorts the appearance of the other, often until it is unrecognizable. The sun gives us colour, warmth and clarity, while the moon gives us no colour, coldness and unclarity. We live in the sunlight, and we make artificial sunlight, after Arvakr and Alsvinnr, send by Sol, have drawn down the sun into sea in the West, because we like colour, warmth and clarity.

The starting-point of our reality lies in this light; when Naglfaris' wife, Night, comes, our world disappears in a certain way. She is illuminated by a light, that we don't like, the colourless, cold and indistinct moonlight. Strange beings show themselves in the woods and the people draw back into their reliable, small houses. Out there, only the forces of darkness reign, yes, in the most true meaning of the word.

The world becomes a total different one, for some the world becomes a place worth living. For those, who want to challenge these giants, who are brought to us by the moon in the shape of uncontrollable powers of nature, the world finally becomes a place really worth living in.

For me, it was just a fascination from a young age....insatiable curiosity about the world and it environment. But I have other interests I am passionate about.

I'm the same as John on this. From a young age i looked up at the stars and always wondered what they were,where they were,why they were there and what they did.

I wasnt really hooked until i saw the moon up close with my 1st pair of bins. Then when i saw the moon with my 1st scope (the one i CLEANED as a kid), there was no turning back.

NOW ive seen Saturn........................i want a BIGGER scope.

When I was younger I had a greater appreciation of the night sky - maybe because it was darker back then. I remember lying on dark beaches with the sound of the waves and the milky way's resplendent veil draped across the summer skies. For a time I forgot about all this - moved to Dublin and hardly ever remember seeing the sky again. However I always had a passion for science, and constantly read anything and everything on Quantum Physics, Astrophysics, etc etc. Then a few years ago a friend of my wifes noticed some of the books I was reading and stated what should have been obvious to me - "why don't you buy a telescope?". I did and I haven't looked back - now I get to observe first hand what I'd only read about before.

Mr Euronymous, Sir!

The big attraction surrounding the night sky is multifold:

(1) it allows me to really appreciate how small and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things and no matter how arrogantly great we may sometimes think we are;

(2) it helps me, however naively, understand the vastness and magnitude of space;

(3) it is a great glimpse into the past and, in some respects, the future;

(4) it reinforces how incredibly ignorant we are and how much more there is to learn (or at least try to learn);

(5) it allows one to see the rich variance of the cosmos; and

(6) that everything has an "expiry date" and no matter how big or small it may be.

(2) it helps me, however naively, understand the vastness and magnitude of space;

I dont think (even naively) that anyone really TRUELY understands or comrehends just how vast the universe is. In fact i dont think the concept of infinity is even within human grasp of comprehention.

We all have an idea and then we stop and think "Surely it must end there".

It doesnt.

I think to start to understand it we have to measure it in terms of millions of billions of trillions of miles.......................

AND THEN SOME.

and then some more.

and more
and more
and more

I'll stop there cuz its all too mind blowing.