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| That's me, looking through a telescope |
Maybe for others, seeing Jupiter and its moons is just another common thing, especially for real astronomers who have their own telescopes and really work in the field of astronomy. For me, that sight is not something you could see everyday (except maybe when I have my own telescope. Hmm, maybe after I graduate, I think). I was so amazed that I pointed the telescope for several times, everytime the planet moves and peeked through the eyepiece as if wanting it to be my secondary eye. I can't help but to repeat saying "grabe, ang ganda ng Jupiter" in so much awe. I even forgot that we were observing a meteor shower during that time. I really wish I had a really powerful telescope with me everytime. Another thing that amazed me was knowing that the moons are just dots through the telescope. I was wondering why was there tiny dots of light near Jupiter. Then later I realized that those were the moons of Jupiter reflecting brightly the light from the Sun. I was so amazed (as I have said for several times now).
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| fireball from Google Image search. Looks like the one I saw. |
Another astronomical phenomenon that I witnessed was a fireball. It was my first time seeing something like that in my whole life. This is what actually happened : We were going home, from our tambayan near UP PAGASA Observatory. The path going down the ramp of the driveway was very dark that you can't even see the where you were stepping. After that, all of them suddenly said WOOOOOOOW in unison. Wondering why, I looked into the direction where they were looking. Then a long trail of read light, burning for several seconds, crossed the sky going east, I think. Then in great awe (again) I said WOOOOOOOOW. At first I thought it was a meteor, with a very long exposure. It was a fireball, according to one of my friends. Again, I was amazed. I thought fireballs were just make-believe magical objects because I only encountered that term in games. It was only then that I knew that it was also an astronomical term. Then I said AAAAHH!
Because we have I've been talking about astronomy all this time, I would like to share my experience with the Perseids meteor shower observation that I joined last night. The peak of the meteor shower was last Thursday (August 12). I didn't really see many meteors but I learned a lot. I learned the types of meteors, depending on the reference point, I also learned how meteor showers occur, and I learned how to use the Altitude-Azimuth telescope, all in one night.
Many things would still come and amaze me, I hope its not too long before they come. Let me share a thought to the readers of this blog. Wonderful and amazing sights are best kept in our memories, so that they will never fade, nor get lost as we go through whatever. Keeping them in our minds makes them special.
