Introductions: How did you become interested in astronomy?

[owlice]

Welcome to Asterisk!

[daveg703]

Greetings from Earth, 44.91°N 93.1°W., Minnesota, USA!
Until my late teens I had only a casual interest in the astronomical features available to the unaided eye. Then in college I took an elective course in Astronomy, and was blessed with a professor who made it the first subject that I found actually exciting- and sensitized me to the wonders over my head. However, living in the heart of a fairly large metropolis, most of the features of the night sky were obscured by the lights of the civilization around me.

Then I took a solo motorcycle trip throughout much of the western United States. About the third night out, while riding a seemingly infinite stretch of Wyoming highway, I stopped to take a break and stretch my legs. In that remote area, there was nothing to see at ground level- nothing could be seen. There was nowhere to look but up. And then for the first time I saw the Milky Way. That was decades ago, but I can recall that marvelous sight, and the awe I felt, even now.

The finest photographs of the Milky Way, beautifully rendered in a coffee table book, may be very impressive, but the experience is infinitesimally feeble compared to viewing
it in person. I was truly in awe of what was spread out before me as I stood there and literally took in that glorious sight. The simple camera I had with me was incapable of recording that splendid view, but it really didn't matter, because I have my personal imprint of that sky. It is a record that can never fade, and one that is available to me without having to open an album or project an image on a screen.

I only discovered the APOD a couple of years ago, but now it is often the highlight of my evening before heading to bed. It's reassuring to know that all those folks are busy out there, reeling in the images from the Hubble Space Telescope, or capturing them with their tripods and cameras- just for my benefit. (and that of a few others, of course)

[Tony Fleming]

Hi
My name is Tony Fleming I'm a Ph.D. in mathematical physics with a working interest in astronomy and cosmology. I first became aware of the sky when I saw the Sputnik satellite flying in orbit overhead as a small boy in Surrey U.K. when my father was working at Australia House on Fleet Street London in the 1950s.

I do have what could be called 'alternative' ideas but many of them have been peer reviewed (published by Pan Stanford no less). If anybody's interested they can be found [elsewhere] but you'll find my comments will stick to the general mainstream opinion by and large. I'll go to the Baut site when I have to discuss 'other ideas'.

cheers Tony

(I'm an Australian from Melbourne)

[Moonlady]

I grew up in Germany but my parents are from Turkey, a small farmers village in the Anatolian desert. I was about 3-4 years old when I went with my family to visit my grandparents for the first time and I saw in the night the most impressing sky of my life. I thought nights are dark, but I saw billions of stars, the sky was not dark at all and I saw numbers of shooting stars. That was the time I fell in love with the universe. At the age up from 5-6 I was interested in science-fiction books and movies. After many trips to Turkey, I had there most impressing nightsights, where areas are less polluted with light and the air is very clean and clear.

[ellesmith]

I am Elle Smith Fagan from Connecticut USA. Best wishes to all APOD / Asterisk folk. I work in Arts and some of it Astronomical. SciTech background. Google me. I am busy and happy.

I love APOD. The data and the chat are a big help in keeping me alive in Astronomy. It is wonderful to think that myself or my children might experience space travel!

When you see photos of the gold mylar foil on NASA's Lunar Landing Module, that is the work of my Father's hands, one of three generations who built and worked for the DuPont Coated Fabrics plant in Fairfield Connecticut. Also, As a girl, I followed Phil Stern's NASA news on WICC radio. He worked for NASA and taught astronomy at the University of Bridgeport CT and I took his class in the late 60s, a fan till I moved away as a new bride. My SciArts involvement remained but focused otherwise - in Army/RedCross and Wellcome Foundation husband's circle in NY and NC. I was at the Air And Space museum opening in Washington D.C., a highlight of America's Bicentennial Celebrations; with my late husband and our children, I marveled at moon rocks.

In 2007, When I won the task of making a fancy Easter Egg to represent Connecticut at the White House, I lined it with a bit of the mylar gold foil, a gift from my Father when he passed away.
It seemed right to get a bit of that special foil back to ".gov" . Link at my site homepage. At this moment I am completing a show of my paintings of the wonderful APOD and other celestial photos...I will be looking for the online venues to share them soon.

Even with all this, there is so much to learn. APOD helps. Happy to meet you here for chat. I am fit and travel so if I can help in some SciArts task, ask me. Best Wishes! Elle Fagan ellefagan.com

[Riesling]

Hi world.
Excited after the parcial solar eclipse of 2012 (or annular in other countries), I decided to join asterisk.
All started when I was a child. I met an old astronomer who was talking something interesting about Mars, since that moment I see sky.
Is not a cool history but it's mine. So I start here to post images, if someone see a mistake in my text sorry because my mothertongue is spanish jejeje.

One more time,
Hi world
♫

[Epictetus]

Hello. I am a bit over 50 and have always loved astronomy. I can't boast much knowledge or skill, but take especial interest in planetary astronomy and planetary composition. Of course my interests includes planetary satellites.

I live in the southern hemisphere, in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia and have access to a telescope, although I 'd have to learn to handle it. I get to see the Southern Cross every night that it is not overcast. If I can be of service observing any phenomena from a southern perspective, please inform me, and I will do what I can to assist.

[coralights]

As I've grown older my view of earth and myself have expanded .... astronomy is the window to what I was, am now, and will forever be ...

[Zocky]

Hi everybody, my name is Zoran, I am 41 years old and I am from Croatia, Europa.
My primarily interest is astrophotography. I saw wonderful images here, and I hope I will soon share my images with you.

[owlice]

Zocky, welcome to Asterisk!

[BMAONE23]

For me, it was my first trip to the Planetarium at Griffith Park Observatory when I was 7. After that, I was hooked

[MD_Stargazer]

Introducing my ignorance. Retired and belong in a mental ward.

'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears'. Thankfully, science is the truth and pseudo science is just brainwashing. I hope science will win and the not the other way. I evolved from an amoeba to become an ape, Ph.D. I am quite proud of my evolution; my parents and government supported me and I have paid back fully.

[MD_Stargazer]

1969. Was a 14 year old kid in India. Walked three miles to the American Embassy hoping to see a visual image of a human being landing on the moon. No TV. Some staffer announced Neil Armstrong is standing on the moon (probably radio transmission). It was an enchanting moment for me.

[MD_Stargazer]

(I am more like Asterix from the comic book. tsk*3)

[starchild 42]

To the starship...
My name is Budd!
And> I think i have almost always been interested in astronomy, ever since the moon shone through my bedroom window as a bub. To..> watching the Apollo 11 moon landing with my parents in the living room, to being ("safely ") shown my first total solar eclipse by one of the best Primary school teachers i had... And then purchasing my first telescope / then building them... And viewing all major planets, plus many other cosmic bodies: "including" Supernova 1987A, and so on...! My fascination remains strong> And as an artist / designer maker / craftsman and imaginer.., I love the inspiring and "magic",- images i see on this page..!
My comment could be summed up in one word;.. AWESOME..! (And there are times i wish it were possible}, to share some of this 'wisdom' with good friends!
i personally believe in sharing the wonder of the cosmos we such a part of, in the interest of broadening their horizon's...
So once again, i say.. Amazing and "keep it coming...!!
Cheers Budd

[SarasMusic]

I got interested in Astronomy when I was in high school. I took a space science course as a fun filler class. I thought if I got board I could always take a nap in the planetarium. Well it turns out the class was the most memorable of my high school years. I had an incredible teacher. The planetarium had an old record player our teacher used to play Pink Floyd while our eyes were getting used to the dark.

I think great teachers are really the key to getting young people interest in astronomy!

- Sara

[Aotearoa NZ]

Kia ora and hello. My interest in astronomy started with my dad pointing out the stars to us as kids.
We camped and eeled alot at the river where food gathering was done at certain times of the seasons.
To keep it short, my facination in the night skies probably began there

[BDanielMayfield]

Hi ya'll. I'm the "Bruce" that in the last 9 months or so has been posting on the Sky and Telescope news blogs. (Hello Anthony) I live in south Texas and I'm 54 yrs old. My two favorite feilds of study are the Bible and Astronomy, but I am not a Creationist, at least in the young earth sense of the word.

My first recolection of fascination with the night sky was when as a young child my family was moving from Texas to California and we had stoped in Arizona. There I witnessed an amazing metor shower, way more than 1 per min. I was also impressed as a child with the order of the periodic table of the elements, and so I wanted to know, how did these elements come to be? Math and Science were my favorite courses in school, so when I had learned enough for a basic understanding I read up on Nuclear Astrophysics. "Caldrons in the Cosmos" is one of my favorite books.

Today my interest in astronomy is fired especially by the field of exoplanet research. I want to know, how many planets are there as compared to stars? How many are like Earth? and so forth.

I look forward to learning together with all of you.

Bruce

[galaxyshots]

Hi Astro-Folk,
Steve from light polluted Littleton, CO here. Astronomy has dominated me since the fifth grade, when a great General Science teacher took his class to an old Nike missle sight in upstate Connecticut and showed them Orion - that was it -- hooked - BAM! 'Course, then came Lost in Space, The Outer Limits, Star Trek . . . need I say more? But in all the years I've been involved in this, doing lectures, imaging, etc., I've never met finer people, folks who are willing to share what they do and love - kudos to you all, and very glad to be here.

[Aodhan Warchilde]

I found the "picture of the day" site not long after I got my first computer, 10 years ago. I just discovered this Board, so obviously I am not a computer expert. I have loved the stars since childhood, and have traveled them in science fiction (Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, et al) as well. Astronomy and physics have always fascinated me, though my career was in law enforcement and law, and my side passions have been art, writing, and animals. Yes, I am eclectic, but I am fascinated by this subject and thrilled at the opportunity of learning from all of you here. Thank you, thank you for this opportunity.

[AstroMel17]

I AM.... Melske
I am a 24 year old, Wife of 6 years and Mother of 2 that lives in Cape York, Queensland, Australia

I was finally able to buy a DSLR (1000D) and I am so intrigued by all that i can do with this camera even at a basic level.
My Husband, Children and I moved to an Indigenous Protected Area in Cape York, where there is no interfering light from cities so we can see the entire sky.
As a child i used look up wondering and waiting for the next shooting star. But this view kicks the city skies a**.

So I started searching google and found a tutorial on astrophotography. Listened and followed the instructions given.
I shot the Milky Way and was so damn pleased with myself and the excited/giddy feeling I got from taking such a brilliant photo I haven't stopped shooting the stars and the milky way.
Yes it has only been about 2 months but the more i learn the better the images are getting.

The pro photographer that visits on occasion has given me a few pointers and has made me want to do more and get a better camera.
One that i can use for a long time. One with a lower f/stop
I figure while i have the ability to buy an expensive camera and live so remotely I should grab the opportunity with both hands and run with it.
(Especially since both my children are sleeping at the same time and then I get some Mummy time)

[Jeannie Beanie]

I became interested in astronomy as a child by looking at the stars. Someone gave me a large, thin book on astronomy with lots of pictures which helped. When I was a child, Mars had canals, Pluto was a planet and the moon was virgin soil. Now, astronomy is much too complicated for me to understand but I still like to look at the pretty pictures and look at the stars. ;<)

My thought for the day is about the Nasa.apod photo for 8/20/12 of a globular cluster. The explanation said that this type of formation is extremely old and that most in our galaxy are now gone because of running into each other. I have wondered if the clusters eventually spin themselves into a spiral shape. Any thoughts on that?

Jeannie

[emc]

My thought for the day is about the Nasa.apod photo for 8/[19]/12 of a globular cluster. The explanation said that this type of formation is extremely old and that most in our galaxy are now gone because of running into each other. I have wondered if the clusters eventually spin themselves into a spiral shape. Any thoughts on that?

Jeannie

Hi Jeannie,
I don't know an answer but you might want to post your question at the Globular Cluster APOD. This may have been answered before so you could also try a search of the archived postings. The search box is at the upper right corner of the Starship Asterisk* (SA*) pages.
Welcome to SA*!

[emc]

I have loved the stars ever since I can remember but I’m an admirer of astronomy and science not an astronomer or scientist. I’m a former professional artist that evolved into circuit board design. I’m drawn to APOD for the beautiful images and interesting people that make up the community.

[elly12]

Hi all, I find myself very interested in the Big Bang explosion, as I do not really believe in theories created so far. If possible, I will start a reseach about this topic at the and of this year, and hope that this forum will be a nice source for me to gain useful information