Why are you fascinated by the night sky?

So why do I look at the sky?
Its not just a case of looking at it, its a case of knowing what you are looking at, when I see a galaxy in the eyepiece of a scope its not just a pretty pic I'm looking at, I see an island universe with star and planets and maybe the chance of life there...

Our planet may be small and insignificant, but a diamond is still a diamond no matter how many you have.

For me knowing astronomy means I know where I am. So many people don't realize where they are.!

When I was a child in the 60s space exploration was all the rage - TV was full of it, science fiction was everywhere, people were disporting themselves on the moon and so on. Some of the byproducts of the space race began to filter down into common consumer products - microchips, l.e.d.s, velcro and even cordless drills. All of this made the 60s a very cool time to be a kid.

There were always books on science and astronomy in the house and I considered it quite normal at 8 or 9 to be reading about quantum physics and galaxies. (ok - I just looked at the pictures )

A few years ago I had to do an assignment for the Open University which involved measuring the distance to the moon by using a coin stuck to the end of a broom handle. When I had finished I stood outside looking up at the heavens and for the first time got an inkling of the vastness of our universe. I also came to realise that I was in a three-dimensional universe in which the sun and mooon were more than flat discs of light. It was a very heady and exilharating sensation.

All interesting stories. A lot of them revolve around a fascination at childhood, either through comics or tv shows, stories or films, or else from actually seeing the stars at night in the days when there was much less light pollution. It's important to keep children interested today, because that is the age at which when they are older they'll want to renew their childhood interests and make use of their adulthood with the ability to actually buy equipment and appreciate the wonders of the universe

For me, these days I use astronomy to 'get out more' from 2 jobs that got me going days and nights (my sob story). I find it is a great way to spend some time away from it all, when well prepared of course. I got into it when I was around 7 originally, I saw Halley's Comet in '86. Then my first telescope when I was 11 got me into it more. Growing up during my teens, I saw it as a hobby different to those that other kids had. In the past few years I have even got my (now) wife into it more too! We enjoy bringin out hot chocolates at the end of a long day and sit on our camping chairs under the stars.

Seanie.

The fact that the Universe is so vast and what we actually know you when you really think about it you could probably fit on a postage stamp.

There is so much yet undiscovered and when you look at the sky and if your lucky enough the silence surrounding you it's just mesmerizing

Arvakr and Alsvinnr

(I was in Iceland last year.Visited the island of Papey.You could have knocked me over with a feather when they told me that it was named after the Irish monks who were living there when the Vikings first arrived. Papey=Fathers.)

wikimapia.org/6003461/Papey_island


The real question is :

Why are so many people NOT interseted in Astronomy.